Flight of the Conchords (TV series)

Flight of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords intertitle.
Genre	Sitcom Musical
Created by	James Bobin Jemaine Clement Bret McKenzie
Starring	Jemaine Clement Bret McKenzie Rhys Darby Kristen Schaal Arj Barker
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	17 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	James Bobin Stu Smiley Troy Miller
Producer	Anna Dokoza
Production location	New York City
Camera setup	Single camera
Running time	approx. 23 min.
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	June 17, 2007 – present

Flight of the Conchords is an Emmy Award-nominated television comedy series that follows the adventures of the Flight of the Conchords, a folk duo from New Zealand, as its members seek fame and success in New York City. The show portrays a fictionalized version of the real-life duo, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who play themselves.

The show was created by James Bobin, Jemaine Clement, and Bret McKenzie. Bobin serves as the show's main writer and director. The first episode of the series aired on HBO on June 17, 2007.

Season two of Flight of the Conchords premiered on HBO and HBO Canada on January 18, 2009.

Plot

The series revolves around the day-to-day lives and loves of two musicians, Jemaine and Bret (Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, playing fictionalised versions of themselves), who have uprooted themselves from their native New Zealand to try to make it big as a novelty folk duo in New York City. The two have frequent appointments with their band manager, Murray (Rhys Darby), a Deputy Cultural Attaché at the New Zealand consulate, who is overly officious and ineffectual. Jemaine and Bret constantly fend off the amorous attentions of Mel (Kristen Schaal), a married woman who is their sole fan and stalker. Their friend Dave (Arj Barker) works at a pawn shop and gives them advice on dealing with American women and culture. Other recurring characters include their landlord, Eugene (played by Eugene Mirman), Bret's short-term girlfriend Coco (Sutton Foster) and Jemaine and Bret's ex-girlfriend Sally (Rachel Blanchard).

Most episodes revolve around the five main cast members. The antagonists outside of this small group are usually either their girlfriends or Australians (see "Bret Gives Up the Dream", "Sally Returns").

Jemaine or Bret break into song periodically throughout each episode. The songs are built into the narrative structure of the show in several different ways. Some songs form part of the actual plot of the show. In these instances, Bret or Jemaine sings to another character. Other songs serve as the internal monologue of one of the two. Typically, at least once per show, a song is shot in the form of a music video. Some songs use a combination of the styles. For example, in the first episode, "Sally", the song "Most Beautiful Girl in the Room" is a mix of Jemaine's inner thoughts, which are inaudible to those around him, and his spoken invitations to Sally to get a kebab and to go back to his place, while the music video for "Business Time" (from "Sally Returns") depicts a daydream that Jemaine is having.

The enthusiastic manner in which the characters express themselves through song is in stark contrast to the very low-key, monotone manner in which the characters express themselves throughout the rest of the show. Thus, when the characters cannot verbalize their feelings, the songs serve as inner monologues and explain the thoughts and feelings they are unable to communicate to others.

Cast

Main cast

Name	Played by	Description
Jemaine Clemaine	Jemaine Clement	Band member; plays bass among other things. Bret's roommate.
Bret McClegnie	Bret McKenzie	Band member; plays guitar. Jemaine's roommate.
Murray Hewitt	Rhys Darby	Murray is the band's manager. His day job is Deputy Cultural Attaché at the New Zealand consulate. He has few friends and an on-and-off relationship with his never-seen wife, Shelley. While he is passionate about the band and aspires to be a successful manager, he is largely incompetent in his well-meaning attempts at promoting the Conchords.
Mel	Kristen Schaal	Mel is the Conchords' lone fan and stalks them obsessively in pursuit of a romantic liaison despite the fact that she is married to Doug, her former college professor. In the episode "Bowie" it is revealed that she is a Junior Professor of Psychology. In "New Fans" it is implied that she has been through legal trouble for stalking.
Dave	Arj Barker	A friend of Bret and Jemaine who works at a pawn shop and dispenses off-kilter advice about life in America. He lives with his parents, though tries to cover it up by pretending they are his crazy roommates who just think they are his parents.

