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According to three of the most prominent contemporary theories of documentary—those of Gregory Currie, Noël Carroll, and Carl Plantinga—live televised sports broadcasts like Monday Night Football count as members of that category. I begin this article by explaining how each of these theories encompasses live televised sports. Next, I argue that this inclusion is a serious mistake. Attention to it reveals that any adequate account of documentaries must include a condition that Currie, Carroll, and Plantinga ignore. After considering some candidates for this condition, I develop a technical notion of “account” and defend the proposal that documentaries are primarily accounts. Any theory of documentary that incorporates this insight will fit more comfortably with the standard categorical distinctions made in critical and everyday practice.

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