Flight of the Conchords (TV series)

Plot

Episodes

Season 1 (2007)

Season 2 (2009)

History

Cast

Main characters

• Jemaine Clemaine is one member of Flight of the Conchords, who sings and plays bass, and is also Bret's roommate. He rarely smiles or laughs, and typically overthinks even the most mundane situations.
• Bret McClegnie is the other member of Flight of the Conchords, who sings and plays guitar, and is also Jemaine's roommate. He often wears dated-looking animal T-shirts. He is mellow and more in touch with his feelings than Jemaine.
• Murray Hewitt is the manager of Flight of the Conchords. His day job is Deputy Cultural Attaché at the New Zealand consulate in New York City. He has few friends and is estranged from his never-seen wife, Shelley. While he is passionate about the band and aspires to be a successful manager, he lacks basic competence in the field. He consistently fails in his efforts to promote the Conchords, and is not helped by his naivety and general ignorance of the music industry. For example, he opines that "you don't hear of professional musicians with long hair," and is unaware of the proper name of the bass guitar.
• Mel is the Conchords' lone fan and stalks them in pursuit of a romantic liaison, despite the fact that she is married to Doug. She is a Junior Professor of Psychology at a nearby university. Mel has been through legal trouble for stalking.
• Devjeet "Dave" Mohumbhai is a friend of Bret and Jemaine. He works at his father's pawn shop, Mohumbhai & Son, and dispenses off-kilter advice about women and life in America. He lives with his parents, though he tries to cover it up by pretending they are his crazy roommates who just think they are his parents. Bret and Jemaine overestimate Dave's worldliness, and they often seek his advice on topics ranging from relationships to racial tensions.

  Recurring characters

• Greg is Murray's subordinate at the consulate. Murray often uses Greg as a scapegoat, in the face of which Greg remains stoically unflappable.
• Eugene is Bret and Jemaine's landlord, who often inserts himself into conversations of which he is not a part. He is often seen involved performing maintenance in the building and in Bret and Jemaine's apartment. He has admitted to breaking into the apartment at night and kissing Jemaine while he sleeps. Eugene appears in several musical sequences, displaying proficiency in such instruments as saxophone and steel drum.
• Doug is Mel's husband and is often seen by her side. At one time, he was Senior Professor of Psychology at a nearby university, where Mel was a student, but lost his job for starting a relationship with her, and is now unemployed. Doug and his family had a restraining order against Mel at one point before he married her, and he also had a problem with addiction at some point in the past.
• Coco is Bret's girlfriend for part of the first season. Bret and Coco meet while working as part-time sign holders. When she learns that Bret still has feelings for Sally, Coco ends her relationship with him. Coco is the subject of the songs "Boom" and "If You're into It."
• Sally dated Bret before the events of the series, and later dates Jemaine. She eventually accepts a marriage proposal from a rich Australian. Sally is the subject of the songs "The Most Beautiful Girl," "Not Crying" and "Business Time."
• John is a mugger and all-around ne'er-do-well. He mugs Bret and Jemaine, but then befriends Jemaine while they share a jail cell. Later on, he and Jemaine stage a mugging of Bret, in an attempt to make Bret look cool in front of a girl. It does not go as planned. John once killed a monkey, an act of which he is deeply ashamed.
• Bryan is the laid back, uncouth Prime Minister of New Zealand. Showing little interest in the affairs of his country, Bryan prefers to occupy his time with pointless capers in the United States. He introduces himself by saying "Hi, I'm Bryan, the Prime Minister of New Zealand". He is fond of beer and sleeping, and is easily influenced by recently-watched films, such as Cars and The Matrix.
• The unnamed Australian Ambassador to the United States antagonizes the main characters on more than one occasion.

  One-time characters played by notable performers

• Fruit Vendor, a man who sells fruit outside of Bret and Jemaine's apartment, but refuses to sell fruit to them because he is "racist". He starts a "race war" with Bret and Jemaine after Bret confronts him. The three come to friendly terms after it is revealed that his animosity was due to confusing the boys for Australians. Episode: "Drive By"
• Isabella, a man who tries to pawn a cake to Dave. Episode: "Sally"
• David Armstrong, manager of a greeting card company with which the Conchords sign a recording contract. Episode: "Bowie"
• Fruit Stand Patron, a man who is served before Jemaine and Bret, although he was behind them in line, due to the fruit vendor's bigotry. Episode: "Drive By"
• Club Owner, who turns the band away from a scheduled gig due to their reputation for causing damage. Episode: "What Goes on Tour"
• Club MC, the MC of the Tuesday World Music Jam at which the Conchords play. He introduces them as "Flute of the Commodores" and ushers them quickly off stage several bars into "Rock the Party". Episode: "New Fans"
• Martin Clark, head of an agency that hires Bret and Jemaine to write a jingle for a new, "women-only" toothpaste. Episode: "A Good Opportunity"
• Obnoxious Australian, a deputy to the Australian ambassador to the United States who makes fun of Murray and Jemaine. Episode: "The Tough Brets"
• Demetri, a keytar player who teams up with Todd to form "The Original Flight of the Conchords" and "Crazy Dogggz."
• Keitha, an Australian woman with whom Jemaine falls in love and plans to elope, but tricks him and robs their apartment while he's waiting for her. Episode: "The Third Conchord"
• Bouncer, who leads an all-male conga line in a nightclub. Episode: "Unnatural Love"
• Elton John impersonator, whom Bret and Jemaine meet while impersonating Simon & Garfunkel. Episode: "Prime Minister"
• Art Garfunkel, who saves Jemaine from a woman who makes him dress up like Art Garfunkel and have sex with her, an act known as "Garfunkeling." Episode: "Prime Minister"
• Paula, a New Zealand tourism official and old friend of Bryan, the Prime Minister. Episode: "New Zealand Town"
• Ben, a dry cleaner and semi-professional actor hired by Bret and Jemaine to impersonate a record executive. Episode: "The Actor"
• Brahbrah a.k.a. Barbara, a woman who is looking for her missing epileptic dog, and with whom both Bret and Jemaine fall in love. She is the subject of the song "We're Both in Love with a Sexy Lady." Episode: "Love Is a Weapon of Choice"
• Felicia and Lisa, two women working at a French bakery. Episode: "Girlfriends"
• Jim, Murray's friend, introduced to Bret and Jemaine as part of Murray's plan to elevate Bret and Jemaine on his friendship graph. Episode: "Murray Takes It to the Next Level"

  Reception

Critical reception

Awards

Filming locations

Feature film