Recurring characters

Name	Played by	Description	Episodes
Greg	Frank Wood	Murray's assistant at the consulate. In the episode "The Actor", it was suggested that he is Murray's only friend besides Bret and Jemaine.	101-102, 105-107, 111-112, 201, 203
Eugene	Eugene Mirman	Bret and Jemaine's landlord, who often interjects into conversations in which he is not welcome.	101-103, 105, 108, 111-112, 202
Doug	David Costabile	Mel's husband. When Doug appears in an episode it is usually because he is driving Mel to a band gig or stalking mission. In the episode "Bowie" it is revealed that he was previously the Senior Professor of Psychology at the university which Mel attended, but was fired and is now unemployed. It's implied in the episode "New Fans" that he and his family had a restraining order against Mel at one point before he married her.	101-102, 106, 109-110, 201-203
Coco	Sutton Foster	Bret's girlfriend for several episodes. Bret and Coco meet while working as part-time sign holders. They break up in the "Sally Returns" episode because it's clear that Bret still has feelings for Sally.	102, 104-105
Sally	Rachel Blanchard	Bret's former girlfriend. She dates Jemaine briefly on two separate occasions, but eventually accepts a marriage proposal from a rich Australian in the episode "Sally Returns".	101, 105
Police Officer	Kelly Taffe	Booking officer at a police station.	103, 202

Other guest stars

Name	Played by	Description	Episode
David Armstrong	John Hodgman	Manager of a greeting card company with which the Conchords sign a recording contract.	106
Sinjay	Aziz Ansari	A fruit vendor who discriminates against Bret and Jemaine because he mistakes them for Australians.	107
Todd	Todd Barry	A bongo player who joins Bret and Jemaine as "The Third Conchord".	112
Demetri	Demetri Martin	A keytar player who forms a new band with Bret.	112
Ben	Will Forte	A semi-professional actor the band hires to speak with Murray about a record deal rejection.	111
Martin Clark	Greg Proops	President/CEO of an agency which hires Bret and Jemaine to write a jingle for a new, "women-only" toothpaste.	201

Cameo appearances

Several famous people have made a fleeting cameo appearance in various episodes.

Name	Played by	Description	Episode
Pawn Shop Patron	Judah Friedlander	A man that tries to pawn a cake to Dave.	101
Club Owner	Kate Pierson	A club owner that turns the band away from a scheduled gig due to their reputation for causing damage.	109
Club MC	Daryl Hall	The MC of the Tuesday World Music Jam at which the Conchords play. He introduces them as "Flute of the Commodores" and ushers them quickly off stage several bars into "Rock the Party".	110
Himself	John Turturro	In a scene that runs during the closing credits, Turturro plays himself playing a cop in a fictional Martin Scorsese movie.	111
Australian Ambassador	Alan Dale	An ambassador from Australia who makes fun of Murray and Jemaine.	203

Awards

The show received four Emmy Award nominations in 2008. "Sally Returns" was nominated for "Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series", "Yoko" was nominated for "Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series" and two songs, "Most Beautiful Girl In The Room" and "Inner City Pressure", were nominated for "Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics".

Also in 2008, the Writers' Guild of America nominated the show for three awards: "Comedy Series", "Episodic Comedy" (for "Sally Returns") and for "New Series". The Television Critics Association nominated them for "Outstanding Achievement in Comedy" and "Outstanding New Program of the Year".

In the 2007 Satellite Awards the show was nominated for "Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical".

The pair were awarded with the status of "2007 Wellingtonians of the Year" in their home town after their international success blossomed that year.

Critical reaction

The show has received a generally positive reaction from critics. The best reviews were from the Detroit Free Press, whose critic described it as "TV's most original and irresistible new comic concoction" and the San Francisco Chronicle, whose reviewer stated that it "may well be the funniest thing you've seen in ages." At the opposite end, the Miami Herald reviewer wrote that it "feels less like a sitcom than a Saturday Night Live sketch stretched out to about six times its shelf-life."

