Eagle vs. Shark vs. Conchords
Fast forward some years and Eagle vs. Shark landed on my desk for review. It was the first experience I had with something from New Zealand. It starred this monotone guy named Jemaine Clement and my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was strange, but midly amusing and it set a new standard (at least in my mind) for comedy.
Move forward even further and I had the pleasure of watching The Flight of the Conchords on HBO this year at E3 in my hotel room. I had never experienced the comedy before and was mildly amused by what it had to offer. Lo’ and behold in the show was Jemaine Clement and his partner in crime Bret McKenzie. Both seemed to work well together and both seemed to hit their comedy cues without a hitch. The most impressive part is that they did this over and over again with each passing episode. That type of comedy chemistry is gold.
The story in the show is that these are two less than known musicians just living life the best way they can from day to day. Their manager Murray is the liaison for the New Zealand council in New York City (whatever that means) and tends to bring out the best and worst in the boys. Added to the trio is a very obsessive friend named Mel who wants to sleep with Jemaine and Bret (more Bret than Jemaine, but apparently she’ll take whatever she can get). Finally, they have a friend named Dave who runs a pawnshop and is the king of bad advice. Beyond that, the characters vary in and out of each episode, but those five are the most solid. What makes this comedy unique from others is that there is original music featured in each episode. You’ll have such hits as ‘Sugarlumps’ and ‘Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor’ to keep your rolling and to keep you jamming. That’s almost an added bonus to an already brilliant comedy.
What’s truly remarkable about this show is that each episode is fresh; there is no drag to the comedy. There aren’t many comedies out there that can brag about that. Such things as Friends or How I Met Your Mother have some dead episodes where the comedy tends to drag. In the second season of The Flight of the Conchords, which is 10 episodes, each episode carries its own weight of comedy that is fresh and nearly unpredictable. For example, in the episode called ‘The New Cup’ the entire episode works around the single idea that Bret’s purchase of a new cup to drink tea in was a bad idea. The cup causes the guys to bounce all the checks they’ve sent in to pay their utilities and eventually causes them to lose their instruments and force them into prostitution. Before they go the gigolo route, they try to pull emergency band funds that Murray had been saving for them, but Murray has received an investment email over the Internet from a prince in Africa (Scam, right?). At the end of the episode, the scam turns out to be legit (which is hilarious), but the boys get arrested for prostitution, which means all the money Murray made goes to bailing them out. During the credits the electricity is turned on in the boys’ house and a series of events causes the $2.79 cup to break; that’s just pure comic genius. This is how the episodes in the season go.
If I had to really critical and find a weak point in the season, it would have to be the episode where the Prime Minister of New Zealand shows up. His presence stretches two episodes (Prime Minister and NewZealandTown) and he sort of brings down the comedy a bit. He talks too fast, he isn’t as funny as the rest of the cast and he sticks out a little bit. He’s like the sixth wheel on a five-wheel vehicle (I know, I couldn’t think of anything else). Thankfully his stay is short and the season ends on a surprising bang as the boys are evicted from their apartment because they were paying their landlord in New Zealand money and not United States funds.
At the end of this season I really wanted more. Rarely, outside of Dollhouse, do I wish there were more episodes from a television show once the season ends, but I can honestly say that’s how I feel about Flight of the Conchords. I just want more and I will have to now purchase HBO on my DirecTV to get that.
Now as far as the features go on this season, here’s what you’re looking at:
– Flight of the Conchords: On Air Documentary Feature
– Dave’s Pawn Shop Commercials
– New Zealand Consulate Meetings with Murray & Greg
– Deleted Scenes
– Outtakes
While not a ton of features here, you get some solid ones. The featurette is damn good. The pawnshop commercials are hilarious as are the outtakes. You’ll find plenty here to keep your gut sore for some time.