Flight of the Conchords: Season 1
By Bobin, James

3 stars

I just finished watching the first season of HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, and I think that I liked it. It’s kind of hard to tell because this pseudo-reality show is definitely an acquired taste – falling somewhere between Tenacious D and Napoleon Dynamite. Since I really like Jack Black, but am fairly annoyed by Pedro’s buddy, you can see my dilemma.

The show follows two guys from New Zealand named Bret and Jemaine (played by two guys from New Zealand named Bret and Jemaine), as they try to find success in the world of digi-folk music. Even if there were some weird “is this supposed to be funny?” moments, there were still some laugh out loud funny parts. For instance, in one of the episodes the duo gets mugged, but instead of giving up their bike, they morph into the Rhymnoceros and the Hippopotamus and start rapping in the bad guy’s face. That probably wouldn’t be my first response, but hey, they didn’t loose their bike. And not since Kevin Bacon have I so enjoyed the pointless angry dance break. I’m not saying which episode it’s in, you’re just going to have to watch and see for yourself.

If you like novelty musical acts like Tenacious D or are fond of awkwardly funny TV shows a la The Office then this series is for you. Bret and Jemaine are currently out on tour now as The Flight of the Conchords, but it looks like the show was picked up for a second season. Can I handle more zany New Zealand fun? Only time will tell, but I have a feeling that I’ll probably at least try.

- Amanda