''Portlandia'' is an American

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

television series starring

Fred Armisen Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, Armisen was the co-creator and co-star of the IFC sketch comedy series ''Portlandia''. He ...

and

Carrie Brownstein Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney. During a long hiatus ...

, set in and around

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, and spoofing the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. The show was produced by Broadway Video Television and IFC Original Productions. It was created by Armisen and Brownstein, along with

Jonathan Krisel Jonathan Krisel (; born January 4, 1979) is an American director, producer, writer, editor, and occasional actor. He is best known for co-creating the series ''Portlandia'' (for which he also directed and co-wrote in the majority of episodes), ...

, who directs it. It debuted on IFC on January 21, 2011. The show shared its title with the sculpture of the same name that sits above the entrance of the Portland Building on Fifth Avenue in downtown Portland, which appears in the show's

title sequence A title sequence (also called an opening sequence or intro) is the method by which films or television programmes present their title and key production and cast members, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound (often a opening theme song with visu ...

. The show has won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

. In January 2017, the series was renewed for an eighth and final season, which concluded on March 22, 2018.

Production

Conception and development

Brownstein and Armisen first met in 2003 and began collaborating on a series of comedy sketches for the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

in 2005 titled ''ThunderAnt''. The sketches became increasingly Portland-centric, with premises ranging from irate diners at a popular Hawthorne District restaurant registering ridiculous complaints on the review website Yelp! to a character's disastrous one-man performance at the city's Hollywood Theatre. In July 2009, the duo pitched their idea for a full-fledged

show to IFC and Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video production company, and the project was quickly approved. Some of the content on the show first appeared in the Internet series. For example, the "Women & Women First" feminist bookstore sketch and its characters, Toni and Candace, originated there.

Filming and production

The series is set and filmed on location in Portland, Oregon. Production for the first season, consisting of six episodes, began in August 2010 and was completed in September 2010. The budget for the first season was set at less than $1 million (US). Along with

Allison Silverman Allison Silverman (born February 17, 1972) is an American comedy writer and producer, known for her work on Russian Doll, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Late Night with Conan O'Brian. She was the head writer and executive producer for ''The Colber ...

, a former head writer and executive producer for ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...

'', and ''Portlandia'' director

, Armisen and Brownstein wrote the sketches that appear in the first six episodes. Lorne Michaels served as executive producer. Portlandia - Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein crop

Portlandia - Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein crop

The series stars

and

in various roles. Guest stars include: Tim Heidecker; Kirsten Dunst; Olivia Wilde;

Selma Blair Selma Blair Beitner (born June 23, 1972) is an American actress. She played a number of roles in films and on television before obtaining recognition for her leading role in the film '' Brown's Requiem'' (1998). Her breakthrough came when she s ...

;

Chloë Sevigny Chloë Stevens Sevigny (, born November 18, 1974) is an American actress, model, filmmaker and fashion designer. Known for her work in independent films, often appearing in controversial or experimental features, Sevigny is the recipient of se ...

;

Roseanne Barr Roseanne Cherrie Barr (born November 3, 1952) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and former presidential candidate. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy before gaining acclaim in the television sitcom '' Roseanne'' (1988– ...

;

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

;

Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, ''Time'' named her one of the 100 most influentia ...

; Kristen Wiig; Rose Byrne;

Andy Samberg Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2005 ...

;

Rachel Bloom Rachel Leah Bloom (born April 3, 1987) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She is best known for co-creating and starring as Rebecca Bunch in The CW musical comedy-drama series ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' (2015– ...

;

Ed Begley Jr. Edward James Begley Jr. (born September 16, 1949) is an American actor and environmental activist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He played Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the television series ''St. E ...

;

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

;

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

; Sarah McLachlan; KD Lang; Jello Biafra;

Kurt Vile Kurt Samuel Vile (born January 3, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is known for his solo work and as the former lead guitarist of rock band the War on Drugs. Both in the studio and during li ...

; Heather Graham; Parker Posey; Michael Nesmith;

Glenn Danzig Glenn Allen Anzalone (born June 23, 1955), better known by his stage name Glenn Danzig, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, film director, and record producer. He is the founder of the rock bands Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. He owns t ...

; Aubrey Plaza; Rashida Jones; Anna Gunn; Jane Lynch;

Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wri ...

;

Jason Sudeikis Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 200 ...

;

Ehren McGhehey Kenneth Ehren McGhehey Jr. (born November 29, 1976), also known as Danger Ehren, is an American stunt performer, actor and former professional snowboarder. He is best known as one of the cast members of the reality stunt franchise '' Jackass'' ...

