Funny Conchords ready for take-off

Today's column is my ode to "Flight of the Conchords," including stuff from my interview with Bret, Jemaine and producer James Bobin:

People who work in television don't have much time to actually watch television, but they like to keep informed. So whenever I'm out in LA on business, actors, writers and directors will inevitably ask me, "So, what's good this year?," then smile and nod thoughtfully when I namecheck my newest favorites.

When I was in LA last month, though, there was a wrinkle to this phenomenon. I'd finish rattling off the names of a few shows, and then they would say, in a hushed, almost reverent tone, "You know what show I really like? 'Flight of the Conchords.'"

So many Hollywood types professed their love for the HBO series -- a comedy about two New Zealanders in a bottom-of-the-barrel folk band on the fringes of the New York music scene -- that I was barely even fazed when ESPN's Scott Van Pelt began dropping "Conchords" lyrics into "SportsCenter" highlights. (Over a clip of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen being ejected from a game, Van Pelt quoted, "Be more constructive with your feedback, please," from the Conchords' rap song "Rhymenoceros vs. Hiphopopotamus.")

But if the show biz elite are already pledging their allegiance to the exceedingly polite and silly band, the rest of the country hasn't been so quick. The ratings have been small (the show is averaging only a million viewers per each Sunday airing, down from the 3 million or so watching "Entourage" a half-hour earlier), which is one of only two reasons HBO could have for not automatically renewing the funniest show of the summer and one of the funniest new TV comedies, period, of the last few years.

To read the full thing, click here.