The Flight Of The Conchords
The Age
Thursday July 31, 2008
The Flight of the Conchords
Warner, 360 min, M, TV series, 20074/5An American reviewer trying to characterise The Flight of the Conchords suggested imagining "the Monkees filtered through Hal Hartley at his best, with set decoration by Wes Anderson and punch-ups by Steven Wright". That's not a bad starting point for trying to come to grips with what makes the show so quietly, inevitably hilarious. New Zealanders Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie play musicians Jermaine and Bret, members of "New Zealand's formerly fourth-most-popular folk parody duo", whose misadventures have been chronicled in a range of ways over the years. The ABC aired their radio series about the band's attempts to make it in Britain, while ChannelTen has been screening season one of their HBO series about their push into New York, once again under the guidance of their indefatigably officious and incompetent manager Murray (Rhys Darby). There's plenty of deadpan, wry comedy in the this 12-episode, two-disc set, but it's the songs - ballads, raps, love songs, PetShop Boys stylings, Bowie homages, folk duets, children's numbers, all musically deft and lyrically dead-on funny - that drive the show. The only downside is the total absence of extras.No DVD extras
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