Prime Minister (Flight of the Conchords)
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"Prime Minister" is the seventh episode of the second season of the HBO comedy series '' Flight of the Conchords''. This episode first aired in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
on March 1, 2009.


Plot

Brett and Jemaine find a flurry of activity at the New York New Zealand Consulate over the impending arrival of the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Murray also announces that he has arranged a gig for Bret and Jemaine as Simon and Garfunkel impersonators. The pair object to playing other people's music, which Murray comments is better than theirs; they sell out for $50 each. At the nightclub, they perform an out-of-sync " Scarborough Fair", socialise with various musical impersonators, and Jemaine is picked up by an Art Garfunkel fanatic (
Mary Lynn Rajskub Mary Lynn Rajskub (; born June 22, 1971) is an American actress and comedian who is best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the action thriller series ''24 (TV series), 24'', and the character Gail the Snail in ''It's Always Sunny in Philadel ...
). The following day the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Brian, arrives and Murray has Jemaine and Bret give him a cultural tour of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The subsequent tour of New York only shows them at the Pawn Shop discussing what reality is as per the movie ''
The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...
'', the movie having only just come out in New Zealand (a decade after its USA release). Both Dave and Brian believe
the Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...
exists and that
déjà vu ''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is a French loanword for the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford Univers ...
is evidence of a glitch in it. Jemaine goes on his dinner date with the Art Garfunkel fan, despite Mel's warnings that the other woman is deranged. The fan demands that he dress up at
Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, poet, and actor. He is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Highlights of Garfunkel's solo music career include one top-10 h ...
again for sex. The scene cuts out to the song "Demon Woman" in the music video style of
Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...
. Murray, Bret and Brian take the White House Tour in Washington, D.C., but are denied entry to see the president. The second song entitled "Oh, Dance, Baby" is performed by Bret in a Korean
karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
style. Brian chews out Murray for his failure to set up a presidential meeting, but accepts Murray's formal apology. This leads to a party-planning discussion with the original Prime Ministerial BBQ becoming a rooftop fondue party. Murray hires a
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
impersonator ( Louis Ortiz) to attend, which is a success in fooling the Prime Minister. However, the Prime Minister spots two Elton John impersonators sneaking off together, believes this to be a glitch in the Matrix and runs to jump off the roof of the building. Meanwhile, at his new girlfriend's house, Jemaine is shocked when the real Art Garfunkel turn ups and asks her to take him back, which she does. Whilst walking along the street Jemaine notices Mel and Doug, who is dressed in a Bret costume, making out in a parked car. He returns home to find Bret performing Paul Simon's 1980s solo work accompanied by several men wearing traditional African garb (à la Ladysmith Black Mambazo).


Songs


Demon Woman

Bret and Jemaine perform a song about Karen's psychotic behavior while wearing flashy shirts and skeleton costumes. This musical number is a spoof of the song " Devil Woman" by
Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...
.


Oh, Dance, Baby(오 그대여 춤추자)

Bret sings a Korean song about love in the form of karaoke. The video is a parody of the music videos produced specifically for karaokes; in this case, Bret sings in front of a karaoke screen with
Engrish ''Engrish'' is a slang term for the inaccurate, nonsensical or ungrammatical use of the English language by native speakers of Japanese, as well as Chinese and other Asian languages. The word itself relates to Japanese speakers' tendency to ...
lyric subtitles and images of scenery (and Jemaine on a carousel) run in the background. The song was originally a Mandarin song called "往事只能回味 (Wang Shi Zhi Neng Hui Wei)", composed by Taiwanese musician 刘家昌 (
Liu Jia-Chang / ( or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic text ...
).


References

{{Flight of the Conchords 2009 American television episodes Flight of the Conchords episodes