Tag Archives: Jemaine Clement

Jemaine Clement of ‘Flight of the Conchords’ is working on a new project for HBO

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Big news, but not so fast. Initially, in an interview with The Guardian promoting his new film What We Do in the Shadows, one half of the New Zealand comedic folk duo Flight of the Conchords Jemaine Clement shared the following:

HBO have commissioned a new, four-episode comedy show from Clement and [director Taika] Waititi, he reveals. “It was supposed to be this year but then we decided to put What We Do in the Shadows out ourselves,” [said Clement].

The interview made the rounds, the Internet went into a frenzy (myself included), and shortly thereafter Clement jumped onto Twitter to clarify his statement. He posted Complex’s article covering the exciting news and attached the tweet: “Before this rumour gets out of hand – we are not working on a 4 ep Conchords show for hbo…” He concluded, “I am working on another idea with them though, hence the mix-up.”

In other words, the new project from Clement is not a continuation of the cult musical comedy Flight of the Conchords but instead an entirely new concept. Still, you must admit your level of excitement simply cannot drop at that. Any new material from this guy (whether or not it’s directly related to FOTC) is sure to be pure comedic gold with, of course, more than a hint of some beautiful, beautiful sounds.

Since FOTC ended its two season run on HBO in 2009, Clement went on to star as the baddie in Men in Black 3 while his Conchords partner Bret McKenzie continued to star in the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films and contributing to the new Muppets movies providing the lyrics and music for the soundtracks. (In 2013 the two participated in the sequel Muppets Most Wanted with Clement acting and McKenzie producing the music.)

In sum, Clement and McKenzie are not resurrecting Flight of the Conchords for HBO. Clement is working on a new project with the premium cable network with director Taika Waititi, and we can only hope and pray McKenzie is involved.

Now, you might be asking yourself, what is the future of FOTC, then? Clement did touch upon that in his aforementioned interview. “We talk about a movie every so often,” he 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.”

Future episodes? No. A movie, a musical? Maybe. Long live Flight of the Conchords!

Stick it here to learn more about Clement’s in-development HBO project as soon as details release.

Flight of the Conchords returns for charity

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Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement–the duo that makes up parody folk band Flight of the Conchords–reunited this summer for Red Nose Day 2012 to support Cure Kids, a New Zealand charity whose proceeds fund medical research into life-threatening childhood illnesses. The 14-minute clip starts off like a typical Flight of the Conchords episode that would air on HBO. Band manager Murray Hewitt (Rhys Darby) plays the “present” game with the guys and informs them that they’ve got a new gig to play. After some nostalgic back and forth between the three of them, the bulk of the clip features Bret and Jemaine interviewing schoolchildren from Auckland and Wellington about a range of topics including what it means to be sick and how to raise money. The video concludes with a brand new Conchords track featuring other NZ celebrity voices; the lyrics are born out of the entertaining answers provided by the kids. Bret and Jemaine are known for their comedic timing and keeping a straight face, so when they break out in fits of laughter during the interviews it makes it all the more fun.

Revisiting the band meeting and watching Bret and Jemaine back in full form is such a treat, but let’s not forget why they did it. After watching the video embedded above, purchase the song “Feel Inside (and stuff like that)” at iTunes and .91 cents from the sale of the track will go to the Cure Kids organization. Continue reading Flight of the Conchords returns for charity →

Jemaine Clement talks future of Flight of the Conchords (forecast: gloomy)

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Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame has stated that his comedic duo (which also includes Bret McKenzie) “very likely might not” return to HBO for a third season of critically acclaimed and hilarious Flight of the Conchords.  The reason?  Family commitments.  Clement on the matter: “Bret and I are both fathers.  We know if we take on another season, that means we’re not gonna see our family for a year.”  Clement now stars in the movie Gentleman Broncos  and states that starring in a movie is a much different experience than making and starring in a TV series: “Films actually don’t take a lot of time, but TV shows are so fast-paced. Even though they’re both acting, they’re almost totally different jobs.  People think actors wanna move to film because it’s high profile, and I don’t think that’s the reason. I think it’s simply that they have more free time.”  He also adds: “We’ve got to write the series, but we’ve also got to write the songs, and just dividing your time into those two writing tasks is really tricky.”

Though Flight of the Conchords the series might be over, Clement added that “It could come back in a shorter season or like a special.”  It’s also good to know that HBO has left the door open for them to return; HBO spokeswoman Nancy Lesser: “We’ve left their future entirely in their hands. “We would love to have more…”

I’ll take FOTC in any form, whether it be a shorted season, a holiday special, or whatever.  For now, enjoy seasons one & two on DVD and their two studio albums, and let’s look forward to playing some FOTC tracks on Rock Band soon!

[Via NY Mag, here & here; Yahoo]

FOTC’s Bret & Jemaine confirm songs coming to Rock Band

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This Sunday at the Emmys TV Guide caught up with Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame.  You can see and hear with your own eyes and ears, respectively, the brilliantly hilarious duo confirm that three of their songs from the hit HBO series will make their way to Rock Band sometime soon.  This is very exciting news for all FOTC fans out there.

This calls for one thing, and one thing only…BRET’S ANGRY DANCE.  Just do it, it relieves so much stress.

[Via Gizmodo]