Episodes

Main article: List of Flight of the Conchords episodes

Songs

A list of the songs that appear or are mentioned on the show are listed below, along with the episodes they appear in:

• "The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room)" - (101)
• "Robots" - (101, 112, 202)
• "I'm Not Crying" - (101)
• "Inner City Pressure" - (102)
• "She's So Hot - BOOM" - (102)
• "Rock the Party" - (102, 109, 110)
• "Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous" - (103)
• "Think About It" - (103)
• "She-wolf" - (104)
• "If You're Into It" - (104)
• "Pencils in the Wind" (a.k.a. "Sello Tape") - (104)
• "Song for Sally" - (105)
• "Business Time" - (105)
• "Bowie" - (106)
• "Bret, You Got It Going On" - (106)
• "Albi the Racist Dragon" - (107)
• "Mutha'uckas" - (107)

• "Leggy Blonde" - (107)
• "Foux du Fafa" - (108)
• "A Kiss Is Not a Contract" - (108)
• "Mermaids" - (109)
• "Ladies of the World" - (110)
• "The Prince of Parties" - (110)
• "Cheer Up, Murray" - (111)
• "Frodo (Don't Wear the Ring)" - (111)
• "Doggy Bounce" - (112)
• "Rejected" - (201)
• "Femident Toothpaste" - (201)
• "Angels" - (201)
• "Sugalumps" - (202)
• "You Don't Have to be A Prostitute" - (202)
• "Hurt Feelings" - (203)
• "Stay Cool" - (203)

Second season

On August 17, 2007, HBO announced a second season for Flight of the Conchords, originally set to premiere in 2008, but which was postponed to January 2009. Prior to the announcement, Jemaine Clement stated in an interview with The New Zealand Herald, "[HBO] is interested in doing another series but we have to think about it. It's not a definite offer but they have talked about us starting writing but we've got other things we want to do as well". McKenzie stated that second season took longer to produce because the band had used most of their material in the first season. In an interview with The Star Ledger, he said "We'd need some time to develop new material. It's like the second album syndrome. It might take a lot longer". Shortly after the renewal announcement, Clement stated in an interview that the second season would likely consist of fewer than twelve episodes "so they could concentrate on 'quality not quantity'".

McKenzie and Clement returned to their home town of Wellington to write for the second season, although the writing process was delayed by the 2007-2008 Writers Strike. Filming for the 10 episode second series began in September 2008. That same month, McKenzie and Clement were quoted in a Q interview that the second season would most likely be the last.

The second season of the show premiered on January 18th, 2009 on HBO. Unlike the first season, the second season was filmed and broadcast in High Definition. The first episode of the season has been made available for streaming at http://www.hbo.com/conchords.

Filming locations

Filming for the series takes place at a variety of locations and landmarks around New York City. Flight of the Conchords has, however, been consistent with its geography with respect to their neighbourhood. Some of the primary locations are listed below. Information on locations specific to particular episodes may be found on the page for that episode. Transition shots and out-of-studio location shoots have been in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. Scenes include Flushing Meadows Corona Park, The Queens Museum of Art, Brooklyn's DUMBO, among others.

Locations used throughout both series

Name	Location
Bret and Jemaine's apartment	28 Henry Street, Chinatown
New Zealand consulate	232 East Broadway
Dave's pawn shop	Around the corner from the 'Consulate'. 10 Montgomery Street
Steiner Studios	15 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn.
Flushing Meadows Corona Park	11101 Corona Ave, Flushing, NY 11368
Queens Museum of Art	New York City Building, Flushing, NY 11368
DUMBO, Brooklyn	Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass

Episode-Specific Locations

Name	Episode	Location
Bret and Jemaine's apartment	Pilot	230 Henry Street, between Clinton and Montgomery

Recurring themes and running jokes

Roll call

Before every band meeting, no matter where it is held or how few are present, Murray takes roll-call. Bret and Jemaine are not enthusiastic supporters of this piece of meeting etiquette. Often one or the other refuses to respond. Murray's belief that all meetings must start with a roll call causes confusion in the episode "Bowie", when the card company manager's failure to take a roll-call results in Murray being unaware the meeting had started.

Some of the dialogue from band meetings is improvised.

