"Wingmen." By James Bobin and Jemaine Clement. Perf. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie. Dir. Troy Miller. Flight of the Conchords. Season 2, episode 9. HBO. 15 March 2009. DVD. Paramount, 2007. Bardfilm hasn't often mentioned Flight of the Conchords. Despite the brilliant elements of the show, there's surprisingly little Shakespeare.
Indeed, the only previous mention came in a post about a student's film pitch for a musical version of Hamlet. That student suggested that Bret and Jermaine, the guys in the show, would make a terrific Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for a Rock Opera version of Hamlet (for which, q.v.).
That was back in 2008, before the second (and last) season of the show came out. And there's a couple of brief Shakespeare references in that second season.
The song "Rambling Through the Avenues of Time," a rough style parody of Billy Joel's "Piano Man," is a fantastical account of a woman that Bret met. Toward the end of the song, Bret's descriptions of the woman are qualified and questioned by Jermaine, which is the brilliant and hilarious part. Jermaine s particularly horrified when Bret compares the woman to Shakespeare's Juliet.
The second half of the song is excerpted below; after it, I provide the script / lyrics for your amusement.
JERMAINEWhat was her name?BRETShe said her name was a secret.Then she said her name was Chérie.JERMAINEIs her middle name Chérie?So it's "A Secret Chérie," maybe?BRET
Mmm, maybe.JERMAINEWhat'd she look like?BRETShe looked like a Parisian river.JERMAINEWhat, dirty?BRETShe looked like a chocolate eclair.JERMAINEThat's rare.BRETHer eyes were reflections of eyes . . .JERMAINEOh, nice.BRETAnd the rainbows danced in her hair.JERMAINEAh, yeah?BRETShe reminded me of a winter's morning.JERMAINEWhat, frigid?BRETHer perfume was eau de toilette.JERMAINEWhat's that mean?BRETShe was comparable to Cleopatra.JERMAINEQuite old?BRETShe was like Shakespeare's Juliet.JERMAINEWhat, thirteen?BRETThe bohemians of Soho did pirouettesAs we waltzed through the streets of ManhattanOn rivers of ribbon and sailboats of song . . .JERMAINEBret, did any of this actually happen?BRETThe girl I described, she's as real as the wind.It's true: I saw her todayThe other details are inventionsBecause I prefer her that way.JERMAINEWhat, so you're saying you made all of that up?BRETI made ninety-five percent of that up.
Links: The Episode at IMDB.
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