Flight Of The Conchords’ Bret McKenzie Is Working On An Animated Series About NASA
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For now, it seems like Flight of the Conchords, the musical/comedy duo Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are taking a hiatus. Clement appeared as the villain in Men in Black 3 and voiced the character Nigel in the Rio animated films. McKenzie, on the other hand, won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Man or Muppet” from 2011’s The Muppets, and he’s returning to handle the music duties for the Muppet sequel, Muppets Most Wanted. While McKenzie is busy with songwriting for films, he’s also set to produce a new animated series for Fox.
According to TV Guide, McKenzie’s new animated TV series is a workplace comedy that will follow “the exploits of a group of employees toiling away at an almost-obsolete NASA space center in Boulder, Colorado.” Although McKenzie will produce the new series with King of the Hill writer/producers Tony Gama-Lobo and Rebecca May, he has not yet committed to voicing any of its characters, but according to the entertainment outlet, it remains a possibility.
The untitled animated series will join The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers on Fox’s Animation Domination Sundays lineup next year. Seth MacFarlane’s American Dad has not canceled, but will move to the cable network TBS in 2014.
Hopefully, the new series will have amusing musical numbers just like the Flight of the Conchords TV series and the recent Muppet movies. Even if it doesn’t, the new series has a good premise with good people behind it. Although King of the Hill lasted more than 13 years, it always seemed to play second fiddle to the popularity of The Simpsons, and then later Family Guy. King of the Hill‘s comedy comes from subtle character moments, just like parts of Flight of the Conchords.
Bret McKenzie is, of course, one half of Flight of the Conchords, but he got his start in acting with Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring and Return of the King, which were both filmed in his native New Zealand. Yes, McKenzie was in Lord of the Rings. He played an Elf at Council of Elrond named Figwit. He will also appears as a different elf named Lindir, who was actually in the Fellowship of the Ring novel, in Peter Jackson’s new The Hobbit trilogy.
Aside from King of the Hill, Tony Gama-Lobo and Rebecca May both wrote and produced episodes of the short-lived Freddie Prinze Jr. comedy vehicle Freddie in 2006. Gama-Lobo and May also produced episodes of the animated series Out There, which featured McKenzie’s Flight of the Conchords counterpart Jemaine Clement, for the IFC Channel.
The animated series sounds like it might be good. Bret McKenzie is a fantastic talent and Tony Gama-Lobo and Rebecca May have experience with making quality animated TV. Honestly, I would prefer more episodes and a new album from Flight of the Conchords, but new (separate) projects from McKenzie and Clement are also welcomed.
While the network hasn’t announced an official air date, it’s most likely that the untitled animated NASA TV series will premiere during 2014’s fall TV lineup on Fox.
