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Flight of the Conchords Walking Tour

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Discover Inner City Pressure with this Flight of the Conchords walking tour

If you're a big fan of Flight of the Conchords and are visiting New York, checking out the filming locations of this Emmy-nominated series is an absolute must. Flight of the Conchords has a worldwide cult following, and wandering the streets of their filming locations will complete any Conchords die-hard's claims to be the ultimate fanatic.

For those that don't know, Flight of the Conchords (comprising Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement) started off as a two-piece comedy act from New Zealand. Tongue and cheekily billed as 'Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo', the Conchords built a small cult following in New Zealand before hitting the big time and impressing HBO executives in the United States, and were quickly signed up to produce 2 award winning seasons of the self-titled television series.

The Locations

Whilst (like every TV series) there are several exterior locations, as well as a vast amount of studio filming, Flight of the Conchords has been shot at many landmarks and well known areas of New York City. Since this is a walking tour, we will concentrate on the Lower Manhattan locations, where the majority of exterior filming takes place.

The beauty about this part of the tour is that the neighborhood undertakes very little adjustment between what you see on the show, and what you will see in person. As you wander around these Chinatown areas of Lower Manhattan, one finds it hard to comprehend that an award winning TV series was filmed there.

Lower Manhattan

Lower Manhattan is definitely the focus of the walking tour, with most of the recurring locations in this part of NYC.

Start yourself off at the Sweet Spring Restaurant (corner of Catherine and Henry Sts) to see where Bret and Jemaine feast on famous chinese dumplings. Just up the road at 28 Henry Street is the exterior of the boy's apartment (as shown on the right). Continuing east along Henry Street you will hit Montgomery Street, where a swift left will take you to Rogers TV Services (aka Mohumbhai & Son's pawn shop) at number 10. Heading north and then left on East Broadway you may here the voice of Murray calling a band meeting, as you pass the (fictional) New Zealand Consulate at number 232.

Rounding off this area of town is Bar 169 (169 East Broadway), and Seward Park (north of Bar 169), the sight of Bret's infamous 'angry dance' from the final episode of the first season (The Third Conchord).

For those that feel like walking a little more you can head up Essex Street towards Delancy, where you will come to Ludlow Street, where they filmed the Mutha Uckers clip (remember, the one on the bikes) and further up you'll reach Arlene's Grocery (95 Stanton St), the scene for the Suga Lumps parody from season 2.

Not seen enough yet?

Of course there are many more places where the series was filmed, but the locations above, as well as being some of the most recurring locations in the series, offer a true walking tour of a unique part of NYC. Wandering across the Williamsburg Bridge, having a drink at either the East River (97 South 6th St) or Matchless (557 Manhattan Ave) Bars, or making your way over to Flushing Meadows Park will all find you a sense of familiarity to certain episodes from the series.

Something has to be said about visiting filming locations for your favorite TV show or film, and if you ever really needed another reason to, it will make you watch both series back to back again so you can enjoy many 'I've been there' moments.