# The Conchords - Anyone else disappointed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-conchords-anyone-else-disappointed/745988 "2016-02-13T00:08:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-conchords-anyone-else-disappointed/745988/61 "2016-02-15T20:06:04Z")
> [@Clark\_Cello](#): > > I find it interesting that I really like FotC, but really hate everything I have seen from Garfunkel and Oates, while you are the opposite. I wonder if that is unusual, or these two bands are superficially similar, but rely on such different styles of humor that they don’t intersect as much as you would think. I think it’s the latter. > [@Lamia](#): > > I’m not sure I’m familiar with the style of humor you’re referring to.\* It sounds like you think the central joke of the series is that Bret and Jemaine are horrible musicians who are too dumb to realize how much they suck, but I think that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what the show is about. They are supposed to be (and IMHO in fact are) good enough that they might reasonably hope for at least modest success, and the audience is supposed to be rooting for them to make it while still laughing at their mishaps. It’s been years since I saw them, and I watched maybe half a dozen episodes, maybe less, so I can’t really remember. I thought the music was mediocre, the jokes uninspired, the visuals unappealing, and a fair amount of the humor relying on ironic sneers. But like I say, it’s been a long time; my main takeaway was never laughing once at the show. Edit: and even that might be too harsh. I watched multiple episodes, so I must have laughed at least once. But not enough to keep watching it, or to be left with a favorable impression of it. I want to be careful not to back myself into an absolutist position on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-conchords-anyone-else-disappointed/745988/62 "2016-02-15T20:32:07Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s been years since I saw them, and I watched maybe half a dozen episodes, maybe less, so I can’t really remember. I thought the music was mediocre, the jokes uninspired, the visuals unappealing, and a fair amount of the humor relying on ironic sneers. But like I say, it’s been a long time; my main takeaway was never laughing once at the show. Yeah, I got that you didn’t like the show. I am not trying to talk you into liking it. If you didn’t care for the music or the jokes then there’s not much left to enjoy. But this mean-spirited style of humor you’ve been describing doesn’t sound like _Flight of the Conchords_ to me. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-conchords-anyone-else-disappointed/745988/63 "2016-02-15T20:37:02Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Yeah, I got that you didn’t like the show. I am not trying to talk you into liking it. If you didn’t care for the music or the jokes then there’s not much left to enjoy. But this mean-spirited style of humor you’ve been describing doesn’t sound like _Flight of the Conchords_ to me. Yeah, maybe that’s what I’m trying to say. I don’t see anything demeaning or sneering in the Conchords’ sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-conchords-anyone-else-disappointed/745988/64 "2016-02-15T20:42:43Z")
Well… I thought it was somewhat demeaning and sneering to try and pass of what they did as “humour”, as if their opinion of the people who might watch their show was so low that they thought “oh, I’ll bet people will think this shit is hilarious”. Ya know, like everything Tom Green ever did. 😛 ETA: To be clear, that was just a set up for the line about Tom Green. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-conchords-anyone-else-disappointed/745988/65 "2016-02-15T21:15:58Z")
> [@Clark\_Cello](#): > > I find it interesting that I really like FotC, but really hate everything I have seen from Garfunkel and Oates, while you are the opposite. I wonder if that is unusual, or these two bands are superficially similar, but rely on such different styles of humor that they don’t intersect as much as you would think. I think both are fairly low key humor but G&O seems to rely harder on wacky or inappropriate circumstances (insulting a baby shower or remaining silent on dates) and FotC is more about the general innocent obliviousness of the characters set against the “real world”. I found both shows amusing but don’t think I’ve ever re-watched a G&O episode so I guess the FotC formula appealed to me more. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-conchords-anyone-else-disappointed/745988/66 "2016-02-15T22:02:23Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I’m not sure I’m familiar with the style of humor you’re referring to.\* It sounds like you think the central joke of the series is that Bret and Jemaine are horrible musicians who are too dumb to realize how much they suck, but I think that’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what the show is about. They are supposed to be (and IMHO in fact are) good enough that they might reasonably hope for at least modest success, and the audience is supposed to be rooting for them to make it while still laughing at their mishaps. I agree with this. Bret and Jemaine are dreamers, with oversized dreams compared to their talents and past successes, but the audience cheers for them. I don’t remember much or any ironic sneers in the show, mainly just affection. Even with Mel, who could have been treated with disdain, since she’s the groupie of this loser band, it still mostly treated with affection. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-conchords-anyone-else-disappointed/745988.md?page=3)