Mel's obsession

Mel is depicted as a stalker with a romantic obsession for the two band members. She is present at every band performance, no matter how insignificant, and is commonly found outside the band's apartment when they leave the building. In "The Third Conchord" she feigns innocence over her presence, asking "What are the chances?" Jemaine replies "One in one".

Mel is usually shown wearing a Flight of the Conchords t-shirt - a different one in each episode. Mostly these shirts appear to be home-made and often feature candid photos of a surprised Bret and/or Jemaine. In the episode "New Fans", a framed sketch depicting a naked male with two heads (Bret's and Jemaine's) can be seen on the wall of her downstairs bathroom.

According to Bret and Jemaine, many of Mel's most memorable lines are direct quotes from real fans.

Australia as nemesis

Australia is featured prominently as a source for the boys' misfortune, serving as the source of an inferiority complex.. In "Bret Gives Up the Dream", the band's performance at a travel expo is outshone by a flashy Australian booth. In "Sally Returns", Jemaine and Bret are dumped by Sally in favor of a rich Australian suitor. In the "Drive-By" episode, Jemaine and Bret are the victims of discrimination because a fruit vendor believes them to be Australian. In the second season episode "The Tough Brets", staff of the Australian Embassy offend Murray by repeatedly insulting New Zealand.

Bret leaving the band

A number of episodes include Bret quitting or getting fired from the band, only to rejoin later. In "Bret Gives up the Dream", Bret is forced out because his job interferes with the band schedule and Jemaine is left to perform alone, accompanied by a tape player. In "Yoko", he quits in support of his girlfriend, whom Jemaine dislikes. Later in the first season, his fluctuating band status starts to be remarked upon. After Murray quits in "What Goes On Tour", Jemaine says "You can't quit the band. Bret usually quits the band". In the episode "The Third Conchord", Bret is explicitly reminded of his erratic status within the band when he is fired in favor of egotistical bongo player Todd.

Murray's lack of musical knowledge

Murray often accidentally reveals that he knows very little about the music industry. He consistently books gigs for the band in the middle of the afternoon in the belief that New York is not safe at night. He did not recognise "Rumours" as a famous Fleetwood Mac album nor "Off The Wall" as a Michael Jackson album. In "Girlfriends", Murray is fooled into believing that a white black-marketeer named A.J. Jones is the brother of Quincy Jones. In "The Third Conchord" he refers to the band "The Police" as "The Policemen," as well as misquoting John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" as "Give Pete a Chance".

Financial failures and incompetence

The band continually fail in their attempts to remedy their poor financial situation. In "Bret Gives Up the Dream" it is revealed the band had $10, but Murray has spent $6 of their money on a strongbox, leaving them with just $4 in savings. In "Bowie", a promising scheme to have their music played in greeting cards emerges, but their poor negotiating skills results in the band receiving just 50 cents in royalties. In "What Goes On Tour", Bret and Jemaine waste their per diems on leather suits instead of "food and necessary items", and blow out the tour expenses with their wastefulness, clumsiness and naïveté with women.

Confusion over nationality

Other characters are commonly confused over Bret and Jemaine's nationality. The plot of "Drive By" is centred around the misconception that New Zealanders are Australian. Their best friend Dave also admits to being unclear on the matter and has at various times described them as English ("Sally", "Drive By", "Mugged"), Scottish ("Drive By") and Irish ("New Fans").

Unsuccessful relationships with women

Bret and Jemaine are depicted as being awkward and inexperienced with women. Bret is naive and innocent, whereas Jemaine is eager, bordering on sleazy. Despite this, Bret is shown as being more successful in relationships than Jemaine. This is demonstrated in the pilot episode, with Jemaine's confusion over how to deal with Sally (who is Brets ex-girlfriend), and again in "Girlfriends", where Jemaine tries dating a girl from a bakery, but ultimately it is Bret who the girl "has sex on". In the episode "What Goes On Tour" they are flirted with, and ultimately duped by, the more sophisticated women of a university water polo team. It is also common for Bret and Jemaine to tag along when one or the other goes on a date.

