FOTC: New Zealand Town

I hate it when a good thing falls short. If it weren't for two horrible miscalculations this could have been one of the best episodes of the season. But with only one song and a huge comic distraction, "New Zealand Town" wastes some otherwise excellent items.

The whole thing starts when the Conchords reach an official new low. We know it's official because Murray has a graph on a sticky note. The band plays a concert to an empty room after the one audience member (not Mel, she was busy with something else) sneaks out during the first song. During the band meeting that follows, Murray comes to the conclusion that the Conchords don't draw an audience because they're not cool. By "not cool" he means that they eschew the use of styling gel. The boys approach the mysterious, blue substance with the same earnest apprehension as most other things, but once they embrace it they see their success go through the roof.

The band meeting has a couple good gags that deserve some mention. I always appreciate the tourism posters Murray keeps by his desk. Tonight's was "Like Scotland, Only Farther". I also enjoyed Murray's photos of his own foray into gel use in the early 90's, if only to demonstrate that Rhys Darby isn't actually a buffoon with a wig-like haircut.

Then the biggest problem of the episode walks into the room. For some ridiculous reason, the Prime Minister of New Zealand is still in town. I liked him as a one-off character last week, but his continued presence brought nothing to the show. His unreasonable stupidity is too goofy for the otherwise low-key atmosphere of FOTC and nothing he did tonight was at all funny. What's worse is that tonight's guest star, the venerable (in context) Lucy Lawless, had no scenes without the PM. Though we don't often get to see it, Lawless is quite a capable comic performer and an all-around talented actress. They really didn't let her do anything in the episode, though.

Lawless plays a representative from the New Zealand Tourism Board who has been called in to oversee the consulate's plan for New Zealand Town, a Kiwi version of Chinatown or Little Italy. The episode didn't get near enough mileage out of this premise as it should have. There was an ok moment when we learn that Mexicans are being hired to play Maori warriors, but that's basically the only joke in the thread.

At any rate, the Conchords are too busy developing an addiction to styling gel to really notice anything else. There's a nice early sequence where they try out different hairstyles, which then segues into the night's only song. It's a New Wave electronic track about fashion with some funny, if simple, lyrics. Eventually they just start spouting nonsense in their all-too-familiar stoic litany of hipness. "President Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Jazzercise, Lipgloss" ought to be a t-shirt.

Unfortunately, that's the only song for the episode. It's not that there weren't other opportunities. For one, the segment of the episode that chronicles Bret and Jemaine's descent into styling gel junkies goes on way too long. The only funny part of it is when Mel shows up (that's starting to sound familiar, isn't it?). In a nice reveal, we learn that Mel has a habit of dropping by Bret and Jemaine's apartment when they're in their regularly scheduled band meetings. During these visits she cleans and even re-stocks their groceries. She runs through a series of excuses, like sleepwalking, when she discovers the boys haven't left the apartment for days after running out of gel. They desperately accost Mel for her lack of hair products and scare her away.

Then things get really ugly when they decide to use glue to get their fix. Bret glues his hand to his head and Jemaine gets stuck to a pillow. After a pep talk from Murray they decide to play a show for the opening of New Zealand Town sans style. They can't keep their audience for more than a few seconds.

There were some other plots with an implied past romance between the PM and Lawless's character, as well as some business about a sheep. Too bad none of it was all that entertaining or interesting. I did like Dave running the information booth, but it's Dave, he's always funny.

Best Moment: The song. Gee, I wish there were more of that on this show.

Biggest Laugh: Murray's high and low points chart. FYI, the high point was when Murray didn't have to pay for parking.

Episode Rating: 1.5/5- The song was good, half of the premise was good, but practically nothing was properly executed. And they wasted Lucy Lawless. My inner fanboy will never forgive them.