“Flight of the Conchords” — The Third Conchord (Season Finale)
Bongo players always get the girl
Before last night’s episode I was talking with a friend about whether or not the season would end with some sort of cliffhanger. The series has never been too concerned with running plotlines (though certainly running jokes). In the end, the Conchords landed right where they had started, but their surroundings had certainly changed. So in that case I guess you could say the season did end with some uncertainty. More after the jump…
As an episode, the show went out on a bit of a whimper — at least compared to the bar they set for themselves early (or even last week’s entry which easily made my top two). There were some good moments. Todd Barry, whose character wasn’t nearly as funny as it probably read on the page, still managed to deliver as everything Todd Barry says in inherently funny to begin with. Brett’s angry dance was way funnier than it had any right to be (though maybe I’m giving him extra points since his dance started about three blocks from my front door). Of course there was also Murray and Mel who delivered as they always do.
Still, I don’t think it’s unfair to say I was hoping for a tad more out of this season finale — like a final appearance by Dave, the only regular character not present in the episode. All that said, props must be given to Flight of the Conchords for achieving something truly remarkable: the creation and execution of a very funny, original, comedic premise on television. The series, thankfully, has already been greenlit for a second season. Whether or not it can maintain its magic for twelve more episodes is another question altogether. I was pleased to see that the later episodes of this season were as strong as those first three, despite having blown through what had to be a good chunk of their stage show. Having a year to produce what they originally had five to accomplish will be quite the feat.
Flight of the Conchords is easily the greatest success story of 2007. Of everything that’s been on HBO over the past decade, this show seemed to have the least amount of fanfare, publicity, and general recognition that it was even on television. While the series was by no means a huge smash in terms of numbers (apparently it loses about a third of Entourage’s lead-in), it had to be the most talked about thing on television in months. Think about it. Big Love, John From Cincinnati, Rescue Me, Mad Men, Damages, they all have had their fans, but they certainly haven’t been a vocal crowd. Flight of the Conchords accomplished the improbable: it was a new comedy that the audience didn’t only find funny but was excited about. For that, bully to them.
It’ll be interesting to see if It’s Always Sunny and Philadelphia will be able to pick up the comedy slack next week or if in its third season the quality will start to wane a bit.
I now open the floor to FotC discussion. Favorite episodes? Favorite songs?
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:38 pm
You live in the East Village?
Seriously, though — I feel like the recent crop of HBO-is-no-longer-relevant stories (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70710FD3C5D0C708EDDA10894DF404482) suggest it might be too early to bill FotC as a total success. Maybe it’s my East Coast media bias talking, but it seems to me like Mad Men has been a bigger hit with the chattering classes.
Not that FotC hasn’t done reasonably well. But I would label its success (like its protagonists) as modest.
September 4th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
^ True. But in that article, as I recall, it talks about how often FotC is viewed through OnDemand, and I think this number compared to other shows, like “Big Love,” was quite high. Kind of like when Nielsen starting tracking numbers for college kids, and shows like “The Office” got a huge boost. I think stats like this are becoming increasingly important as fewer people watch TV a) actually on TV and b) when the show originally “airs.”
Personally, I was very hard on this episode. I like Todd Barry, but he just annoyed me here. And no Dave, wtf?! BUT, I got one of my hardest laughs all season when Brett started to angry dance, and Mel was great in applying her stalking ways to the Crazy Dogs (sp?).
Long story short, it’s been a great season. And I should really be satisfied with a couple strong laughs in one episode. I guess I am. I am satisfied. I said it.
September 4th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I think it’s “Crazy Dogggz” with three Gs and a Z… but I could be wrong.
And yes, no Dave! What was that all about? Also: I had no idea Todd Barry was that tiny… or perhaps that Jermaine and Brett were that freakishly giant.
September 4th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Oh yeah, I laughed at that line: three G’s and a Z.
September 6th, 2007 at 1:56 am
TB is mad tiny, cuz.