Contributed Photo

Contributed Photo

After many fans waited impatiently to hear of a second season, the return of ‘Flight of the Conchords’ on HBO’s Sunday night gives hope to non-glamorous television shows everywhere.

The first season of ‘Flight’ gave us insight to the characters, and, what awesome characters they are. The two main characters, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, are playing themselves as part of a New Zealand folk rock band that has visibly no chance of making any money through their music. (Despite the fictitious ‘Flight of the Conchords’ repeated failures at success, the band actually was a comedic musical duo before the show started, thus leading to the creation of the show.)
As characters, Bret and Jemaine are very unaware of how things in the music business, and the world, actually work, and because of this, are put into many strange predicaments. Instead of being about a band’s rise to stardom, the show plays off random situations the band encounters, such as McKenzie quitting and rejoining the band again and again, being mugged and playing in a ‘central park’ in Newark, not Central Park in New York. In the show, they rarely even play performances in front of people, even with the help of their quirky manager, Murray.
What’s truly magnificent with the show, if you have been living under a rock and haven’t seen it yet, is that it somehow makes the mundane seem meaningful, but then it just has you laughing at the fact that something so minimal can make you laugh so hard.’ Also, the show is unlike any other because while it so down-to-earth in a way, it is completely ridiculous. Per show, McKenzie and Clement will jump into singing original songs, dealing with a situation, controversy or problem at hand, and most songs prove to be insanely bizarre.’ ‘

The second season seems to be taking an interesting turn with the debut of its first episode, and perhaps McKenzie and Clement will see some success in the sophomore round (as long as McKenzie keeps his goodies in his pants.) Hopefully, though, even in a dead-pan comedy show like this, the second season will be able to take us into new exciting territories. In the interim of the seasons, Murray’s character has seen the most change, through a short-lived success by a band that appeared late in the first season. The first episode of the second season thus deals with Murray’s demise, as he discovers that his band ‘Crazy Dogggz’ hit song ‘Doggy Bounce #1′ was completely stolen from a 13-year-old Polish song.’

The greatest moment of the episode, though, was when we found out McKenzie and Clement are illegally in America and have to run out of a gig in which they were writing and performing a jingle for ‘Femident,’ a women’s only toothpaste. The great exchange with the executives on green cards provides hope for great dialogue, while the quick action of the get-a-way to escape should be the first of many dramatic sequences in the second season.’ Perhaps this foray into actually getting a gig is a first of many, and although there is no sign of romance yet, perhaps McKenzie and Clement will find some ladies.’

Mel continues to be one of the greatest characters ever on television (even though she usually only makes brief appearances in each episode) when she leads a protest against the Crazy Dogggz outside of Murray’s office. Interviews with the cast said that Mel will be singing a song for the first time this season, which should prove to be no short of amazing.
Despite a strange commencement with Murray singing an operatic ballad, the first episode made will make you laugh-out loud, but in the style of the show, most jokes will make you chuckle to yourself politely.

If you’ve never seen the show before, I would recommend watching the first season first. Because the show may take you some getting used to, as it is very different than anything else on TV,’ I would also suggest you give yourself sometime to appreciate the nature of the humor in the show.’ Once you watch a few episodes, I guarantee you’ll be charmed.

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