Some interesting news reported in Q Magazine. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie say the second series of their HBO series Flight of the Conchords will be their last. Fan sites are saying this is a sad development but I think otherwise.
The first series, in which Bret and Jemaine played themselves as a struggling Kiwi band trying to make it in New York, was quite simply the most wonderful piece of Wellington entertainment ever to come out of America. The effort that went in to the writing, the songs and the acting really showed. It’s not something two such genuinely original people could churn out year after year, especially as they want to broaden their experience.
They told Q they were struggling with the “difficult” second series, which will have 10 episodes (the first had 12). Said Jemaine: “We’ve got a lot of half-songs. We’ve got an album’s worth of beginnings of songs.” Added Bret: “The second series seems to me like it would be a good end to the show. I feel like another 10… that will be enough.”
By ending the show while it is such a hit, they will remain the legends they have become.
I can’t find the Q interview online but there is a story about it in the Herald.
When TVNZ turned down their pitch to make Conchords here, after the BBC got them to make a radio series in 2005 that had much the same format, I thought it an appalling snub. I’ve changed my mind. The HBO series was so good and so original, it could not have been made here. What is appalling is TVNZ (and TV3)ignoring the series once it was made, thus allowing it to be screened late on a Monday night on the low-rating Prime.
5 Comments
August 31, 2008 at 11:02 am
I think TVNZ did us a favour. Think Father Ted made by an Irish TV company.
September 1, 2008 at 11:49 am
Thanks for the heads-up…maybe they’ll come back after a longer break.
September 1, 2008 at 3:06 pm
any idea when the new season is supposed to show?
[Poneke adds: Jemaine and Bret have said it will start in January 2009 on HBO. I haven't seen any update from that.]
September 1, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Well done them, MASH this will not be, or Friends. Think more Fawlty Towers. That is integrity and wanting to be good.
September 2, 2008 at 10:06 am
In the Q Magazine article they mention that it’s quite a slog working in TV if you want to get the material just right, and that may have taken its toll:
They were – or are – perfectionists. ‘So many times we would see a first edit and go, Oh my god, what have we done?’ says Clement.
‘TV is more work than radio,’ says [British co-writer and director on the series] James Bobin. ‘They were not expecting 5am starts, 10-hour days, seven days a week for five months. They found that pretty tiring’
‘Touring is nothing compared to making a show,’ says McKenzie. ‘We were unbelievably burned out’
On the plus side, I’m definitely going to see them play at the O2 (fmr. Millennium Dome) in January if the gig goes ahead!