Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection

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Rating: TV-MA

Starring:
Jemaine Clement as Jemaine
Bret McKenzie as Bret
Rhys Darby as Murray Hewitt
Kristen Schaal as Mel
Arj Barker as Dave
Frank Wood as Greg
Eugene Mirman as Eugene
David Costabile as Doug

Special Features:
All 22 episodes from the series
Flight of the Conchords: One Night Stand–Never-before-released 30-minute special
Flight of the Conchords: On Air documentary feature
Dave’s pawn shop commercials
New Zealand Consulate meetings with Murray and Greg
Outtakes
Deleted scenes

Other Info:
Widescreen (1.85:1)
DTS-HD MA 5.1 Sound
Spanish and French Languages
Spanish and French Subtitles
Running Time: 690 Minutes

The Details:
The following is the official description of the series:

“Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie – a.k.a. Flight of the Conchords – have been living in New York in the hopes of forging a successful music career. Unfortunately , despite their status as “New Zealand’s 4th Most Popular Folk Parody Duo,’ fame and notoriety continue to elude them. Helping them navigate the strange new world of the Big Apple are Murray, their devoted manager and New Zealand’s Cultural Attache; Mel, their obsessed (and only) fan; and Dave, the local pawn shop owner and de facto counsel for how to assimilate in America. Watch as Bret and Jemaine contend with unrequited love, inept criminals, prostitution, and epileptic dogs, breaking into song as they clumsily try to break into the New York scene.”

“Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection” is rated TV-MA.

Mini-Review:
While I had some familiarity with “Flight of the Conchords,” I never had much of a chance to check it out because I didn’t have HBO. But when this DVD set arrived, I got a chance to view the entire series and I’m glad I did. If I had to describe it to someone that had never seen it before, I’d say it has the quirkiness of a Wes Anderson movie, the off-the-wall humor of “Napoleon Dynamite,” and the music comedy of Weird Al Yankovic. If any of those appeal to you, then you’re a prime candidate to enjoy “Flight of the Conchords.”

The series was enjoyable for me on many levels. The first is the music parodies. Every song Bret and Jemaine sing is from a different music style. Whether it’s rap, 80’s rock, Broadway musical, or folk music, they cover it all. Then there’s the subject matter. “Business Time” is about a married couple and their rather unglamorous lead up to sex. Then there’s a song about Frodo and his ‘evil bling’. Or there’s the song about how the robots have taken over the future and all the humans are dead. All are hilarious and really show off the musical and comedy talents of Clement and McKenzie.

“Flight of the Conchords” is also fun to watch as it depicts the trials and tribulations of a band trying to make it big in New York City. We see Bret and Jemaine deal with an incompetent if not enthusiastic band manager. We see them repeatedly play to empty venues. We see them stalked by their ‘fan club’, a lone woman with mental issues named Mel. Their repeated mishaps are just hilarious to watch.

The series is also fun because we see these New Zealanders learning about American culture. They’re repeatedly mistaken for Australians or Europeans. They’re mugged in New York. They keep seeking love with American women but find themselves coming up short again and again. It’s amusing to see them poke fun at both the U.S. and New Zealand in a loving way.

As you wait for the new season of TV series to start up again, I highly recommend checking out “Flight of the Conchords.” You may find it better than anything that airs on TV this season anyway. Unfortunately, there won’t be a “Season Three” of this series. As an added bonus, this set includes their concert “One Night Stand” which is also a lot of fun.