Flight of the Conchords

I recently bought the full first season of Flight of the Conchords, the HBO series, on iTunes. How I came across these guys goes back to when they were running trailers for the movie Eagle vs. Shark last year and I was like, "hey, who's this awesome British guy?". My coworker was into the trailer as well and I think it was he who eventually corrected me on the origin of the actor in the trailer. He's from New Zealand, not England. Who knew? It's not like we get a lot of people from New Zealand in our American media content stream.

It was some time after that when I came across this video and I recognized the guy from the Eagle vs. Shark trailer right away. I hadn't seen Eagle vs. Shark but I remembered that trailer because of that guy because he's awesome. That's Jemaine Clement and the other guy (without glasses) is Bret McKenzie and they're Flight of the Conchords. They were a stand-up duo/band [read more] in New Zealand who found their way to New York and their own HBO series which I found to be hilarious.

Before seeing the series I had finally seen Eagle vs. Shark and was instantly a mega-fan of Jemaine's dry humor. While that same humor is a part of his character in Flight of the Conchords it wasn't just him that made the show. Bret McKenzie was equally entertaining as Jemaine's friend, flatmate, and co-member of their band, Flight of the Conchords (I'm talkin' about the show here, not just their real lives). In the show, Jemaine and Bret are a broke, unmotivated pair, in a band with no money and no gigs. They've got a band manager, Murray (also from New Zealand), who doesn't know squat about managing a band but does it for some kind of coolness factor (that's what I got out of it). Their one-and-only fan, Mel, is a total freak and they have one friend who's not-so-bright pawn shop owner. The series is basically them slacking along with the band while various interesting things happen to them along the way like dating, being mugged, breaking up the band, reforming the band and going on tour.

Music videos are mixed into each episode that carry the story forward, as in a musical, using songs from their stand-up routine. I had seen most of them on Youtube before I saw the show but seeing them in the show is where they really shine since you can see them as part of the story.

I look forward to seeing more from these guys in the future. Jemaine's IMDB page shows that he's going to be in some movies coming out so I'll be watching for those 'cause he's still the most awesome. So hey, don't take my word for it. Check the show out for yourself. You can download episodes from iTunes for $2 a pop. Have at it, sucka!