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« Flight of the Conchords
Episode Recap: "The Actor"
"Are you feeling the feeling that I'm feeling?" I hope so, because I'm enjoying this show so much that I might turn into Mel II. When Bret and Jemaine finished singing those lyrics, Mel and Murray were two of three people clapping in the audience. Saturday Night Live's Will Forte played Ben, a dry cleaner and semiprofessional actor whom the duo asks to tell Murray that he's from a record company and to give him a rejection call to boost his spirits about the direction of the band. We all need a little rejection to feel better, right?
When a brainstorming session to elicit a larger audience is going slowly, and Bret's idea to hand out free pencils at each gig gets nixed, the first song of the evening was presented in a video scrapbook to "Cheer Up Murray." The well-meaning guys sang about Murray's helluva good English bulldog, his wife having met someone on the Net, and that his friends are Bret, Jemaine and Greg. (Have we heard about Greg before?)
Forte was perfectly cast as he matched the tone of the show, blending his blank stares, friendly grins and a matter-of-fact delivery. Calling and using the name Stefan Gucci, Ben can't resist Murray's crying and sets up a record deal. Murray feels even more encouraged when he reverses the 90-10 split of the $2-million contract to a 10-90 split. Even Bret wants to take the deal. Jemaine tries to stop everything from spiraling out of control but, well, doesn't.
Bret and Jemaine seek advice from Dave, who recommends they be honest with Murray. But does honesty include saying monogamy isn't legal in this country to the "foreign chicks" he had a five-way with?
When the band discussed promotion ideas, I liked the thought of their faces on lunch boxes. But instead we got the second video of the night. With Bret playing the elf escort Figwit in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, it was only a matter of time before we got their song "Frodo, Don't Wear the Ring." Everyone got in on the act, but it was Mel dressed as Liv Tyler's Arwen who cracked me up the most, speaking in her "native tongue… Elf-ish."
Murray holds a wrap party for all involved and is happily serving champagne at a VIP lounge. I didn't catch where it was held but was there a pole-dancer in the background? Bret and Jemaine get nervous about paying the check when it arrives, but Murray is confident having been given the "industry code." The next time you run up a $600 tab, just tell the waiter 57687452156 and see what happens.
Murray finally realizes he was duped, saying that not even Crowded House gets a 90-10 split. And the autographed signatures should have tipped him off, too. Especially Art Garfunkel's, which read: "To Ben: Thanks for keeping me clean," which was not a "drug rehab thing." But his proudest moment was just making the deal. And with that, we now know that Murray wears clean underpants because he washes them in the sink and drys them in the microwave.
And Ben got to make a Martin Scorsese movie, costarring John Turturro, about a dry cleaner — called "Dry Cleaner."
Oh, and this week’s show skipped right over last week's ending about Mel being off the fan list. I guess it didn't take.
For previous Flight of the Conchords blog entries, go here.
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Aug 27, 2007 2:51 AM
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Okay a couple bullet points/questions:
* Was the shirt Bret was wearing in the begnning that needlepoint he made of Sally in the "Sally Returns" episode?
* The well-meaning guys sang about Murray's helluva good English bulldog, his wife having met someone on the Net, and that his friends are Bret, Jemaine and Greg. (Have we heard about Greg before?)
Yep, Greg is Murray's assistant in the consulate office. He also went to Jemaine's party at his "cleaning closet/studio apartment"
* Jemaine without his glasses threw me for a minute. But the man is hot either way. I think it's his lips lol 
* I seriously cannot get enough of Dave.
I'm very sad that next week is the last episode, but I'm soo glad that I took the time to DVR that first episode and was hooked from the beginning. I'm bummed that it took me this long to even find out who these guys were. So happy that I know now. It got me thru the summer!!
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Aug 27, 2007 10:08 PM
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Amy, thanks for the info on Greg. I don't think I knew his name but do remember him now.
Regarding Bret's shirts, I don't know about the needlepoint shirt, but I did notice that the red plaid shirt he wore during Murray's 33rd birthday party was the same red plaid shirt they picked up from the dry cleaners at the end of the episode. And the T-shirt Bret wore while getting the shirts was pink and said "You Quack Me Up!" 
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Aug 27, 2007 10:31 PM
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Mario,
Thanks so much for the great blog. I really am glad this show is on. It just gets better and better every week. From the first moment I fell in love with these unassuming guys. I mentioned to my grown son the other day that I thought he looks like Germaine he said several different people have mentioned that to him - maybe that's why I love them, but anyway - what a sweet show. How do I get on the fan list?
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Aug 28, 2007 12:05 PM
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Mario I really enjoyed your recap. I love this show and am super bummed out that there's only 1 episode left.
I started watching the show when I was home recuperating from surgery for 6 weeks and I honestly thought I would bust my stitches laughing at these guys.
That Frodo video was hysterical and I've never seen any of the Lord of the Rings movies.
Mel is the funniest fan in the world and when Murry got up to get his underpants from the microwave, the face Brett made was classic!
Dave's extremely funny in an alarmingly stupid way.
I want to have Brett's baby!
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Aug 28, 2007 3:33 PM
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I LOVE the faces Bret makes! He cracks me up. It's a great show. Thanks for turning me onto it M.
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Aug 28, 2007 4:29 PM
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Bret and Jermaine are the hottest comics around! Yeah, Murray getting up to get his underpants from the microwave almost made fall off the couch. I hope we get more than 13 episodes next year.
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Sep 4, 2007 3:24 PM
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