The Funniest Part of ‘Flight of The Conchords’ is That Bret Hates Flight of The Conchords

There are so many small, wonderfully weird moments from HBO’s cult favorite Flight of the Conchords that it’s nearly impossible to select a favorite. Airing from 2007 to 2009, Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie’s offbeat series was best known for producing some of the funniest musical comedy in TV history, but one of the more underrated aspects of the series was how adept it was at extracting an absurd amount of laughs from specific character traits. The show had a deft touch when it came to the art of comedic subtlety and never shied away from its distinct brand of humor.

Flight of the Conchords eschewed Hollywood’s conventional “more is more” ethos by only producing two seasons (22 episodes) of their critically-acclaimed comedy. I’m not a fan of reboot culture, but Conchords is one of the few shows I’d welcome back with open arms. We may never be treated to another band meeting, but the inspiration for the show’s fictional characters are returning to HBO tomorrow night for an all-new comedy special, Flight of the Conchords: Live in London.

To celebrate the return of Bret and Jemaine, let’s revisit the funniest recurring joke from Flight of the Conchords: Bret hating Flight of the Conchords.

Sure, there are a countless number of superb running gags to choose from — Murray’s band meetings, “present,” the show’s devotion to animal shirts — but Bret’s overt antipathy towards his band is one of the on the sly funniest bits in TV history. Maybe I’m on an island on this one, but the whole concept brings me so much joy. I’m obsessed with the cerebral humor of the joke. The series is ostensibly about Bret and Jemaine trying to find success as musicians. Despite that, Bret’s just flat out not a fan of the band, his band. This isn’t just a shallow bit for the sake of a laugh; the incongruity absolutely makes sense in relation to the character of Bret.

It’s so silly and absurd that it’s actually genius.

Bret’s contentious relationship with the Conchords is one of the major throughlines in Season 1. In Episode 2 he’s fired by Murray (the always sensational Rhys Darby) and replaced by a cassette tape; he quits the band due to his relationship with Coco (Sutton Foster) in Episode 4; and is booted from the Conchords by a bongo player named Todd (Todd Barry) in the Season 1 finale. Bret’s ambivalence towards the Conchords is prevalent throughout the season, but in Episode 10 his enmity is clearly expressed. After a threesome (possibly?) gone wrong, the Conchords find themselves with zero fans on their fan list. Left with no alternative, Murray asks Bret and Jemaine if they’d like to join the Flight of the Conchords fan list, which, side note, is also wonderfully ludicrous. Jemaine eagerly accepts; Bret on the other hand…

Murray: What about you, Bret? Can you join the fan list?
Bret: No way. No. I’m just not a fan of the band. At all.

Bret hating the band is just one of the many weird wrinkles that made Flight of the Conchords such a fun, subversive comedy. The series was truly ahead of its time. The show’s inherently bingeable nature and unapologetic uniqueness is tailor-made for the current streaming culture.

It may only be for one night, but it’s nice to see the Conchords back together again.

All 22-episodes of Flight of the Conchord are streaming on Prime Video.

Where to stream Flight of the Conchords