A duo dogged by love
Sun Herald
Sunday July 12, 2009
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDSMONDAY, 9PM, SBS ONEJEMAINE and Bret are jogging through New York's Central Park when they meet a woman. She's young and beautiful and has lost her epilepsy-affected dog, Charlie ... so naturally it takes about two seconds flat for both of them to fall in love with this damsel in distress.Determined to win her over, each sets out to write a combined love and canine-epilepsy-awareness song dedicated to her, then each asks her out on a date. Both on the same night and to the same restaurant, of course.As the days pass and she seems to like each of them equally, things become really strange, with Bret wearing Jemaine's glasses and Jemaine growing a beard. Or at least gluing one on, which is apparently what he does when he's a little pressed for time. Rivalry turns to suspicion and cracks start to form in their relationship.Eventually, a challenge is made and a duel accepted. It looks as if Barbara, or Brahbrah as Bret's pretty sure he heard, might be the Yoko Ono who tears the Flight Of The Conchords apart.Another brilliant trip into the surreal minds of New Zealanders Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, showing just why they've become such a hot duo in the US.They're a pair of hopeless babes in the woods here, unsure of how to impress a woman and even less sure what to do when she actually is impressed.Arj Barker makes a brief but hilarious appearance as their worldly friend, Dave, whose advice on matters of the heart is worse than useless.In the end, it's their manager, Murray (Rhys Darby), who saves the day when he does what any sensible person would have done at the start. He asks Barbara which of the pair she likes better.Her response and their response to it are truly hilarious, mainly because it's a pretty fair assumption to make, given the almost co-dependent relationship this pair (the on-screen version at least) have built up.Interwoven with some clever songs, the story of their feud for love is the type of slapstick television has been missing for years. It's funny without being cruel, there's a fight where nobody gets anywhere near hurt and, even at their worst, it's clear these two are mates for life.And besides, who else but the Conchords could manage to write, let alone sing with a straight face, a song dedicated to epileptic dogs that includes the lines: "There's a golden retriever who's having a seizure. Make a donation, save a shaking Dalmatian"?
© 2009 Sun Herald
