Flight Of The Conchords: The HBO Show’s 10 Funniest Characters, Ranked

It’s been over a decade since Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement wrapped up the second season of Flight of the Conchords and decided not to produce a third. While it would’ve been fun to see more of the show, its existing two seasons have certainly stood the test of time. They’re just as hysterical today as they were when they first aired on HBO.

The show primarily revolves around Bret and Jemaine, who make up the titular comedy folk duo, but they’re surrounded by a hilarious supporting cast and some episodes feature unforgettable one-off characters played by celebrity guest stars.

10 Ben

Guest star Will Forte played a dry cleaner and aspiring actor named Ben in the season 1 episode “The Actor.” Bret and Jemaine hire him to call Murray disguised as a record executive and cheer him up with a rejection. However, Ben gets swept up in the character and offers the band a huge contract.

Bret and Jemaine’s plan drastically backfires as Murray starts spending a ton of his own money on music videos and parties based on a lie.

9 Brahbrah

When Bret and Jemaine find a woman (played by a mid-SNL, pre-Bridesmaids Kristen Wiig) looking for her missing epileptic dog Charlie in the park, they both fall for her. Bret thinks her name is Brahbrah, while Jemaine thinks it’s Barbara and that Brahbrah isn’t a real name. Lo and behold, her name is Brahbrah.

Brahbrah turns out to be a little loopy. When she thinks she’s found Charlie, it turns out to be a completely different breed of dog. In the episode’s closing moments, she tells Bret that Charlie has been missing for six years.

8 The Fruit Vendor

Aziz Ansari plays a prejudiced fruit vendor who refuses to serve New Zealanders. When Bret asks for an apple, the fruit vendor directs him to some rotten apples on the ground that dogs are picking at, telling him that’s the section for dogs from America and humans from New Zealand.

At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that the guy actually hates Australians and got New Zealand confused with Australia. Since Bret and Jemaine hate Australians too, they team up against their mutual enemy.

7 Keitha

After a night of clubbing, Jemaine ends up going home with a woman named Keitha. When he sees koala bear poster on her wall and an Australian flag on her bed, he realizes he’s slept with an Australian woman.

While Bret warns Jemaine against dating her, he finds himself falling for her. However, while he’s waiting for her to elope with him, she breaks into his apartment, tapes Bret to the door, and cleans the place out.

6 Prime Minister Brian

The Prime Minister of New Zealand in the Flight of the Conchords universe is named Brian. He’s more interested in discussing whether The Matrix is real or finding out how Cars ended than governing his country.

Patton Oswalt gave a terrific guest performance as an Elton John impersonator in the same episode that Brian was introduced, but he got upstaged by the beer-swilling, nap-taking world leader.

5 Dave

Bret and Jemaine’s hilarious delusional friend Dave believes himself to be a hard-partying ladies man, but he actually lives with his parents. He tells his pals that they’re just an old couple he sublets to, and that they Photoshopped him as a kid into some photos, but they don’t buy it for a second.

Although he can never seem to remember where Bret and Jemaine are from (or understand their accents), Dave is always there for the guys when they need him.

4 Mel

The titular band in Flight of the Conchords only has one fan, Mel. At most of their gigs, she’s the only one there. She’s dangerously obsessed with Bret and Jemaine and often hangs around their apartment building on the lookout for them.

Played by Bob’s Burgers’ Kristen Schaal, Mel is married to Doug, her old college professor, who overlooks her psychopathic tendencies and facilitates her infatuation with Bret and Jemaine.

3 TIE: Jemaine

It’s impossible to choose the funnier one between Jemaine and Bret, because they’re both as hilarious as each other and the show’s best moments usually involve both of them, so they’re tied.

Jemaine is known for overthinking the tiniest things. Whenever Jemaine derails a conversation to dig into some mundane details, Jemaine Clement plays it spectacularly.

2 TIE: Bret

The more sensitive of the two band members, Bret is known for wearing animal t-shirts, quitting the band every couple of weeks (before returning with his tail between his legs), and taking a long time to decide if he’s ready to sleep with somebody.

Bret’s pickiness on the dating scene is hilariously contrasted with the fact that he’s much more successful with women than Jemaine, who’s far less picky (and it doesn’t help).

1 Murray

Without a doubt, the most hilarious character in Flight of the Conchords is the band’s hopelessly incompetent manager, Murray Hewitt. Rhys Darby brings a spot-on deadpan delivery to Murray’s unwieldly conversations with the band, like whether anyone is pro-AIDS.

The season 1 episode “What Goes on Tour” offers the show’s deepest insight into Murray’s managerial style and his frustrations with Bret and Jemaine.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3465 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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