‘Flight of the Conchords’ Duo Gets It Goin’ On (Again) with HBO
HBO must have really, really loved “True Detective.”
While the Emmy-craving premium network may have always done its fair share of miniseries and close-ended short series before Rust Cohle and Marty Hart came along, they’ve been pushing the medium even harder since it became the most watched freshman series ever. They’ve ordered “Criminal Justice,” a seven-part miniseries from Steven Zaillian and Richard Price; “Show Me a Hero” from “The Wire” creator David Simon with Paul Haggis signed to direct; and perhaps most relevant to today’s news, “The Comeback” is indeed coming back for a six-episode limited run with Lisa Kudrow.
Now we learn HBO is sticking with another veteran duo of comedy performers, as they’ve inked Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie to a new deal more than five years after their last series ended. While not a revival of their original series as was long-rumored, the new project from the “Flight of the Conchords” frontmen will be a four-episode comedy series… and that’s pretty much all we know.
READ MORE: HBO Confirms “The Wire” Is Being Remastered
Clement confirmed as much in a recent interview before clarifying later he and McKenzie would not be reviving their original HBO series. “Flight of the Conchords” started as a BBC radio program before being brought in by the premium cable network for a two-season series run from 2007- 2009.
Four episodes sounds pretty brief, even for the ever-shortening modern TV season. With few details available, it’s hard to imagine exactly what the band will come up with and in what style. Clement did say in the interview he misses playing with the band.
“We talk about a movie every so often,” Clement said. “Sometimes it feels like we lost a lot of impetus over the last couple of years. But Bret, James [Bobin, lead director] and me, we all want to do a musical. It would be good to do something all together… I miss playing Flight of the Conchords gigs.”
“Flight of the Conchords” was a minor hit with the Emmys, earning 10 nominations in only two seasons (including spots for Clement as Lead Actor in a Comedy and both for Outstanding Writing). No matter the length of the new series, it will be highly anticipated by not just fans, but the TV Academy as well. Luckily, four episodes is too few to submit as a series, so we won’t be dealing with any controversy come submission time.
