Flight Of The Conchords

I covered this program briefly a few weeks ago shortly after it debuted on HBO. Since then, I've become hooked on this show and is one of the few programs I try to view as soon as a new episode comes out. Flight of the Conchords centers around a comedy-folk duo struggling to make it in New York. They specialize in offbeat, clever humor delivered in a sweet yet deadpan manner. After a few episodes, I've found the show to be pleasantly entertaining with great music videos.

The duo of Jemaine (the tall one with glasses and a faux soul man growl when singing) and Bret (the bearded one with a clipped speech pattern) tackle New York with an innocence meant to be born from their New Zealand upbringing. They have an ineffective manager who mainly works as part of New Zealands tourism department and one obsessed fan along for the ride.

Most of Flight's humor is derived from their overintellectual thought processs and child like emotional innocence. Such as a recent episode where Bret needs a job so he becomes a street sign holder. Bret takes the job so seriously he quits the band and begins wearing a power suit complete with Bluetooth. It's a little like Seinfeld with people who are nice. At times, the jokes are a little predictable but the duo's comic chemestry keeps things going.

The best bits are the music videos with many songs pulled from their live act. The opening episode's "Beautiful Girl" includes great lyrics like "You're so Beautiful / You could be a waitress / You could be a part-time model ." Later in that same episode, when the Beautiful Girl (played by Rachel Blanchard) dumps Jemaine he walks away and starts singing while the Girl is left behind to wonder where he is going or what he is doing. Another song, "If You're Into It", has the band proposing the man and woman could get naked and make love "If that's what you're into" or even have a three way while Bret serenades his girlfriend. The newest episode included one of my faves, "Business Time" where Jemaine fantasizes about mundane sex with the Beautiful Girl . It's great when he illustrates the two minute sex when he says "Two minutes is all you need, because i'm so intense! ".

I don't know if this show will last, Flight of the Conchords is a bit too quirky to ever be really popular. Plus, most of the songs come straight from their live act which means the good songs could be used up quickly. Until then, I'll continue to rush to my tv at 10:30 on Sunday nights to see the latest and greatest from this show.