You should be...

Welcome to the first post on my blog, the Place to Be, located at http://billiardroom.blogspot.com. It's a Seinfeld reference of course, but if you are reading this page, you probably already knew that.

I was thinking of a good feature for this site, and I think I've come up with something. I'm going to call it "You should be." Each "You should be" will detail a different thing that indeed you should be doing if you already are not. The first entry in the series comes in the form of a television show that I've recently been watching:

You should be watching Flight of the Conchords.


If you haven't heard of the Flight of the Conchords before, they are essentially a comedy duo who play folk-style songs. They're all over Youtube, so just do a search there if you want to see them performing. The television show of the same name features both halves of the Conchords band (Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie) trying to make it in New York. The show is scripted, and while Jemaine and Bret are playing themselves, the key difference is that in the show they consider themselves a serious band rather than a comedy act.

Clement and McKenzie are great as the fish out of water protagonists (they hail from New Zealand, both on the show and in real life) and there is a great supporting cast that gives the show a hilarious quality that reminds me of shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm or the British hit Extras. The episode plots take a page from the Seinfeld book as they usually revolve around such everyday minutia as buying a piece of fruit from a racist street vendor or (more commonly) the band's girl troubles. The episodes are broken up by the best part of the show: mini music videos sung and acted out by the Conchords in their hilarious fashion. The songs bring a unique edge to a series which is already a joy to watch without them.

So, then. Watch Flight of the Conchords. There is only one season out so far-- it airs on HBO, but if you don't get that channel, it's also easily available on torrent sites. I'm sure a DVD set will come out soon enough too, so when it does, show your support and pick that up. (EDIT: Turns out a DVD set is already available!) As it stands, the show is gearing up for a second season which will hopefully start airing soon. If I haven't convinced you yet, here's a clip from the show which will do the talking for itself.