Bret Gives up the Dream

S1 E2: Desperate for cash, and with their band-fund box nearly empty, Bret and Jemaine decide to get jobs. Only Bret is successful--he gets a job holding up signs during the day, a problem since Jemaine refuses to practice at night. With his sign-holding skills being rewarded, and with a cute protege named Coco hanging on his every move, Bret finds he has less and less time to devote to the band. When Murray books the Conchords at a daytime trade show, Bret can't get off work, so Jemaine is forced to play the gig with a replacement member: a tape recording of Bret. The new configuration isn't a total disaster, and it does solve the band-uniform issue (since there's only one band member), but ends up fizzling when the tape breaks and Bret won't make a new one. Jemaine and Murray end up auditioning a group of Bret wanna-bes before turning to the genuine article with a compromise that might bring Bret back on board.