The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
I can remain silent no longer!
The show Portlandia on Independent Film Channel (IFC) is so ridiculously funny, so wildly satirical, and so even-handed when it comes to critiquing all ideologies, lifestyles, and demographics...I just had to post something recommending it to those of you who have yet to partake. (Reminder: I'm under 30, so keep that in mind all you Boomers who may watch these clips and wonder if I've lost my mind.)
The quasi-sketch show stars Saturday Night Live cast member Fred Armisen who films Portlandia during SNL's off-season. His co-star and co-creator is a former musician Carrie Brownstein who actually holds her own with the formidable Armisen on screen. Each episode has an overall, skeleton plot to it, but filling in the gaps are sequences of comedy gold. Okay, so some sketches/scenes miss more than they hit, but the overall result of each episode that I've seen thus far is a great deal of laughter. Everyone involved with this show is liberal-to-quite-liberal, and yet they are unrelenting in their spoofing of all the Left's sacred cows. No one, no thing, is off limits.
You know, actual comedy. The kind of stuff that doesn't have to avoid the obvious joke simply because it will offend a New York Times critic.
And at the same time, Portlandia isn't, in my opinion, nasty. It doesn't have an agenda. It's just funny.
So here are two clips that I think are litmus tests to judge whether or not you should invest any more time on the show. The first is the opening sequence of Episode 1 and does a good job of giving you the overall theme of what you're about experience (should you choose to accept it):
And the second clip I chose is of a bleeding heart couple who goes to dinner and appears to be less interested in eating and more interested in just how "cage free" that cage-free, farm-fresh chicken they are ordering really is.
If you like what you see, Portlandia is on NetFlix and you can watch episodes on-line at the show's website.
I'll be interested in hearing some reactions, so Comment away!
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Nov '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
I became familiar with Carrie Brownstein while her term as the female point of view on the occasional All Songs Considered NPR podcast. She may have been the female perspective, but her tastes were significantly harder than her fellow panelists. I am glad to see her gaining wider acclaim in this venture.
Dec '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
By the way, what happens when the chicken couple get to the organic farm where their putative dinner was born is even funnier than the initial exchange in the restaurant.
Oct '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
The Great Adventure!: I compare Portlandia to a great 70's movie - Slapshot. Both of them take the idiosyncrasies of their subject matter and satirize them to the point where everyone will see the humor, and the people who live in it will find it even funnier while at the same time feeling quiet uncomfortable with the truth.
I agree with Mollie's point about casting Portland's mayor Sam Adams - although I'd go a step further than calling him "immoral". I think the term "pedophile" is a little more appropriate.
And the episode with the chickens in the restaurant? When they go to check out the farm where the chicken was raised, it turns out to be a cult that is reminiscent of another piece of Oregon's weird and wild history.
Love the show! · Jan 13 at 7:23am
Had to bring that up, Hey ? A colorfull time in good old Oregons past. Cannot forget that folks who came up against the Big Bs replacement had the gift of live rattlesnakes in their mailboxes. Then there were the the Saffron Robed folk providing free entertainment at the airport !!!
Apr '11
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
Having grown up in the Portland Metro area and even loving Portland in that curmudgeonly Conservative way, I find this show great. Agreed, they make fun of the Portland liberal without being mean. I was only introduced recently, and caught all of Season one on Netflix.
Like most sketch comedy shows, when it's on it's on, but when it's not ... Well, fortunately at a half-hour they tend to end things soon enough that a miss will give way to something better.
However, my friend from Phoenix didn't understand it a bit.
Oct '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
Re, The Great Adventure... A tad more on Oregon history. To avoid the slavery issues of the day, a law was passed simply stating that no coloreds could reside in the state.
As history has it, one old black fella settled in in the Rouge River area. He was respected enough that upon his demise, they named a creek after him. Said name has since been purged due to the obvious racial reference.
As for Mayors, find another Bud Clark, Hmmmm.
Dec '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
wilber forge
The Great Adventure!:
And the episode with the chickens in the restaurant? When they go to check out the farm where the chicken was raised, it turns out to be a cult that is reminiscent of another piece of Oregon's weird and wild history.
