hokum

noun4

1. •
   (informal) (An instance of) meaningless nonsense with an outward appearance of being impressive and legitimate.

   • It is pure hocum, this language that they want more police officers, and they vetoed it over the lack of funding in this account. It is just a pure political thing. — 1999
2. •
   (informal) (An instance of) excessively contrived, hackneyed, or sentimental material in a film, television programme, theater production, etc.

   • The majority of the twenty-six stunts described in this volume belong to a species of so-called hokum acts derived from the professional stage and handed down through several generations of actors. — 1905
3. •
   (informal) A film, television programme, theater production, etc., containing excessively contrived, hackneyed, or sentimental material.

   • [H]e [Stanley Baker] was still churning out the kind of Boy's Own hokums and dreary international espionage thrillers that defined that bygone era. — 2004
4. •
   A genre of blues song or music, often characterized by sexual innuendos or satire.

   • [D]uring the 'twenties, jazz developed from an infrequent ‘hokum’ music in a few vaudeville acts to a household commodity. — 1956