;

Eddie Vedder Eddie Jerome Vedder (born Edward Louis Severson III; December 23, 1964) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and one of four guitarists of the rock band Pearl Jam. He also appeared as a guest vocalist i ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

; Greta Gerwig; Edward James Olmos; Brigitte Nielsen;

J Mascis Joseph Donald Mascis Jr. ( ; born December 10, 1965), better known as J Mascis, is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and main songwriter for the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. He has also released several albums as a solo arti ...

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ( ...

;

Kate Pierson Catherine Elizabeth Pierson (born April 27, 1948) is an American singer, lyricist, and founding member of the B-52's. She plays guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments. In the B-52s, she has performed alongside Cindy Wilson, Fred Schneid ...

, Cindy Wilson and

Fred Schneider Frederick William Schneider III (born July 1, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, and musician, best known as the frontman of the rock band The B-52's, of which he is a founding member. Schneider is well known for his ''sprechge ...

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...

;

Josh Homme Joshua Michael Homme ( ; born May 17, 1973) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the founder, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the rock band Queens of the Stone Age, which he form ...

Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple line- ...

;

Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American film director, producer, photographer, and musician. He has earned acclaim as both an independent and mainstream filmmaker. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultur ...

;

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film ''The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his role ...

;

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

;

Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels. ...

;

Joanna Newsom Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Northern California, Newsom was classically trained on the harp in her youth and began her musical career as a keyboardist in the San Francisc ...

; Annie Clark of

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

; Jack White;

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

;

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...

; Krist Novoselic; Portland Trail Blazers players

LaMarcus Aldridge LaMarcus Nurae Aldridge (born July 19, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for two seasons with the Texas Longhorns. ...

, Damian Lillard,

CJ McCollum Christian James McCollum (born September 19, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his third year in the league in 2015–16, he was named the NBA Mos ...

, and

Robin Lopez Robin Byron Lopez (born April 1, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected with the 15th pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns, was trad ...

as themselves; and

Kyle MacLachlan Kyle Merritt MacLachlan (; ' McLachlan, February 22, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Dale Cooper in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991; 2017) and its film prequel '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), as well as roles ...

as a fictional

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Portland. Actual Portland mayor

Sam Adams Samuel Adams ( – October 2, 1803) was an American statesman, political philosopher, and a Founding Father of the United States. He was a politician in colonial Massachusetts, a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and ...

is also featured as an assistant to the mayor. Another episode, including a fictionalized music festival similar to Portland's actual

MusicfestNW MusicfestNW (MFNW) was a multi-venue music festival that took place every fall in Portland, Oregon from 2001 to 2018. In 2014 the format of the festival changed to a two-day waterfront music festival. The festival was organized by the alternative we ...

, featured a rock band played by

Colin Meloy Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acousti ...

and Jenny Conlee of The Decemberists; James Mercer of The Shins; Brownstein's

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member J ...

bandmates Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss; and

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he c ...

Modest Mouse Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced ...

. On February 14, 2011, IFC ordered a ten-episode second season, which began airing in January 2012. On March 21, 2012, IFC announced its renewal of the show for a third season. On June 12, 2013, the network announced its renewal of ''Portlandia'' for fourth and fifth seasons, of ten episodes each, that aired in early 2014 and early 2015. On February 10, 2015, it was announced that IFC had picked up ''Portlandia'' for sixth and seventh seasons. In January 2017, the series was renewed for an eighth and final season to debut in 2018. Filming for the final season began in Portland in June 2017.

Series overview

Characters

Most of the sketches on ''Portlandia'' feature Armisen and Brownstein playing one of a variety of pairs of characters, most of which appear in multiple episodes. One of those pairings is "Fred and Carrie", a naturalistic depiction that is supposed to represent versions of the actors as if they were friends living together in a house in Portland. Most of the others use makeup, costumes, and wigs to depict pairings both young and old of various types. Sometimes

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

is used, as when Armisen portrays Candace, co-owner of the Women and Women First bookstore, Brownstein plays Andy, a men's rights activist, or when Armisen and Brownstein swap genders to play the couple Nina and Lance. There are also a small number of recurring characters played by other actors, such as the Mayor of Portland and his assistant (played by

and

, the actual mayor from 2009 to 2012), Fred and Carrie's landlord (played by

, who also directed several episodes), Angel (played by Angel Bouchet, who appears in multiple episodes as herself), a swinger couple (played by Ebbe Roe Smith and

Kristine Levine Kristine Levine (born August 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, and author best known for performing in the sketch comedy television series ''Portlandia (TV series), Portlandia''. Filmography Film * ''The Unbookables'' (2012, as sel ...

