Brokenwood or Conchords? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brokenwood Mysteries

Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd, played by Neill Rea, is the central character of 'Brokenwood Mysteries', whose first episode saw him decide to move to the small town (located somewhere unspecified on the North Island, in a farming area near the coast and a couple of hours from Aukland) after being sent there to provide guidance on a murder case. His love of country music gives the show a chance to feature NZ singers, both as theme music and as the music he puts on when driving his beloved 1971 Holden Kingswood. Both the music and the car are a source of constant annoyance to Detective Kristin Sims when she is on the job with him.

Neill Rea had some minor film and television roles before this, but the decade-long starring role here is definitely his standout success as an actor. In 2023, he was nominated for Best Actor in the New Zealand Television Awards. He also acts as a casting director, running a casting agency in Aukland.

Answer: Brokenwood Mysteries

Detective Kristin Sims, played by Fern Sutherland, is a Brokenwood local, whose knowledge of the residents and their relationships often proves useful as Mike is exploring yet another grisly death. Brokenwood rivals Cabot Cove and Midsomer in that regard! Because she is both smart and attractive, she is often the subject of romantic advances from newcomers and passers-through, but previous relationships have left her quite cynical and unmoved. Over time, she learns to value Mike's unusual approach to his work, acknowledging that his hunches often get results. But she has not yet learned to make a decent cup of coffee.

Before starring in 'Brokenwood Mysteries', Fern Sutherland had a recurring role as Dawn in the fantasy comedy/drama television series 'The Almighty Johnsons', which debuted in 2011. That role gained her a nomination as Best Supporting Actress at the 2011 Aotearoa Film and Television Awards.

Answer: Brokenwood Mysteries

Detective Constable Sam Breen, played by Nic Sampson, was the youngest member of the Brokenwood Police when Mike arrived. Like Kristin, he is a local, and often finds himself in awkward situations because of it - having to interview his Year 12 English teacher to whom he still owes an essay, for example. Breen is regularly teased about his girlfriend Roxie, who is never seen, but everyone is sad when she gets a job in the Solomon Islands, and he leaves with her at the end of season 6. He was replaced from the start of series 7 by DC Daniel Chalmers (played by Jarod Rawiri), a Maori officer who is more highly trained and efficient than Breen, introducing a new dynamic into the station.

Nic Sampson's first big role was Chip Thorn, the Yellow Mystic Ranger on 'Power Rangers Mystic Force', which premiered in 2006. Because it was not aired in New Zealand, he became better known to overseas audiences than at home! He also voiced parts in later 'Power Rangers' series, and has been a writer and performer for a number of sketch comedy shows, including 'Funny Girls' (2015-2018).

Answer: Brokenwood Mysteries

Gina, played by Cristina Ionda, is Brokenwood's medical examiner. A Russian emigree, she often compares New Zealand and Russia, noting how little New Zealanders understand of Russia's history and culture. Of course, it works both ways - she really struggles to understand the residents of Brokenwood, and her attempts at humor often fall embarrassingly flat. Her excellence at her job, however, is unquestioned. Her romantic interest in Mike, similarly beyond doubt, is totally unrequited, and he often needs to be resourceful to avoid having to make a blunt rejection.

Cristina Serban Ionda gets her Eastern European accent honestly - she was born and raised in Romania, moving to New Zealand in 2003 with her husband. It took a while to learn enough English to start getting roles, but she found a perfect fit as Gina when the show was being cast before its 2014 premier. In 2016 she appeared in 'Filthy Rich' as Maria, the maid of one of the lead characters.

Answer: Brokenwood Mysteries

Jared, played by Pana Hema-Taylor, is a Maori youth (well, he looks young to me, but he is probably in his mid-twenties) who lives on the property next to the vineyard Mike purchases. His extensive family connections often allow him to provide useful information, although he is sometimes reluctant to get involved. Family comes first, and not all of their activities are strictly legal. He introduced us to the wonderful conundrum of complex family relationships that are poorly defined by rigid terms when Kahu Taylor, a plumber who appears in several episodes, says that Jared is not his cousin, he is his brother's cousin. He was a recurring character for the first six seasons, 2014-2019.

Pana Hema-Taylor made his first television appearance in 2007 (in a Maori-language educational series) while he was still a student in high school - he won an award as best actor for his performance that year as Mercutio in the school's production of 'Romeo and Juliet'. A few film roles followed, and in 2012 he had a regular role in the Starz series 'Spartacus: Vengeance' as Nasir, an escaped slave, a part he reprised in 2013's 'Spartacus: War of the Damned'. His stint on 'Brokenwood Mysteries' was followed by the role of Constable Rory Kerr in the first season of 'The Gulf', another crime show set on Waiheke Island.

