Flight of the Conchords (TV series)
Flight of the Conchords is an American sitcom that was first shown on HBO on June 17, 2007. The show follows the adventures of a struggling two-man band from New Zealand, as its members seek fame and success in New York City. The show stars the duo of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who also perform as real-life musical comedy act Flight of the Conchords. In the series, they play fictionalised versions of themselves and their band. A second season was announced on August 17, 2007 and shown from January 18, 2009. On December 11, 2009, the duo announced that the series was not going to be returning for a third season.[1]
Flight of the Conchords
- Jemaine Clement
- Bret McKenzie
- Rhys Darby
- Kristen Schaal
- Arj Barker
United States
English
2
22 (list of episodes)
- James Bobin
- Stu Smiley
- Troy Miller
Anna Dokoza
26 minutes
June 17, 2007 –
March 22, 2009
Throughout its run, Flight of the Conchords received positive critical reviews, with its second season scoring 80/100 on Metacritic. The show received 10 Emmy Award nominations, including "Outstanding Comedy Series" and "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" for Jemaine Clement, both in 2009.
Plot[edit]
The series centers on the day-to-day lives and loves of two shepherds-turned-musicians, Jemaine and Bret (Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, playing fictionalized versions of themselves), who have uprooted themselves from their native Wellington to try to make it big as a folk duo in New York City. The two have frequent appointments with their officious and ineffectual band manager, Murray Hewitt (Rhys Darby), a Deputy Cultural Attaché at the New Zealand Consulate. 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 Mohumbhai (Arj Barker) works at a pawn shop and gives them advice on dealing with American women and culture. Other recurring characters include landlord Eugene (Eugene Mirman), love interests Coco (Sutton Foster) and Sally (Rachel Blanchard), Mel's husband Doug (David Costabile), and Murray's consulate subordinate Greg (Frank Wood).
Jemaine or Bret break into song in each episode. The songs are built into the narrative structure of the show in several different ways. Some songs form part of the plot of the show. In these instances, Bret or Jemaine sing 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 thoughts and his spoken invitations to Sally to get a kebab and to go back to his place. The music video for "Business Time" (from "Sally Returns") depicts a daydream that Jemaine is having. As the series evolved, other main characters such as Murray and Mel have also had their own musical interludes.
History[edit]
The show was created by Clement, McKenzie and James Bobin, and was based on the successful improvised 2005 BBC Radio 2 radio series of the same name.[2] Bobin served as the show's main writer and director. The first episode of the series aired on HBO on June 17, 2007. The series received 100,000 views for the first-season premiere scored on Myspace.[3]
On August 17, 2007, HBO announced a second season for Flight of the Conchords, originally set to premiere in 2008,[4] 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".[5] McKenzie stated that the 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".[6] 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 hometown of Wellington to write for the second season,[7] although the writing process was delayed by the 2007–2008 Writers Strike.
Filming for the 10-episode second series began in September 2008.
The second season of the show premiered on January 18, 2009 on HBO. It gathered 250,000 streams in its first 10 days on FunnyOrDie.com. Unlike the first season, the second season was filmed and broadcast in High Definition.
In Australia, the second season of the show first aired on June 8, 2009 on SBS. SBS also made the episodes available for streaming (from within Australia only).[8] The DVD of the second season was released in Australia on July 29, 2009.[9]
On December 11, 2009, McKenzie and Clement announced that the show would not return for a third season. Clement had previously stated that writing the show took up a great deal of time.[1] During a 2016 interview, McKenzie said they had decided to end the show because it had "basically stopped being fun. It really wasn't a decision about money. It was definitely a decision about enjoying our lives.”[10]
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
Flight of the Conchords received generally positive reviews from critics. Season 1 has a 68/100 rating based on 15 reviews on Metacritic, and season 2 has an 80/100 rating, based on 10 reviews.[13] Detroit Free Press spoke positive of the series, describing it as "TV's most original and irresistible new comic concoction,"[14] and San Francisco Chronicle wrote that it "may well be the funniest thing you've seen in ages."[15]
In 2019, Flight of the Conchords was ranked 65th on The Guardian's list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century.[16]
Awards[edit]
At the 12th Satellite Awards, the show was nominated for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.
The duo of Clement and McKenzie was awarded with the status of 2007 Wellingtonians of the Year after their international success blossomed that year.
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".
At the 60th Writers Guild of America Awards in 2007, the show was nominated for three awards – Best Television: Comedy Series, Best Television: Episodic Comedy Series (for "Sally Returns") and for Best Television: New Series. At the 2007 Television Critics Association Awards, the show received 2 nominations – Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and Outstanding New Program of the Year.
At the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, the show was nominated for six awards – Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (for the episode "The Tough Brets"), Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Jemaine Clement), Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (for the song "Carol Brown"), Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (for the episode "Prime Minister").