Flight of the Conchords Season 2: More of the Same

Aaaaaaaannnnnddddd here’s the review for the second season of The Flight of the Conchords, Season 2. I know you’re thinking, “Hey, this idiot just recently reviewed the other season. He must have no life to review one right after the other.” On some level, cynical version of me, you’re right. I don’t. Part of the life of a college student. But anyways, on to F.O.T.C.

I keep going back and forth between whether the first season is the funnier or if the second season beats it. Yes, a lot of the songs from the first season are funnier, but at the same time, the show hit its stride in the second season. The characters became more comfortable and the budget they got for the second season really shows. Everything looks a little sharper, a little more stylistic, definitely a step up from the first season. But that’s about as far as it goes. Yes, the second season has Sugalumps, but where would that song be without Business Time?

So the beginning of the season starts off with Bret and Jemaine down in the dumps as Murray has taken his Crazy Dogggs to the next level (Yes, 3 G’s) and has gained international fame. This is cut short of course and the guys return to the drudge of the life as a no-name two man novelty band. We get hilarious plots like Jemaine selling his body as a prositute, Bret forms a gang, Jemaine dates an Aussie, and Bret gets freaky. The show ends on a downer note. Flight of the Conchords, for some strange reason, lost its funding and most likely won’t be back. The show ends with Jemaine and Bret back in New Zealand, returning to their lives as shepherds, along with Murray on his tractor. The last episode is great, purely for the homage to Stomp!.

All I have to say about this show is it’s more of the same that comes from the first season. Great guest stars and songs. We get a hilarious Korean karaoke song, Sugalumps, the Tough Brets West Side Story song, Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor, and even Hurt Feelings (the hard and the soft version are both great). Some people may say that they’re not rappers, and that may hurt their feelings, but these guys are comedians and musicians beyond most others. They have a great humor about them and I hope they find success in their future and beyond.

Bret and Jemaine= Greatness

The Flight of the Conchords (Season 1)

I love Flight of the Conchords. They’re a great novelty band. They’re great comedians. They eek awesome. Ever since a few years ago when my friend played “The Distant Future” in the car for me, I’ve fallen in love with the entity that is Flight of the Conchords. I think it might have only been a few days after I heard that song that I went out and bought the first season of the show. And it became one of my favorite shows almost instantaneously.

So plot. Hilarity ensues. Done.

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are Flight of the Conchords, a New Zealand folk band, trying to make in New York City, living out of a small flat. With the help of their band manager/consulate worker Murray, (Rhys Darby) the band tries to find gigs, women, and on-stage glory.

Best part of this show? Music videos hidden in the show as plot. Yes. I don’t say this often but: FTW. Every song gets better and better as the show goes on. Besides The Distant Future, there’s The Most Beautiful Lady (in the Room). Rhymnocerous vs. Hiphopapotamus, Mutha’uckas, and Business Time, one of my all time favorites. In the middle of doing something or as a scene allows, the guys will break out in song, directing their attention to the outside audience, serenading watchers with their hilarious songs. I know I’m writing this many years after the first season and the subsequent release of the second two years later, but a review of the second season will be forthcoming. (I am reviewing this season on my 4th watch.)

Besides the hilarity of Bret, Jemaine, and Murray, we have an all-star backup cast. Arj Barker is ridiculous as the Indian bad ass pawn store owner Dave, Kristen Schaal is always creepy as the Conchords’ obsessed fan, Mel, and Eugene Mirman, a sort of obese Gollum look-alike, always delivers with his occasional lines as the guys’ landlord, Eugene. Even after I just told you all this, I haven’t even given the kicker. Demetri Martin guest stars in the last episode. Okay. Now you can cry with joy.

Every episode is amazing. The Sally episode starts the series off great. There’s the Mugged episode that makes me laugh every time when Murray says “He maybe dead (did).” The Bowie episode is fantastic with a spot-on impersonation of Jemaine as Bowie, Haziz Ansari guest stars as a fruit store owner racist against Kiwis, AND the guys go on tour in airport lobbies and hotels. There’s even an episode based around the Lord of the Rings, the stigmatized view of New Zealand and its association with Tolkien. (Fun Fact: If you own Return of the King, pop that sucker in and go to scene selections. Click on the third scene: Arwen’s Vision and watch it for a while. You should find an elf with two lines, begging Arwen to keep moving. That elf? Bret.)

So what more is there to say about this show. I can’t say enough. This show is redonkulous. Seriously. 10 out of 10. Go out, buy it. Watch it throughn 100 times. You’ll always laugh.

And for your enjoyment, the best song, hands down, from the first season.