On 19 June 2007, they appeared as the musical guests on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. They appeared at the 2007 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. In June 2007, the band performed on the Late Show with David Letterman and were interviewed by Terry Gross on the NPR radio show Fresh Air. Following the second season of the show in 2009, the band released their second album, I Told You I Was Freaky. In 2008, they signed with the label Sub Pop and released their self-titled debut full-length album. The band's first studio release was the 2007 EP The Distant Future which included three studio recordings and three live tracks on 10 February 2008, they were awarded the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the record. On 10 December 2009, the duo and co-creator/director James Bobin announced via their website that the show would not return for a third season. The second season started on HBO on 18 January 2009 and consisted of 10 episodes. The first season consisted of 12 episodes. The show was shot primarily in the Two Bridges neighbourhood of Manhattan. The show received an Emmy nomination for Best Comedy. Their songs are woven into the plot of each episode. This show also features many other comedians in guest starring roles. The regular cast includes fellow comedians Rhys Darby as Murray, Arj Barker as Dave, and Kristen Schaal as their obsessed fan Mel.
The series revolves around a fictional version of the pair as they try to achieve success as a band in New York City and try to develop an American fan base.
The series simultaneously premiered in Canada on The Movie Network and Movie Central, and was also shown on The Comedy Network. The duo starred in a television sitcom for HBO, titled Flight of the Conchords, which premiered in the United States in June 2007. Main article: Flight of the Conchords (TV series) While in Texas, they recorded a documentary titled Flight of the Conchords: A Texan Odyssey, which aired on New Zealand's TV3 in late 2006. In 2006, they performed at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. They then headlined at the opening weekend at Comix comedy club, where they recorded two tracks included on 2007's The Distant Future.ĭuring this period, they had television development deals with Channel 4 in the UK, NBC in the United States, and TVNZ in New Zealand but, ultimately, shows were not produced. HBO gave the group a special on their Friday night half-hour comedy series One Night Stand.
They were later featured in a 2004 campaign for British mobile phone retailer Phones 4U and in the show Stand Up! on Australia's ABC TV. They also performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival where they won the Best Newcomer Award. They performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2002, 2003 – when they were nominated for the Perrier Award – and 2004. They played two songs on the premiere episode in 1999 and then later appeared over four nights in 2000 (3–6 May) the songs, in order, were "Bowie", "Ladies of the World", "Petrov, Yelyena and Me", and "Hotties".
The band first performed on television on Newtown Salad, a show on Wellington's short-lived local TV station "Channel 7" (later renamed "WTV"). They first performed as part of a five-man group called So You're a Man, which included Taika Waititi and debuted at Wellington's BATS Theatre, garnering a small but loyal following in New Zealand and Australia.
McKenzie and Clement were flatmates at Victoria University of Wellington, where they were studying film and theatre before forming Flight of the Conchords in 1998.