Tuned In

The Morning After: I See You Girls…

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I liked the return episode of Flight of the Conchords that aired last week, but I really liked the second episode that aired last night. And while the music wasn’t the only reason—FOTC is a funny enough comedy qua comedy that the songs are gravy at this point—it did have the first season 2 song, “Sugar Lumps,” that was good enough to stand on its own independent of the plot. Like the other great FOTC songs, it worked not just because it was a dead-on parody (here, of self-objectification songs like “Milkshake” or “My Humps,” turned on the male anatomy) but because it was simply a good song—I couldn’t get it out of my head for days after hearing it. 

But back to the comedy—maybe it’s that I’m just noticing it, but Bret and Jemaine also really seem to be growing into their roles as comedy writers (along with”Third Conchord”  James Bobin) and performers. Last night’s episode, with the $2.79 coffee cup starting a spiral of poverty, was classic, tightly written one-thing-leads-to-another-and-another sitcom writing—particularly the twist on the Nigerian e-mail scam—and the guys are able to do brilliant things with little shifts of tone and gesture: Jemaine’s irritation that Bret doesn’t appreciate the “cup roster” (is it possible to be deadpan angry?) and Bret’s nervous, shifty energy as he tries to pimp Jemaine out on the streets (“He’s a player. A night owl. 20/40/60.”). All that, and two complimentary after-dinner mints.