By Kevin Koeninger

Stand up comedy acts that blossom into full-blown television series are becoming more and more common, with HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords” being the latest.

The show chronicles the journey of two New Zealanders, Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, as they struggle to make it as a “techno/folk” duo in the brave new world of New York City. Both members play guitar (mostly acoustic) and contribute their vocal stylings, with each song serving mainly as scaffolding for their sometimes off-center but always entertaining approach to comedy.

Melding music and comedy is the Conchords’ shtick, even though the series branches off a bit by creating skits for each of the band’s songs. Quite simply, the setup of the show will strike viewers as either a turnoff or a brilliant expansion of the tandem’s well-developed act.

While there is certainly an appeal to the visual depictions of the band’s work, some of the comedic effect is lost. The focus is simply shifted away from the ingeniously crafted lyrics towards a “lite-brite” world pegged with plenty of stock characters and predictable vignettes of plot.

Conversely, Flight of the Conchords’ HBO comedy special, which debuted in late 2005, brilliantly showcases their talent. Transitioning fluidly from song to song, the Conchords captivate the audience with truly unique and creative bits of comedic genius.

Without the distractions presented by the television show, it becomes a great deal easier to focus on the musical and artistic talent exhibited by the duo.

And while some of the songs miss the mark, each contains at least one or two memorable punch lines, preventing the all-too-familiar awkward moments when a joke doesn’t land quite as well as the comedian had hoped.

All in all, the comedy special certainly warrants just as much, if not more, acclaim than the series currently airing on HBO.

As if the HBO special and series weren’t enough, Flight of the Conchords also recently released an EP entitled “The Distant Future.” While consisting of just five songs, the record is definitely worth checking out, with “Robots” being the standout track.

Originally entitled “The Humans are Dead,” the live track presents itself as being written, produced and performed by robots (albeit robots with an odd sense of humor) from a not-so-distant future void of human beings.

Even though the group’s affiliation with HBO prevents much of their target audience from being able to watch the show, YouTube is peppered with more than enough clips to get a sense of just what these New Zealand gentlemen are all about.

“Flight of the Conchords” airs Sunday nights at 10:30 with replays at various times throughout the week.