New Zealand . . . .Rocks!!!

We figured the self-deprecating humor at New Zealand's expense was a little too quirky to be completely made up. And we were right.

There really is a fence in the town of Te Pahu made up of toothbrushes. During episode 2, Murray touts the fence as one of New Zealand's top tourist attractions. (Beat that Australia!)

Apparently, the folks in Te Pahu were going for originality since two other New Zealand towns had already made fences out of bras.

Standing up well to inner city pressure

We were going to write how we were disappointed in the second episode.

Then we watched it again. And we liked it.

Maybe some of the humor was so subtle that we didn't appreciate it the first time. Maybe it was because the premiere was so good that we were bracing for a letdown.

Sure there were some flaws. Rhys Darby, who plays band manager Murray, stole the show and the gag with the cassette tape was a little overdone. But overall, we think the songs and writing were solid.

The opening homage/paraody of the Pet Shop Boys was a lot funnier the second time we heard it, which probably put us in a better frame of mind for the rest of the show.

Now, what did the rest of America think?

Theater critic Robert Cashill, who blogs on Between Productions, gave it his stamp of approval, if for nothing else than the New York flavor . . . Minijonb still can't decide whether he loves or hates the show . . . Liz Pardue raved about the second episode on Inside the Box, saying the show was every bit as good as the premiere . . . Humble Howard's Space said the FOTC reeks of network genius . . . Like a lot of others, John's Blog calls FOTC his favorite new show . . . and finally this big thumbs up from TV Guide.

Critic: Why the show will fail

Two opinions worth reading:

Daynah Burnett at PopMatters gives us one of the more thoughtful and well-written reviews we've read yet about the show. "Though the two foreigners appear dim-witted, it’s not because they are “foreign” (take that, Borat). Instead, they would be hormone-driven idiots, no matter the hemisphere they inhabit," Burnett writes.

The other post is somewhat critical of the show. Tubewad outlines four reasons FOTC will fail, "despite being a pretty funny show." We don't necessarily agree with some of the reasoning or the description of the series as a "musical."

We've read in a few places where critics wonder whether the FOTC will survive without continuous plot lines or whether the deadpan humor will grow old too soon. Didn't Seinfeld already prove that a show about nothing can have a very long shelf life?

Ratings low for premiere

The premiere episode of the FOTC checked in with 1.2 million viewers, which is considered pretty low, even for a show on a premium cable channel. Apparently the entire HBO lineup is suffering from a post-Sopranos hangover.

As we wrote earlier, the fact that the premiere episode had been available online for a few weeks, couldn't have helped.

We don't think it's time to panic, just yet. Judging from the enthusiastic reception from bloggers and the overall good reviews from the critics, we expect FOTC to be one of those shows that builds a very loyal, dedicated audience.

Hell, we didn't start watching Sopranos until the third season.

Mixed reviews

There was a lot of love, some boos and some headscratching over the HBO premiere of FOTC. Bloggers, in general, loved the show. The professional TV critics? They were all over the board. Here's what the mainstream media critics are saying:

Tom Jicha of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel hated the show. Reading his review, though, one wonders if he actually watched the show. He says that Jemaine picks up a gorgeous girl at a club. A club? Not sure how you would mistake Dave's apartment for a club.

Mike Duffy of the Detroit Free Press called the premiere "TV’s most original and irresistible new comic concoction."

Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe liked the premiere but wonders if the writers can sustain the laughs over 12 episodes, or whether the gags will start getting redundant.

Tom Shales of the Washington Post gave the show his nod of approval. Shales wrote: "Flight of the Conchords" might not have you slapping a knee in hysterics, but it may well cause contented chortling inside -- the kind of laughter that's probably good for the soul, good for the digestion and, in this case, good TV."

Preston Jones of the Star-Telegram hopes that viewers hang in long enough for the show to get its footing.

Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald says the show's gags just don't work. Garvin wrote: "This can be dryly funny in small doses, but Conchords really feels less like a sitcom than a Saturday Night Live sketch stretched out to about six times its shelf-life."

Meanwhile, most bloggers, at least the ones who showed up at the top of the google search, loved the show:

Mikey Likes TV was pleasantly surprised . . . Piece of Shep thought the show was fantastic . . . Mog called the show brilliant . . . Rumblestrip was laughing so hard his wife thought the neighbors were going to call the cops

The FAQs about episode 1

Where exactly is New Zealand?

We're not really sure, ourselves. It's somewhere down in the vicinity of Australia. We imagine that New Zealanders are used to this kind of geographical ignorance. During episode 1, there's one reference to the boys being English and then later, Sallie says she thinks she'd prefer to date an Australian.

