A blog about television by TIME’s TV critic James Poniewozik.

JPTV: What I'm Watching Tonight

Weekend travel plans cut in to my weekend TV plans, so I probably won't get around to Entourage until tonight. Feel free to discuss here.

Did quite enjoy Flight of the Conchords, although with the insertion of Business Time, I finally understood what some longtime FOTC fans mean when they've complained that the songs were better in concert. The song was as funny as usual, but it seemed a little shoehorned into the episode (which had to imagine Jemaine shacked up with Sally to give it a context). I'm mostly unburdened with prior FOTC fandom, but Conchords loyalists, feel free to weigh in on this one here.

But the peripheral bits delivered as usual: Mel's pretext of "walking her dog" (without her dog), Murray's interplanetary investment scheme ("Imagine a planet made of--coal!"), culminating in the news that Jemaine's planet went nova millions of years ago. Murray in particular is beginning to grow on me; he a variation on the usual huckster character, hustling and scheming but with a humble, likeable, embarrassed inkling of awareness that he may just be as full of it as he seems to other people. Maybe it's a Kiwi thing. Which reminds me of the ultimate indignity: Sally throwing Bret and Jemaine over--for an Aussie! I had always wondered why my Australian editor was such an early fan of FOTC, but their universe--in which Aussies are burly, confident, world-beating alpha dogs--must be pretty flattering.

You're probably reading this post and saying something like, "Is that it?" I know what're you're trying to say. You're trying to say, "Awww yeah, that's it."

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  • 1

    Just so you know, Zippy or Tzippy is the nickname for the Hebrew, Old Testament name Tziporah so maybe you should look a little farther back for your references than the New Testament. Also, the writing on the wall is also Old Testament, etc.

  • 2

    The thing about the J-Dogg is, you can't put on a leash on the J-Dogg...

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