Sally (Flight of the Conchords)

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“Sally”
Flight of the Conchords episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 1
Written by	James Bobin Jemaine Clement Bret McKenzie
Directed by	James Bobin
Guest stars	Rachel Blanchard (Sally) Eugene Mirman (Eugene) David Costabile (Doug) Judah Friedlander (Man with Cake) Frank Wood (Greg)
Production no.	101
Original airdate	June 17, 2007
Episode chronology ← Previous Next → – "Bret Gives Up the Dream"

"Sally" is the pilot episode of the American television sitcom Flight of the Conchords. It first aired on the HBO television channel in the United States at 10:30 PM on Sunday, June 17, 2007 in the time slot preceded by Entourage, and vacated by the last episode of the final season of The Sopranos.

Contents 1 Plot synopsis 2 Plot 3 Note 4 Songs 4.1 "The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room" 4.2 "Robots" 4.3 "Not Crying" 5 Promotional version 6 Behind the scenes 7 Cultural references 8 Filming locations 9 References

[edit] Plot synopsis

New Zealanders Bret and Jemaine of the band Flight of the Conchords have moved to New York to try and make it in the United States. At a party, Jemaine falls for, (and subsequently, begins dating), Sally - Bret's former girlfriend. As Jemaine's attentions focus on Sally, a lonely Bret is forced to deal with the advances of Mel, the band's sole obsessed fan. Meanwhile, Murray, the band's manager, helps the band film their first music video, although they can't afford decent costumes or proper video equipment.

[edit] Plot

Bret and Jemaine attend a party thrown by Dave. Jemaine spots a beautiful blonde woman in the crowd and approaches her. Her name is Sally and she agrees to leave the party with him to get a kebab. They end up back at the band's apartment but just as they begin kissing, they are disturbed by Bret turning the light on and an embarrassed Sally leaves.

The next morning they are discussing the incident. Jemaine thinks that Sally left because she found it weird Bret being there and turning on the light. However Bret thinks it is because he used to date Sally himself. No final conclusion is reached.

At a band meeting with Murray, they discuss the party and ways to increase the fan base, which currently consists of only one person — Mel. Bret suggests that the band film a music video which Murray thinks is a great idea. So on the day of the filming, they visit Dave's pawn shop to rent some video equipment, but due to a lack of funds, they are forced to resort to using a camera phone to do the filming. Despite these setbacks and the disappointing cardboard robot costumes made by Murray (they wanted ones like Daft Punk), they successfully manage to film an adequate video for "Robots".

Over the following week, Jemaine starts spending a lot of time with Sally, which leaves Bret feeling lonely and neglected. When Bret suggests hanging out sometime, Jemaine invites him along on a dinner date with Sally, but they all feel a "bit weird" and Bret leaves early. On the way home, he is stopped by Mel who attempts to cheer him up, but fails miserably.

Bret is soon joined in his unhappy mood by Jemaine, who gets dumped by Sally immediately following the dinner.

[edit] Note

• This is the first of two episodes that feature the character of Sally. She returns to disrupt Bret and Jemaine's lives in the fifth episode, "Sally Returns".

• Judah Friedlander has a cameo appearance in this episode, starring as the man, Isabella, who tries to sell Dave a cake.

[edit] Songs

The following are songs featured in this episode.

[edit] "The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room"

"The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room"^[1] (also known as "Part-Time Model"^[2]) begins after Jemaine sees Sally from across the room at Dave's party. Jemaine details his seduction of Sally, describing her as being so beautiful she could be a "part-time model". The musical style of this song is intended to mimic the music of Prince.^[3]

[edit] "Robots"

"Robots"^[1] (also known as "Humans Are Dead"^[2]) is sung by both Bret and Jemaine. It is set in a post-apocalyptic "distant future" (the year 2000) where all humans are dead and robots have taken over the world. Within the context of the plot of the show, it is the band's first music video. Since the band has very limited funds, Murray constructs the robot costumes himself and films the video using a camera phone.

[edit] "Not Crying"

"Not Crying"^[1] begins as Sally breaks up with Jemaine. Jemaine denies that he is crying by offering excuses such as "it's just been raining on my face". Bret soon joins in with his own excuses for crying as the song builds to an emotional climax. The accompanying video for this song borrows the slow dissolve between faces that was a feature of the popular 1985 music video for the song "Cry" by Godley & Creme.^[4] The video also makes reference to the t.A.T.u..^[5] video for "All The Things She Said", when they are singing in the rain behind a chain-link fence.

[edit] Promotional version

HBO released the episode on the internet as a promotional tool a few weeks before it was first broadcast on television. This pre-release version differs from the official broadcast version in several ways, including:

• The episode title sequence changed. It is edited differently and includes some new scenes and animated sequences.
• The scene interstitial screens are slightly different.
• The New Zealand Consulate, where Murray works, is represented as occupying space in the back of a shop. However in the broadcast episode, the consulate is in a more normal-looking office building.

Episode four, "Yoko" was also later made available as a download. Both episodes are still available to download free from the iTunes store.

[edit] Behind the scenes

In this episode, the character Mel shows Bret that she carries around a picture of Jemaine's lips in her wallet. This was inspired by an incident that happened to the band during the filming of their documentary A Texan Odyssey which covered their trip to the 2006 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. The incident was caught on camera and is included in the documentary.^[6]

[edit] Cultural references

At his party Dave asks the band, "Have you tried the Gulab Jamuns? They are off the hook". Gulab Jamuns are an Indian and Pakistani dessert consisting of milky dough balls soaked in a sugar syrup.

During the filming of the video for "Robots", Jemaine tells Murray that he wanted robot costumes "like Daft Punk" rather than the amateur versions hand-crafted by Murray. Daft Punk is a French electronic music group known for their use of robot costumes in their music videos and live performances.

Murray's boss is named Helen. This is likely a reference to the current Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark.

[edit] Filming locations

• The opening scene where Bret and Jemaine are trying to find the party was filmed on Ludlow Street near the corner of Hester Street.

• Jemaine and Sally can be seen walking on the Williamsburg Bridge bike and pedestrian path.

• Sally breaks up with Jemaine on the corner of Rutgers Street and Henry Street.

[edit] References