Comedy is very subjective so I’m warning you right from the beginning of this review that you might not find FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS to your taste. The set-up is that two struggling musicians from New Zealand travel to New York City to pursue their dreams. But, on arriving in NYC, they mostly struggle. They struggle to find work, they struggle on dates, and they struggle to make sense of the world. It doesn’t help that they’re extremely nerdy and tend to break out into song at the most awkward moments. Some of their songs are hilarious, but many are, frankly, duds. I recommend FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS because I sense the actors and the people behind them are trying something different the way SEINFELD AND FRASIER tried something different. The Conchords are not in that class, but I admire their effort at this time of bland mediocrity filling the airwaves. GRADE: B
Jackie doesn’t like them but I find them amusingly silly enough to enjoy. I used to love the commercials Jemaine did for Outback too.
I think guys like the Conchords more than women do, Jeff. I had forgotten about those Outback commercials that Jemaine did. I liked them, too.
Doesn’t sound like my cuppa, George, but exposure to new things is always welcome.
That’s why I inserted that caveat at the beginning of the review, Rick. Not everyone is going to find the Conchords humorous. A lot of what they do is stupid. But, when they hit the right subject in the right way, they’re hilarious to me.
Does this mean that the guys who do those annoying freecreditreport.com commercials will also get a comedy series?
I sure hope not, Art! But, hey, the Cave Men got their own (short-lived) comedy series so anything is possible.
This is my problem with a show I find amusing, clever and fun at times. Every episode is interchangeable with every other one. It’s static. I think Seinfeld was able to pull off the no lesson, no growth idea, but it wears thin on other shows fifteen years later.
You’re right about THE FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS being static, Patti. That’s one of the big flaws. There’s not a lot of variation. SEINFELD was able to take a comedy formula and vary it slightly from episode to episode to hold the audiences’ interest.