Answer: Flight of the Conchords

'Flight of the Conchords' is a fictionalised version of the lives of the real-life music/comedy duo of that name. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie formed in Wellington in 1998, performing with increasing popularity through the early 2000s. In 2005 they took their act to a BBC radio series based on their quest for success in London, and in 2007 this HBO series brought them to a worldwide audience. Names were only slightly changed, as is common practice for standup comedy acts transferring to a televised series. The two lead actors portrayed the personas they had developed in live performances. The rest of the cast, however, is completely fictional, created for comic effect.

Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement has also performed under the names Hiphopopotamus, J-Dog, and Mad Dog. As well as his work with Bret McKenzie, he has had wide ranging work in television and film, both as a performer and behind the camera. In 2014, he starred as Vladislav, an 862-year-old vampire, in the film 'What We Do in the Shadows', for which he was also writer and producer. He did not take part in the subsequent adaptation of the concept to a series on FX, set in Staten Island, which debuted in 2019.

Answer: Flight of the Conchords

Bret McKenzie played, essentially, himself, a singer and guitarist who is half of a duo trying to find a place in the American scene. Reading the band's website makes it clear that they consider themselves primarily to be comedians, although they take the musical performance seriously. The show is a sitcom, with plenty of humor, but there are always at least a couple of songs - they may sing to another character, one of them may sing what is essentially an interior monologue, sometimes there is a video clip.

Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie is primarily a musician, with fewer acting credits to his name than Jemaine. He was an elf in both 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit', the latter part even having a name, Lindir. He was music supervisor for two Muppet films: 'The Muppets' (2011) won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song 'Man or Muppet'; 'Muppets Most Wanted' (2014) also included Jemaine playing a Russian gulag prisoner. Both of them voiced camp counselors in an episode of 'The Simpsons' titled 'Elementary School Musical'.

Answer: Flight of the Conchords

Murray Hewitt, played by Rhys Darby, is the band's manager, a minor official at the New Zealand Consulate, who seems to be more officious (especially in his office at the Consulate, where band meetings are often held) than efficient in his efforts to help the band promote themselves. His meetings with the boys are a regular feature, and he does get them a string of gigs, but there often turns out to be a catch. By the end of the series, we see Murray trying to organise a stage show about the group's struggles, as they are deported back to New Zealand. Fortunately, this was NOT a reflection of reality.

Rhys Montague Darby is a New Zealand comedian who won the 2012 Fred (Dagg) Award for best NZ show at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival. He played the band's manager (then named Brian Nesbit) in the BBC radio series 'The Flight of the Conchords'. In 2022 he starred as Stede Bonnet in 'Our Flag Means Death', a series written and produced by Taika Waititi, who had collaborated with Jemaine Clement on 'What We Do in the Shadows'.

Answer: Flight of the Conchords

Dave, played by American comedian Arj Barker, is the band's local expert on American ways. We meet him in the first episode, when there is a party at his place, and the boys regularly visit him in Mohumbhai & Son, the pawn shop where he works, for advice. Dave, who keeps describing them as English rather than New Zealanders, thinks he knows more than he does, leading to regular comic results when his advice is acted on.

Arjan Singh Aulakh, who uses the stage name of Arj Barker, was born in San Francisco to a mixed-marriage family - his father was an engineer, and his mother an artist. Perhaps of more relevance, his father was of Punjabi Sikh descent, which impacted his humor and comedic stance in his successful stand-up career.

Answer: Flight of the Conchords

Mel, whose surname seems to be irrelevant, is the band's biggest (indeed, only) fan. Maybe that should be stalker, as her interest seems to be more in romance (with either of them, they're both good) than in their music. Despite the oddity of the relationship, Mel and her husband Doug do prove themselves to be real friends in need, giving the boys a place to stay during the final episode, when they are evicted for failure to pay their rent.

Mel is played by Kristen Schaal, who may be familiar as the voice of Louise Belcher on 'Bob's Burgers', among many, many other voice and live-action roles. She appeared in two episodes of 'Our Flag Means Death' as Antoinette, a French aristocrat. Her performance as Mel earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in the 2009 Entertainment Weekly awards, which are used to recognise excellence that has not been granted an Emmy nomination.