), an owner of many quirky shops (played by

) and Carrie's mom (played by Mickey Ronningen, seasons 2, 3, and 5). Actor Jedediah P. Aaker has appeared on more episodes of the series than any other actors, not including the series' two leads.

Reception

''Portlandia'' debuted on IFC on January 21, 2011. IFC "cheered" the first episode's

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

of 263,000 viewers (live plus same day); factoring in repeats and three days' worth of DVR viewings, the number grew to 725,000, a figure that does not include an estimated 500,000 online preview viewings on IFC.com,

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

during the days before the official IFC premiere. As of May 1, 2012, the series was available to watch on Netflix in Ireland and the UK. The show has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Review aggregator site

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

has given the first season a rating of 71 out of 100, and the second season a rating of 75 out of 100. Both of these ratings fall within the site's range of "generally favorable reviews". Robert Lloyd of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called the show "funny and charming." Verne Gay of ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' awarded the series an "A" grade and called it "hilarious". He noted that "Brownstein and Armisen move so effortlessly between characters, then execute their riffs, tics, styles and voices with such skilled abandon that before long this doesn't seem like satire any longer but a fun house mirror reflection of intensely real people." Contrarily, Brian Lowry, writing for ''Variety'', noted that the show was "clearly on a shoestring budget" and said that it featured an "array of tiresome characters" that provided "further proof not everyone deserves a sketch comedy showcase - especially when the premise cuts no deeper than vignettes inspired by the wheat-germy, hippie-ish environs of Portland, Ore." Comedian

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...

is a fan of the show. In a 2014 interview he said, "I think that's the best comedy on TV right now, and it's easily one of the best comedies of all time". The sketches set in the

feminist bookstore Feminist bookstores sell material relating to women's issues, gender, and sexuality. These stores served as some of the earliest open spaces for feminist community building and organizing. Prior to the spread of feminist bookstores, bookselling ...

"Women and Women First" were filmed in an actual

independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, cl ...

, In Other Words; this name can be seen on the chalkboard listing in-store events behind the cash register. At one point the real bookstore and community center used the show to promote itself, but the relationship broke down in 2016. The volunteer board wrote in a blog post that the bookstore and staff were mistreated during a filming session, and went on to say that "the Women and Women First segments ... are trans-antagonistic and trans-misogynist and have only become more offensive as the show goes on."

Awards and nominations

''Portlandia'' won a

in 2011 "for its good-natured lampooning of hipster culture, which hits the mark whether or not you’re in on the joke." ''Portlandia'' also won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in 2011 for Outstanding Costumes for a Variety Program or Special and was also nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series in the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards. Former Portland mayor

(2009 to 2012) also appeared on the show and proclaimed January 21, 2011, Portlandia Day. The proclamation included a decorative bird, referring to a joke in the TV series. A bicycle tour company began offering Portlandia tours. For the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, the show received nominations in Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Fred Armisen, Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series for Jonathan Krisel, and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for

for the episode "Celery".

Home media and international release

''Portlandia: Season One'' was released on Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray on December 6, 2011, and Region 4 on August 1, 2012. The one disc set consists of all six episodes of its first season. Special features include; Extended Scenes, Bloopers, An IFC Behind-the-Scenes Featurette, "Thunder Ant" Sketches, and Audio Commentary by Armisen and Brownstein. Portlandia: Season Two was released on Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray on September 25, 2012, and Region 4 on August 7, 2013. The two disc set consists of all ten episodes of season two. Special features include; "Portlandia: the Tour: Seattle" Featurette, "Inside Portlandia" Featurette, "Feminist Bookstore" Deleted Scene, "Brunch Village: the Director's Cut", Excerpt from the ''Portlandia'' book and Audio Commentary by Armisen, Brownstein and Krisel. There is also a combination set of both seasons available. Portlandia was also distributed in some countries on the

iTunes store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

and Amazon Video. In Australia it is screened on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's station ABC2 and on its iView video streaming service. The series was premiered in Latin America on March 27, 2012, on the channel

I.Sat I.Sat (contraction of the Spanish phrase ''Imagen Satelital'', which means "Satellite image") is an Argentine cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery International. It airs movies, series, music and shows. It is headquartered in ...

References

External links

* * {{IFC programming 2011 American television series debuts 2018 American television series endings 2010s American satirical television series 2010s American sketch comedy television series 2010s American surreal comedy television series Cross-dressing in television American English-language television shows IFC (American TV channel) original programming Peabody Award-winning television programs Television series based on Internet-based works Television series by Broadway Video Television shows filmed in Oregon Television shows set in Portland, Oregon Television shows set in Oregon Television series created by Fred Armisen Television series created by Jonathan Krisel