Conchords get second TV series

TAKING FLIGHT: Bret McKenzie, left, and Jemaine Clement, have had their Flight of the Conchords show picked up for a second season by US cable giant HBO.

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Musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords will fly again next year on American television.

Cable giant Home Box Office announced at the weekend it had renewed the self-titled sitcom by Wellingtonians Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie for a second season.

The 12-part first season, filmed in New York, has been airing on HBO each Sunday night since June, after Hollywood drama Entourage. It airs in New Zealand from September 17.

Clement, speaking from the United States, told The Dominion Post the pair had known for the past month HBO had renewed their show.

"It was so much hard work this time, but we knew it was going well. We thought it was likely they would ask us again."

Clement said it was likely the second season would be less than 12 episodes so they could concentrate on "quality not quantity". He and McKenzie would return to Wellington next month. Rather than write in Los Angeles, which they had done for the first season, they preferred to write in Wellington before returning to New York next year for filming.

Clement also stars in the feature comedy Eagle vs Shark, directed by Wellington film-maker Taika Waititi. Waititi has directed two Flight of the Conchords episodes, including one by Wellington playwright Duncan Sarkies, which aired yesterday.

Clement said he hoped Kiwi writers and directors would also be involved in the second season.

Though the show has yet to rate in the top 40 cable shows, HBO entertainment president Carolyn Strauss said it was renewing Flight of the Conchords because it had "quickly become a show to watch".

Clement and McKenzie have been performing live throughout the US – and selling out many venues, including the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles.

Seattle record label Sub Pop, best known for signing Nirvana, has released a Flight of the Conchords EP, The Distant Future. Clement said the two would soon complete recording a full-length album in Los Angeles.