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Flight Of The Conchords: The Complete First Season
R4 - Australia - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Stevie McCleary & Noor Razzak (2nd March 2008). |
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The Show
 I first met Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement from “Flight of the Conchords” back in 1999. I was in a play about a water shortage being blamed on gypsies (don’t ask) and the director brought in her boyfriend to teach us the songs that he and his friend had written for it. And what a pair of nice guys they were. Much laughter was had as they taught us such ballads as ‘Dirt Draught’ and some other ones I can’t remember after 9 years. The play was called “The Rain on D’Wayne” and, shocking title aside, launched the career of more than one Wellington based comedian. But I’d always remember those funny unknown guys who were so friendly and helped us make the play even more fun to be apart of… Fast forward a few years and “Flight of the Conchords” have exploded-big time internationally. As of this writing they have just won their first Grammy (for ‘Best Comedy Album’), have almost completed their first album and are in the process of writing the second season of their TV show. So, after years of watching them perform live, learning and loving the songs, and having several New Zealand TV stations pass on making a show with them; how does an entire American show based around them hold up? It holds up incredibly well, if you must know. Incredibly well. The premise behind “Flight of the Conchords” Season One follows Bret and Jermaine, two naïve New Zealanders, through 12 episodes as they try to hit it big with their band in America. Joined faithfully by their band manager Murray (Rhys Darby, who almost completely steals the show at times) who works at the New Zealand Consulate, and often by Mel (Kristen Schaal) who is their number one (and only) fan, they attempt every trick in the book to get more gigs, more fans…more of everything really. All the while breaking into kooky songs and displaying a dry sense of humour that is almost unparalleled. Stand out episodes include: all of them. I seriously mean that, they are just that good. You can pick up any episode of the show and enjoy the heck out of it. There are a few plot threads that carry through all of them but any of the episodes make for an excellent starting point. If I had to say, the episodes where Bret gets mugged, the one where they have to deal with an out of control actor, and the time they had to deal with anti-Kiwi hysteria are all stand-outs. But even choosing those three was hard enough. Probably partially due to the fact they have performed for years all over the world, mastering what they do, there are no weak episodes at all. How many first season shows can say that? Having said that, the brilliant musical interludes are sometimes products of the story and at other times obviously shoehorned in because they liked a certain song. This works just as well though as a fan favorite episode shows when Bret talks with David Bowie in a dream, something that is very random and probably just an excuse for Jemaine to dress up and put on a hilarious Bowie accent. But the randomness works just as well as their oh-so-dry humour does. Stand out songs include the aforementioned “Bowie”, “Business Time” (I was there the first time they played that live!), “Prince of Parties” and personal favorite, “Cheer Up, Murray”. They hit so many different styles of songs that it is easy to find yourself humming each one. That’s the main thing that makes the music as good as it is that they approach them seriously; they don’t do ‘comedy songs’ they do proper songs that happen to be really funny. That, along with the charming naivety of their characters, is the main reason for their success. I cannot recommend this show enough. It somehow manages to be sweet, charming, funny and entertaining all at the same time. This is premium quality stuff right here, ladies and gentlemen. Listen up: don’t miss out on the best thing going today. Watch this and fall in love with “Flight of the Conchords” like everybody else over the planet is...and rightfully so too. It couldn’t have happened to two nicer guys.
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 1.78:1 this anamorphic transfer is a solid effort, and looks a touch better than when originally broadcast. The image is sharp and nicely detailed, skin tones appear natural and colors are rendered well. Blacks are nice and bold and the overall image is clean and free from specks. It's exactly what you'd expect from such a recent release.
Audio
The only audio track is in English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, while the Region 1 counterpart has been released with a surround track I was a little dissapointed with this downgraded sound mix. While the dialogue is clear and distortion free I felt the musical numbers could have been given an added boost with a surround track or even a 5.1 mix. The episodes lack depth in their sound but it's not exactly a terrible sound mix either. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
Warner Brothers has released this season bare of any supplements.
Overall
Although the show is excellent we were let down by the lack of any extras.
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