AN ENJOYABLE FLIGHT TO COMEDY
Gone are the days when geeks get bullied around the schoolyard or get laughed at by highly made-up girls. The societal perception on these highly intelligent people has undergone a 180-degree turn. Before: geeks are bleah! Today: geeks are yeah!
The recent popularity of several TV series with geek protagonists is a 20-20 vision proof that people with offbeat hairstyles, inept social skills, and boundless intellectual pursuits are now bankable stars. There’s Johnny Galecki in The Big Bang Theory, Michael Cera in Arrested Development, Rainn Wilson in The Office, and of course, Adam Brody, whose self-effacing and comic book-loving character Seth Cohen in The O.C., can be considered the godfather of this sudden offspring of cool geeks.
But just when you thought that TV won’t need another geek-starred show, enter the latest product from the HBO masterpiece factory: Flight of the Conchords.
The comedy series follows the day-to-day misadventures of the real-life folk-rap duo from New Zealand, Flight of the Conchords, as they aspire to create a fan base in the United States, particularly in New York. The show stars Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who portray a fictionalized version of themselves.
Clement and McKenzie are naïve and in-denial geeks as they project to be part of the cool crowd with their music, which they deem as off-the-hook, but in reality, is just off, period. Their monotonous speaking, expressionless features, and drab fashion sense do not help them as well in their hopes to have a more normal or popular personality.
The show airs every Wednesday on HBO at 10:30 p.m.
The stories may not be too original since they basically revolve around the value of friendship, but the overall concept and intelligent writing will surely make you forget about the show’s predictability. The clever lines and tongue-in-cheek humor make the show funny and smart-two characteristics that geeks usually possess. Clement and McKenzie are not exactly Oscar material, but they can sure work up the idiot box with their delivery, timing, and chemistry.
The script is quintessential English humor and that works 23687 out of 10 times so that part is crossed out on the what-to-hate list. If there’s one thing you should hate about the show, it’s the duration. Thirty minutes is simply not enough. Just when you’re anticipating another hilarious bit, the closing credits is suddenly plastered on the screen. It’s like getting ambushed by the smell of a garbage truck while you’re leisurely driving with windows down on a bright sunny day.
The best part of each episode is when Clement and McKenzie ebulliently break into songs which are connected to the plot. The duo instantly deviate from their monotone character in their recurring 40-second musicals as they sing and dance like they’re in a pop music video. The songs showcase their seemingly freestyle parody rapping style and are accompanied by upbeat folk guitar riffs and bass lines.
Like most rap songs, the lyrical composition of the two-man band is what stands out the most in their music, and well, their so-called rap names as well: Clement likes to be called Hiphopatamus, while McKenzie prefers Rhymenocerus. Their lyrics are simply comedic masterpieces. For example: “I'm the Hiphopatamus/My lyrics are bottomless...(long pause)...They call me the Hiphopatamus/Flows that glow like phosphorous/poppin' off the top of this esophagus/rockin' this metropolis/I'm not a large water-dwelling mammal/Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis?/Did Steve tell you that, perchance?” If that doesn’t sound like a geek-rap, then I don’t know what it is.
It’s hard to imagine geeks ruling television forever. Geek-themed shows will soon get trampled by the TV bullies again and they will just be another footnote in the rich history of the boob-tube. But in the meantime, enjoy the Flight of the Conchords as it provides mind-blowing and brilliant comedy. As Clement and McKenzie would say: it’s the motherflippin’