As media outlets detailed the difficulty “Flight of the Conchords” members Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie had in producing content for the second season of the show, most operated under the assumption that the show would not continue past its sophomore year. McKenzie himself was responsible for fueling much of the speculation, telling The New Zealand Herald, “The second [season] seems to me like it would be a good end to the show.”
Between the second season’s eventful finale–the duo was deported back to New Zealand–and the fact that the cult favorite never manged to break out as a major hit for HBO, nothing about this past year’s set of ten episodes changed the pessimistic outlook for the show.
Yet the passionate fanbase refused to give up hope–Wikipedia articles on the show were frequently edited with suspect “confirmations” of the show’s third season. Still, no official announcement came of plans to continue the series.
Then came this year’s Emmy nominations, which included major surprise nods–Clement scored a best leading actor in a comedy nomination, while the show itself is in the running for best comedy. Any chance the show had of survival infinitely improved; the nominations made it clear that “Conchords” matters to those in television circles.
Sure enough, HBO announced at this week’s Television Critics Association panel that a third season of the comedy is on the table. Clement and McKenzie have yet to agree to the new season nor begun penning the episodes and accompanying songs, but HBO officially still wants to be in the “Conchords” business.
“We’ve told them that we’re ready to go for a third season,” said HBO’s Michael Lombardo, who noted that the task of writing a full season’s worth of television episodes and a full album’s worth of music will take time.
“When they’re ready, we’re ready,” added HBO’s Richard Plepler.
