Sunday, January 6, 2008

Flight of the Conchords - Season 1



Flight of the Conchords is a delightfully quirky little comedy about a two man band with the same title from New Zealand. In between guitarist Bret constantly quitting, bassist Jemaine's failures with women, and their meetings with fellow Kiwi and band manager Murray, the show is sprinkled with music videos made by the band that fit the story, many of the songs coming from their stand-up work in real life. They only have one slightly-crazed fan, and constantly have to deal with internal problems and outside interference as they try to hit it big in New York City.

It's a simple show, as the subject matter is usually pretty mundane. There's plenty of humor in the more outlandish musical segments, but a lot of laughs just come from the simple interactions of the two friends with each other and those around them. I have to admit a small part of it is just their odd accents. They perform in a variety of styles, and there are plenty of recognizable guests like Will Forte and Demetri Martin. Some highlights of the first season are the mock children's show, "Albi the Racist Dragon"; Bret's recurring dreams about David Bowie, who happens to look a lot like Jemaine; a Lord of the Rings tribute song (whenever they mention their nation of origin to someone they meet, no one can think of anything to comment on besides the fact that the movies were filmed there); and the whole episode where Murray and Jemaine think Bret's completely harmless girlfriend is trying to break up the band like Yoko Ono. While the plot is usually pretty bare, there's actually some interesting continuity and a perceivable arc to the season, and I'd like to see what they can come up with in a second go around.

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