Love the show! · Jan 13 at 7:23am
Had to bring that up, Hey ? A colorfull time in good old Oregons past. Cannot forget that folks who came up against the Big Bs replacement had the gift of live rattlesnakes in their mailboxes. Then there were the the Saffron Robed folk providing free entertainment at the airport !!!
· Jan 13 at 3:04pm
Yeah, I was taking classes at Portland State when all that was going on - definitely creepy. Rajneeshpuram is now The Washington Family Ranch - a Young Life camp. I've been on a couple of men's retreats there. The camp staff loves to tell the story of a lightning storm that came through after the Rajneeshis left - it started a fire that went up the hill, burned down the Baghwan's house, then promptly went out without doing any other damage! God's justice!
Oct '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
C. U. Douglas: Having grown up in the Portland Metro area and even loving Portland in that curmudgeonly Conservative way, I find this show great. Agreed, they make fun of the Portland liberal without being mean. I was only introduced recently, and caught all of Season one on Netflix.
Like most sketch comedy shows, when it's on it's on, but when it's not ... Well, fortunately at a half-hour they tend to end things soon enough that a miss will give way to something better.
However, my friend from Phoenix didn't understand it a bit. · Jan 13 at 3:15pm
As they say, Keep Portland Weird. Have to live there to understand the place.
Aug '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
I just finished watching episode 1, and then buying the whole season on iTunes.
Damn you!
Aug '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
Bicycle rights! BICYCLE RIGHTS!!!!
Apr '11
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
We love Portlandia. 'nuf said 'cept for "Poor Colin."
Oct '11
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
This thread is so very meta.
Dec '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
The wife officially doesn't like it. Go figure.
Oct '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
I love this show cuz it makes fun of white liberals. btw, if you like Portlandia, you'd probably love this hipster horror movie The Innkeepers
Apr '11
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
Artisanal lightbulbs @ $68 ea.
The feminist bookstore (a real place) is the best. Rampant subjective egos drinking "Kampuchea choo-choo" tea and smugly going through the motions of "creating community". They decline to put a flyer on their community bulletin board because the flyer has a grid pattern, and "that's not the way women think".
Aug '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
anon_academic
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.:
Incidentally, during the recent boom of Carrie Brownstein coverage, I thought the New Yorker piece actually made me dislike her whereas the New York Times profile was great. · Jan 13 at 7:09am
I actually really liked the New Yorker profile. I saw it as being less about Brownstein herself than about her deep friendship with Armisen and in that respect I saw the article as a good portrait of platonic love.
Also I've long really liked Sleater-Kinney though I've yet to really get into Wild Flag. · Jan 13 at 1:21pm
My favorite bit is Did You Read, that one hit close home.
Dec '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
Wow! I was busy all weekend and just now checked my post...LOVE the responses and comments here! I had at first thought that it was a "if you're under 40, you'll like this" type of show, but "young" adults of all ages seem to be responding well to Portlandia. Creative humor shines through!
I love politics. I love studying theology and history and economics and all of that interesting stuff. But nothing moves me, inspires me, or commands my attention quite like good humor/comedy. This is why I love GK Chesterton (if anyone was wondering about the profile pic). Humor and joy know no ideology.
Dec '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
Wow! I was busy all weekend and just now checked my post...LOVE the responses and comments here! I had at first thought that it was a "if you're under 40, you'll like this" type of show, but "young" adults of all ages seem to be responding well to Portlandia. Creative humor shines through!
I love politics. I love studying theology and history and economics and all of that interesting stuff. But nothing moves me, inspires me, or commands my attention quite like good humor/comedy. This is why I love GK Chesterton (if anyone was wondering about the profile pic). Humor and joy know no ideology.
Dec '11
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
One of my favorite episodes was when Ami Mann was their cleaning lady and they would gush over her one minute and accuse her of stealing stuff the next, though "stick a bird on it" runs a close second. Since I live in Ithaca, which is a Portland wannabe, the humor is pretty close to home.
Aug '10
Re: The Dream of the 90's Is Alive In Portland!
The Artisan Lightbulbs made me laugh so hard my lungs hurt, because I live pretty close to TWO small villages (Merrickville, ON and Wakefield, QC) that cater to the kinds of "artisans and craftspeople" being satirized.