Flight of the Conchords (TV Series) Evicted (2009) User Reviews

The Conchords still Rock the Party.

[dunmore_ego · 7/10 · 3 January 2010]

SEASON TWO OVERVIEW

Can the frazzled lightning of FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS ever be re-captured in that bottle? In their second HBO season, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, the eclectic musical parody duo Flight of The Conchords, return with a passion. And a lightning bottle.

Second Season takes one full episode to take flight, starting out a little self-conscious. For the Conchords duo have fallen into that age-old trap of having portrayed out-of-luck guys when they really were - who achieved massive real life success - then had to go back to playing out-of-luck guys again. Knowing that they are not.

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS now have the same good problem that Tenacious D had as a parody act. When The D called themselves "The Greatest Band in the World" at a gig with four people in the audience, it was the greatest gag in the world, but when they reach the Brixton Academy, London, and an amphitheatre of people is agreeing with them, the joke becomes too ironic to deconstruct. So too, when Jemaine and Bret entreat, "Who wants to rock the party?" the correct response should be dead silence. In the episodes, we still see that, but we know that on the live stage, the response would be deafening screams. That ain't right.

No matter how many women DON'T wanna be with you on your TV show, every woman watching your TV show DOES. All this informs our enjoyment of Season Two.

Season Two opens (Ep 1, A Good Opportunity) by taking us out of our Conchords Comfort Zone by making incompetent manager Murray (Rhys Darby) a success. The gold records from his managed band, the Crazy Dogggs, have catapulted him into a high-vaulted office overlooking New York, with our favorite out-of-luck folk band firing him as manager. The dynamic we were accustomed to is lost in this first episode. Betwayed!

Thankfully, CONCHORDS achieves success by the end of Episode 1 - by removing the Conchords' success! Don't fix what ain't broke. Sure enough, Jemaine, Bret and Murray are soon back in Murray's crappy little New Zealand consulate office. Yay!

Thus doth thunder god Thor raise mighty Mjolnir and stoke the lightning. Prepare thy mythic bottle for imminent capture.

By Ep 2, The New Cup, CONCHORDS attains the level of casual absurdity and hilarious incongruity that defined Season One.

As eclectic as they were in Season One, incredibly, The Flight of The Conchords extends their musical range in Season Two - to classical opera (Murray sings the first song of the season in full-throated tenor), Meat Loaf-styled cheesy rock opera (Ep 6, Love is the Weapon of Choice), New Romantic techno (Ep 8, Newzealandtown), and even karaoke in Chinese! (Ep 7, Prime Minister.) Standout tracks: Too Many Dicks (Ep 5, Unnatural Love), Sugar Lumps (Ep 2, The New Cup), We're Both In Love With A Sexy Lady and Epileptic Dogs (Ep 6). And all the surrounding characters get a stab at lead vocals, including their imbecilic pawn shop friend (Arj Barker) to their obsessed fan (Kristen Schaal).

Jemaine and Bret really get their kicks into the guts of Aussies at every hilarious opportunity, the Aussie accent being, "an evil version of our accents"; the Aussie one-night-stand a shallow heartbreaker; the Aussie embassy a bunch of bullying arseholes. But that's okay. New Zealanders only get so competitive because they know we Aussies are superior (!).

Cameos include: Lucy Lawless (looking very robustly MILF indeed), Art Garfunkel (still with that shock of orange hair that hasn't changed since the 60s, a great sport indeed when he has to contend with Jemaine wearing that exact shock of orange as a wig to impersonate him), unfunny Patton Oswalt (actually funny as an Elton impersonator: "I'm not gay, but I am when I'm in character"), Greg Proops (as a talent scout for feminine toothpaste), Jim Gaffigan (as a tiresome BFF).

Before we know it, SEASON TWO is over - there are only ten episodes. Season One was constructed around songs which The Conchords had performed for years. Season Two scaled the heights of Season One with all-new songs, a Herculean effort. Then they themselves expressed doubts about a third season, because I don't think the marketers who are harassing them for the product realize how much incredible creativity goes into a CONCHORDS episode: yet more all-new songs, in intriguing arrangements and styles, constructed around all-new adventures.

And how long can they sustain the underdog gag while being mobbed at their live shows? How long can Gilligan remain on the island? How long can Tony Soprano remain in therapy? How long can the war continue in M.A.S.H.? How much can FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS still rock the party? A lot. But don't tell anyone. That would be the entirely inappropriate response.

--Review by Poffy The Cucumber (for Poffy's Movie Mania).

Season 2: Some weak episodes near the end but still consistently amusing and clever

[bob the moo · 12 April 2009]

The continued adventures of two wide-eyed New Zealanders living in New York plying their trade as musicians under the direction of band manager and employee of the New Zealand consulate Murray. The old problems of small gigs and lack of success remain, along with the same difficulties in regards matters of the heart, but Jemaine and Brett also have issues surrounding their image, politics, "beef" with rappers and earning cash on the cold city streets.

It has been a while since season 1 of Conchords came around and won over a lot of viewers by way of its very slight gentle humour, buoyed up by the invention and wit shown in the writing. Like many people I came to season 2 quite looking forward to it but I did keep in my head the knowledge that the show is not 30 Rock (which I had just watched two seasons of ahead of starting Conchords). I say this because I have picked up that many people who are disappointed with season 2 seem to discuss it while gushing about how hilarious and perfect season 1 was. While this is a matter of opinion, I cannot help feel that the fresh success of Conchords has perhaps affected people's memory so that it is remembered as being something different than it actually was – perhaps something where belly-laughs were coming every other minute and the whole thing was a hoot. Although this happens, it is not the vibe of the show and the fact that season 2 doesn't deliver that is not a "failing" so much as "business as usual".

This is not to say that season 2 is as good as season 1 was – because it isn't, although it is close. Most of the episodes are cleverly done with a general sense of awkward amusement that drew me into the show in the first place. As before the comedy is done so that we do not mock the characters in a cruel way but rather enjoy them for their ways and naivety. The songs do not have the highs of season 1 but they are more consistent, with only one or two weaker ones. I think this comes from them being written into the show whereas in S1 it occasionally felt like an existing song had been forced into the show whether it worked or not. The season does have one or two weaker episodes as well but generally the standard is high, with the same qualities as season 1. Of course this means that those who don't get the light comedy will continue to wonder what all the fuss is about.

The cast continue to be great because everyone "gets" the style of comedy. Clemt and McKenzie are great again, both in regards songs and other material. Good to see Darby get more use this time because his "supporting" character is very funny, as is his delivery. Similarly Schall, Barker and Costabile remain a delight on the sidelines. The guest stars are not massive and don't feel like a cry for attention even if Garfunkel and Rajskub do work well in their episode.

Some have laid into season 2 for being disappointing but generally it is good – it is only the final three or so episodes that really tail off. These are weak episodes with weaker songs but mostly it is a continuation of the charmingly light comedy of season 1 with the same wit and invention in the writing. It rarely has me rolling on the floor laughing but it nails the consistent amusement and sense of joy that keeps me coming back for more. I'm not sure if there will be a season 3 or not but, if there is, hopefully the new setting of New Zealand will bring with it a fresh feel and improved material.