Review/Preview: Flight of the Conchords
Okay, so after some thought (and a mind-numbing day at work), I’ve decided to kick this baby back into active service for the summer as an outlet for some creative energies and alternative to a life of interpreting syntax files for the next several weeks.
Taking it a little easy today (no mp3s today, but I've got some stuff coming up soon for sure), I’m looking for a little feedback (if anyone’s actually out there) on something I’ve come across that is no doubt about to make some waves in the United States. HBO is rolling out a new half-hour comedy series in a few weeks based on the works of a New Zeeland folk-comedy duo known as Flight of the Conchords. I’d never heard of them myself, but find that truly great comedy on TV is hard to find (and often short lived), and straight up musical comedy acts are even tougher to do well (Stephen Lynch and Tenacious D are the only two that come to mind), so I took a look at the first episode currently streaming online.
My verdict? It’s not half bad— a balance of the quiet absurdity and accents of the original version of “The Office” mixed with the random musical numbers and attitude of the original “Tenacious D” show and the classic sketch comedy “Mr. Show,” both of which aired on HBO in the mid-90s. The music is a similar mix—half David Brent, half Jack Black—and a You Tube search revealed much, much more… one Bowie parody in particular managed to walk the line between absurd nonsense and knowing parody really well.
But, to quote the immortal LeVar Burton and “Reading Rainbow”, you don’t have to take my word for it. Take a look at the show at the link below along with some of the YouTube clips and let me know if this is the next big thing or just another comedy flop.
Flight of the Conchords- Pilot Episode
..and On YouTube:
"Business Time"
"Bowie Song"
"Think About It, Think, Think About It"
Taking it a little easy today (no mp3s today, but I've got some stuff coming up soon for sure), I’m looking for a little feedback (if anyone’s actually out there) on something I’ve come across that is no doubt about to make some waves in the United States. HBO is rolling out a new half-hour comedy series in a few weeks based on the works of a New Zeeland folk-comedy duo known as Flight of the Conchords. I’d never heard of them myself, but find that truly great comedy on TV is hard to find (and often short lived), and straight up musical comedy acts are even tougher to do well (Stephen Lynch and Tenacious D are the only two that come to mind), so I took a look at the first episode currently streaming online.
My verdict? It’s not half bad— a balance of the quiet absurdity and accents of the original version of “The Office” mixed with the random musical numbers and attitude of the original “Tenacious D” show and the classic sketch comedy “Mr. Show,” both of which aired on HBO in the mid-90s. The music is a similar mix—half David Brent, half Jack Black—and a You Tube search revealed much, much more… one Bowie parody in particular managed to walk the line between absurd nonsense and knowing parody really well.
But, to quote the immortal LeVar Burton and “Reading Rainbow”, you don’t have to take my word for it. Take a look at the show at the link below along with some of the YouTube clips and let me know if this is the next big thing or just another comedy flop.
Flight of the Conchords- Pilot Episode
..and On YouTube:
"Business Time"
"Bowie Song"
"Think About It, Think, Think About It"
posted by Jeff Lakin at 11:04 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home