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Comedy Duo Flight of the Conchords say they would never have been able to make their popular sitcom series in New Zealand because it's too "Kiwi".
Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, are riding high on the success of their self-titled series for American cable channel HBO, and have been asked to write a second season. However, their series,which proved so popular with US audiences, was turned down by TVNZ.
"We wrote a pilot for TVNZ," Clement told the Herald on Sunday from Los Angeles. "I think the script was good, but if we had made that, they would have TVNZ-ed it. And put their magic touch of dullness all over it, and some over-acting sauce.
"We pick on TVNZ because we had written the pilot for them. But also they're the state broadcaster and I think they've got a responsibility to reflect New Zealand culture, which they don't. They take American programmes and copy them," Clement said.
"I kind of hope that TVNZ and television production in New Zealand will maybe take more risks with the confidence of the success that we've had over here," McKenzie added.
They were both grateful for the opportunities they had found overseas, and said they would keep trying to make television locally.
Flight of the Conchords began airing on HBO in June, and will first show here on Prime on September 17. It's about two Kiwi singer/songwriters who hope to become musical successes in New York, and uses many of the songs the pair has developed.
Clement is well-known for his stand-up comedy, having been in another comic pairing, the Humourbeasts, and is currently starring in Kiwi film Eagle vs Shark; McKenzie is a former member of band The Black Seeds, and was an elf extra in the Lord of the Rings films.
The duo are yet to sign up for their second season, saying they need a break after the intensity of the first, but will be talking to HBO about the show over the next few weeks before coming back home to start writing.
- Flight of the Conchords, Prime, Monday, September 17, 10pm.
