Flight of the Conchords: You Are the Critic!
HBO has put the entire first episode of its new comedy series, Flight of the Conchords, online at MySpace. [Update: it's also at hbo.com, but oddly, with fewer bells and whistles.] The premise: "New Zealand's fourth most-popular folk parody duo" seek success and cheap dates on New York's Lower East Side. Give it a half-hour of your time and then let's discuss.
[Waits. Drums fingers on desktop. Finds a pile of unopened mail and sorts it. Files receipts for expense report. Goes to get an iced coffee. Checks e-mail. Looks at watch...]
OK! Funny, or what? Based on the premise and the enigmatic promos, I had absolutely no expectations for this show. But it had me from the first musical number, "Most Beautiful Girl in the Room," which had me thinking that somebody must have listened to Beck's Debra once or twice. ("I want to get with you/ Only you/ And your sister/ I think her name's Debra") Like Beck's song, the Conchords number works because it's not only funny--"I can't believe/ That I'm sharing a kebab with the most beautiful girl I have ever seen/ With a kebab"--but it's actually a pretty great slow-burn funk ballad. It's a song Prince would have written, if Prince ever had to settle for more-attainable women.
In fact, the only thing that worried me about this pilot episode is that it might be too good. A lot of pilots from comedians and comedy acts manage to blow through every good idea the performer has had in the first episode, and then the remaining ones sit there limp like Michigan J. Frog failing to sing "Hello My Ragtime Gal."
But HBO sent me three more episodes of the show--see, there is still an advantage to being a pro TV critic--and they hold up. It's slacker comedy at its finest: the duo scrounge and cadge their way through menial jobs and piddling gigs, abetted by a sleazy manager (who runs their career part-time during his day job at a New Zealand cultural center) and their fan base, which consists of one terrifyingly obsessed, married neighbor. The song parodies are brilliant, ranging from Marvin Gaye soul to Pet Shop Boys '80s rap. And, of course, robot rock operas:
It's an underachiever's Entourage. If you watched the clip and disagree, tell me why. And if you haven't, go now! Fly like Conchords!
-
1
I'm so excited....I'm totally watching this tonight after work and before Lost...
-
2
Yes, they have heard Debra. And watched Extras. And Tenacious D. But all those things are good so who cares? Do you remember the short-lived Austin Stories on MTV? That was good slacker comedy, when "slacker comedy" was still fresh.
-
3
Well, any show produced by Stu Smiley (who was the National Security Advisor who thought up the idea of making Canada "the enemy" in Roger Moore's Canadian Bacon) has to be good...
-
4
Well, I watched the whole thing... and while I found it watchable, it seemed too "improvised" to me --- I kept thinking that what I was watching were two "saturday night live" characters that I was supposed to be familiar with and who were on the cusp of wearing out their welcome. (kind of like the New Zealand equivalent of Steve and Doug Butabi -- and god help them if they try to parody Haddaway and start bobbing their heads)
But i'll probably watch it, based on your recommendation, the fact that they're going to do a Pet Shop Boys parody...and because I'm already paying for HBO.
-
5
It's not just a slacker comedy. I think that labeling it as such does the show a disservice. Every episode of the show is a musical, and unlike Cop Rock, that could be this show's best quality. The songs are elevated above the admittedly juvenile exploits of Tenacious D (funny as they may be) because of their subtlety, and because of the band's dead-pan delivery. It seems that of all the musical stand-up acts I've ever seen Flight of the Conchords is the best.
What other group could get away with a whimsical fairy tale song about Albi, the racist dragon?
Certaintly not Tenacious D. -
6
FOTC is a half hour of laid back awesomeness every week. I saw the pilot for free on Yahoo TV and was hooked. It seemed like a, maybe, two-episode joke, but it keeps getting better. I've never seen New York portrayed this way on TV--they way it REALLY IS for most of us who spend time there--shoebox apartment, poor, stinky, yet exciting and fun.
-
7
I think HBO's since taken down the free streaming episodes you mentioned in this blog. Youtube seems to have just about every piece of every show chopped up into a million pieces but it'll hold me over until the season one dvd is delivered from amazon. I (shamlessly) just spent about 80 dollars on http://www.ConchordClothing.com too buying random shirts worn by the guys in the show. There's just something wonderful about them.
- poniewozik @carr2n Virgin is the best, LAX-JFK - 16 minutes ago
- poniewozik Did NPR interview abt multiscreen multitasking. After, automatically reached for iPhone in pocket. Like don draper wd have for cigarettes. - 1 hour ago
- poniewozik webinar #PleaseKillThisWord - 2 hours ago
Most Popular »
- Best of the Decade: Sci-Fi Movies
- Is Harry Reid Burning Out?
- How Will Obama Pay For Stimulus 2.1? (or 3.0, 3.1, whatever you want to call it)
- The Health Reform Abortion Wars, Part Deux
- War of the Supermen: Q&A With Matt Idelson
- Quinnipiac: Obama Gets Bump on Afghanistan
- Economists Growing More Wary of the Senate Health Bill
- How to Outsmart a Debt Collector
- Best of the Decade: Gadgets
- "How Will Dave Ever Make Fun of Sex Scandals Again?"
- The Truth Behind the Leaked Climate-Change E-Mails
- Tiger Woods Must Face His Fans' Moral Outrage
- Mexico Witness Protection: Corrupt Program, New Killings
- Helicopter Parents: The Backlash Against Overparenting
- Taiwan: World's Lowest Birthrate Could Affect Society
- Creating Jobs: Can Obama Government Boost Employment?
- How Strong Is the Evidence Against Amanda Knox?
- Suspect Headley: Pakistani Terrorist Group Going Global?
- Humanure: Goodbye, Toilets. Hello, Extreme Composting
- Study: Parents' Sex Talks with Kids Happening Too Late
Quotes of the Day »
RSS