‘Flight of the Conchords: Live at the London Apollo’: Watch Jemaine Clement and Brett McKenzie Announce Their HBO Return
It’s business time once again for Flight of the Conchords and HBO. The New Zealand-bred musical comedy duo of Jemaine Clement and Brett McKenzie will return to the network this fall for the first time since wrapping their namesake series in 2009. A one-hour special featuring new and classic songs — “Flight of the Conchords: Live at the London Apollo” — was taped at the Eventim Apollo on July 1.
First announced in January, the special was originally supposed to air this past May. However, in mid-March, dates on the pair’s tour of the UK and Ireland were postponed when McKenzie fell down stairs and broke two bones in his hand, hindering his guitar-playing. The twosome executive produced the TV concert with Mike Martinovich. Director Hamish Hamilton oversaw the proceedings; his credits include three Oscars telecasts, eight Super Bowl Halftime Shows, and this September’s Primetime Emmy Awards.
“Flight of the Conchords” received 10 Emmy nominations during its two-season run. Clement has lately been starring in “Legion” on FX, for which he and Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok”) co-created a forthcoming series based on their 2014 vampire mockumentary “What We Do in the Shadows.” Bandmate McKenzie has been keeping a lower profile since winning a 2012 Academy Award for Best Original Song (“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets”). More than 20 years ago, they met as Victoria University of Wellington college students, who soon began touring with Waititi in the comedy troupe “So You’re a Man.”
Flight of the Conchords had a five-city American tour in 2016, three years after co-headlining the Oddball & Curiosity Festival with Dave Chappelle. After the New York-set series — which co-starred Rhys Darby (“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”) and Kristen Schaal (“Last Man on Earth”) — their most notable TV reunion came playing camp counselors in a 2010 episode of “The Simpsons.”
HBO will air “Flight of the Conchords: Live at the London Apollo” on October 6 at 10 p.m. E.T./P.T. Watch Clement and McKenzie tease their homecoming below.