Is it true that one of these guys was in Lord of the Rings?

Yes. Bret McKenzie was an elf. Apparently the LOTR fans call him Figwit. We've seen pictures of Figwit and we have no idea who he is or what he did in the LOTR.

Um, which one is Bret? Why do they call him Britt?

Bret McKenzie is the one with the scruffy beard. Jemaine Clement is the one with the Elvis Costello glasses. And we understand the confusion because it sure does sound like Jemaine is saying "Brit" when he's actually saying "Bret."

Isn't the character of Mel, their one fan, a little over the top?

Not at all. We've known quite a few obsessed groupies and Kristen Schaal, the actor/stand-up comic who plays Mel, is spot on. She's scary good.

How funny is the scene in the New Zealand consulate?

Quite funny. In fact, it was laugh out loud funny but not quite rolling on the floor laughing my ass off funny. Murray, the band manager is played by Rhys Darby, a fellow Kiwi and stand-up comic, who is reprising the role he had in the Flight of the Conchords' BBC radio series.

Is life in the East Village really like that?

We have friends who live in the East Village and would say the show is taking a few liberties. Their apartment seems pretty spacious for two struggling musicians.

Will the show be a hit?

We're going to go out on a limb here and say this is a can't miss series.

Ratings, we don't need no stinking ratings

One day until the premiere. That's exciting, until we realize that we've already seen the first episode four times. That creates an interesting situation for HBO.

HBO has already argued that the Nielsen ratings for its shows are lower than they should be because of the availability of TiVo, HBO on demand and the various repeats throughout the week.

Will the ratings for the premiere be even lower because so many fans have already seen the show online?

Start the hype

A steady stream of stuff on the web about the new show:

Entertainment Weekly has a an interview with the guys where Jemaine reveals that Bret once had a job where he had to dress up as a tugboat . . .Canada.com rightly points out that Kebab does not rhyme with cab . . . USA Today reminds us that you may recognize Jemaine from an Outback commercial and Bret from his role as an elf in the Lord of the Rings . . . And the show got a huge thumbs up from Adam Buckman at the New York Post . . .Pop Culture Buzz, Midwestern Gothic, and Throng all gave the show a plug.

It's the accents

Here's an interesting interview with Bret and Jemaine in New Zealand. They make a good point that millions of Americans who know nothing about New Zealand will soon think that all Kiwis are laid-back slackers.

More views from the blogosphere:

Plenty of kind words from Televisionary . . .Best week Ever is having a contest for the person who most resembles Bret or Jemaine . . . Some dude named Jake at College Humor interviews FOTC.

Top 10 reasons to see the FOTC

This is buzz week for the Flight of the Conchords. On Monday, they appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman where they performed The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room. We're sure someone will post a Letterman video clip before the day is up but, for now, we've posted a clip of the song from the first episode.

The lyrics are hilarious:

Looking at the room,
I can tell that you
are the most beautiful girl in the . . . room
in the whole wide room
and when you are on the street
depending on the street
I bet you are definitely in the top 3
good-looking girls on the street,
depending on the street.

HBO's "soft opening" (the first episode is available on the HBO website) is also showing to be a keen marketing strategy as the buzz on the Internet continues to build in anticipation of Sunday's network premiere.

The NY Times interviewed Bret and Jemaine where the duo talks about their early years in New Zealand. And on the blogs:

Lines through lines makes the point that FOTC are reminiscent of Tenancious D . . . Emonome called the FOTC earlier performance on HBO's One Night Stand, laugh out loud funny. The post includes a clip from that show . . .Well, now that we mention Tenancious D ... seems like others, like Deadbeat Jones, are making the connection.

Meet the Conchords

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement have arrived in America. And not a moment too soon.

Frankly, after six seasons of murder and mayhem and every kind of treachery under the sun, we're ready for a little comic relief.

The Flight of the Conchords takes over for Sopranos, premiering June 17 after Entourage. However, the entire first episode is already available on the HBO website.

Maybe it's their accents or their perfect deadpan delivery, but you've got to love the chemistry between Bret and Jemaine, a digi-folk comedy duo from New Zealand.

They're lovable losers, though, losers seems a bit harsh. Think of them as the anti-Entourage. They have a fan base of one and she's a wack-job.

But we can relate a lot better with Bret and Jemaine than we can with Vincent Chase. Don't get us wrong, we loved Vince and the boys when they were bright-eyed newcomers to the Hollywood snake pit. But these days, things come too easy for them.

Not so with Bret and Jemaine.

Jemaine: Here, though, I don't seem to get with any women. I just talk about getting with women.

Bret: Yeah but the ones you talk about are hot. They're a lot hotter than the ones you got with in New Zealand.