"we're not invincible we're vincible"

I've spent the last week or so rationing myself to one episode per day of Flight of the Conchords Series 1 and finally finished today. I never managed to catch it before due to Channel Ten's poor programming and my lack of TV recording equipment (a situation that we are all aware is now remedied).

It was a little half hour haven of absurd, low key musical television comedy bringing relief to some crazy busy work days. How I loved the repetitive and band meetings with Murray, the pedantic cultural attache at the New Zealand consulate in New York, who is "managing" the band on the side, as this slightly scruffy folk pop parody duo, Bret and Jemaine, try to make their musical way in the Big Apple. Each meeting goes something like this:

Murray: "Bret?"
Bret: "Present"
Murray: "Jemaine?"
Jemaine: "Present"
Murray: "Murray?...Present".

All the while Murray makes meticulous notes in pencil on his yellow legal pad ("No gigs"). Other delights were the ongoing satire of the mistaking of Australians and New Zealanders, the thickness of the New Zealand accents, the ignorance of Arj Barker as their friend Dave as to where the Conchords actually come from ("England or somewhere"), the notoriety of Lord of the Rings as the only other thing people might recognise NZ for, and Kristen Schaal as Mel, their one and only slightly unhinged fan.

Best of all is the way in which they have come up with a twisting of the comedy genre by incorporating elements of music theatre and music video, using the capacity of television to magically morph from straightforward narrative to fantastic production numbers of song and dance. Indeed Bret's angry dancing in the final episode (echoing I thought both Flashdance and Billy Elliot, although I could be wrong) was a sight to behold. Example, this was hilarious:




This however, was my favourite scene of all. Warning: if you are a serious LOTR fan you may find the following scene offensive.


Oh..and the title of this post...a great line. We are all indeed most vincible. No-one is invincible.