New Zealand tourism posters

The walls in Murray's office have featured a variety of humorous and odd New Zealand tourism posters. Examples include: "New Zealand...it's not part of Australia", "New Zealand: Don't expect too much - you'll love it", "New Zealand...Cool", "New Zealand: Just like The Lord of the Rings!", "New Zealand...Better than Old Zealand", "New Zealand...Why Not?" and a poster with a photograph of a rocky outcrop superimposed with the slogan "New Zealand...Rocks!!!"

New Zealand accent

Several episodes have featured scenes where the flat vowels of the New Zealand accent have caused confusion. In two different episodes, women with whom Bret spoke thought his name was 'Brit'. Also, in the episode "Mugged," there is an extended sequence where Dave is confused over Murray's pronunciation of the word "dead".

New Zealand culture

New Zealand culture is depicted as quaint or old-fashioned. For instance, a VHS tape (which Murray refers to as a DVD — a "dubbed video dub") from New Zealand television contains an advertisement for the telephone, suggesting that it is still an unfamiliar concept in New Zealand. In "Mugged," Bret tells his mother over the phone that there are "more than four" channels on American television. Characters are often confused about the nature and history of New Zealand. In the episode "Bret Gives Up The Dream," for example, Coco believes that New Zealand has Vikings. In "The Actor" the character Ben refers to New Zealand as an "obscure backwards country that nobody knows anything about."

Bret's clothing

Bret's wardrobe consists of a variety of t-shirts and sweatshirts with unusual designs, many of which feature animals. A number of the shirts and sweaters make regular appearances including Bret McKenzie's "famous" red and black striped top that he has worn many times in "real life" performances. In "The Actor", Bret wears a shirt constructed from an item his character crafted for his ex-girlfriend Sally in a previous episode.

Murray's wife

Murray's somewhat secretive and on-again off-again relationship with his unseen wife Shelley is a feature of several episodes in the latter half of season one. Bret and Jemaine appear to always be unclear or confused about his current marital status. In the episode "The Actor" it was revealed that she left Murray for someone she met online. In "What Goes On Tour", he and his wife are back together but she calls him on his mobile to berate him for using money from their savings account to fund the tour. In "The Tough Brets", Shelley has apparently left him again.

Cake

Cake is repeatedly referenced in the show. Jemaine tries to cheer up Bret by saying "Let's bake a cake" while doing his talking stove routine. In another episode, when Jemaine is bored, Bret tells him to go to Dave's house and bake a cake. Dave rejects a cake that a man tries to pawn at his shop, even though Bret and Jemaine think it was a "beautiful cake." The song Murray sings in the Season 2 premiere episode includes a metaphor of a "cake shop without any cakes".

TV & Internet Ratings

The second season premiere episode has raked in some 250,000 streams in its first 10 days on FunnyOrDie. In 2007, the series received 100,000 views for the first season premiere scored on MySpace.

International broadcasters

Flight of the Conchords is aired on the following stations around the world:

Country	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere
Australia	Network Ten & Channel [V]	May 11, 2008
Brazil	HBO
Canada	MC/TMN (series one) & HBO Canada (series two)	June 17, 2007
Chile	HBO
Denmark	TV2 Zulu	2008
Finland	Canal+,YLE	2007
France	TPS Star	March 22, 2008
Hungary	HBO	March 1, 2008
Iceland	Stöð 2	2008
Mexico	HBO	September 3, 2008
New Zealand	Prime, The BOX	September 17, 2007
Norway	Canal+, NRK3	2007
Philippines	HBO	September 3, 2008
Poland	HBO	August, 2008
Portugal	FX	2007
Spain	TNT	November 19, 2008
Sweden	SVT	June 20, 2008
Thailand	HBO
Turkey	FX	April 2008
United Kingdom	BBC Four	September 25, 2007
United States	HBO	June 17, 2007

External links

• Official HBO site
• Flight of The Conchords myspace
• Flight of the Conchords at IMDb
• Official BBC site
• TV series page on 'What the Folk!' fan site
• AV Club interview with Bret McKenzie on the making of the show
• On set video with Eugene Mirman from Kristen Schaal's video blog on Vimeo
• FoTC Reality Tour (map of NYC locations)
• [2] Feature story on the making of the show