Oh, god. I really wish people in Portland would stop doing things that make the rest of the country hate us. But nope! From Deadline:

IFC has greenlit “Portlandia,” an original short-based comedy series about the people and values of Portland, Ore. SNL’s Fred Armisen and singer/guitarist Carrie Brownstein star. Armisen and Brownstein will write the series with Allison Silverman and Jonathan Krisel. The series is executive produced by Lorne Michaels. Portlandia begins production later this month and is shot entirely on location in Portland.

1. I love Carrie Brownstein. Her NPR blog is great, and of course the whole lead-guitarist-in-my-favorite-band-ever thing.

2.The videos produced by Armisen and Brownstein’s Thunderant have never impressed me—they always seem to go for the lowest hanging of Portland’s many sagging fruits (I feel like that sounds like a gay joke, but it totally wasn’t). Any reason to believe this will be any different?

3. …at least it’s not Leverage*?


*I’ve never seen Leverage. But Floyd’s was closed due to filming when I wanted coffee the other morning, ergo, I hate them. Though I guess the hipster TV show will probably similarly ruin my favorite coffeeshops. God dammit.

UPDATE! : From TV by the Numbers:

Each half-hour episode of “Portlandia” will include interwoven short films starring Armisen and Brownstein, which portray the progressive personalities, aesthetics, and values of “Portlandia”, the creators’ dreamy and absurd rendering of Portland, Ore. In the series’ premiere, viewers will meet the owners of a feminist book store; a militant bike messenger; an artsy couple who put cut-outs of birds on everything; and a punk rock couple negotiating a “safe word” to help govern their love life. The first episode also depicts Armisen and Brownstein meeting with the Mayor of Portland (Kyle MacLachlan) who solicits the duo to write a new theme song for the city in a segment that also features the real mayor of Portland (Sam Adams) playing the assistant to MacLachlan’s “mayor.” That theme song, and all the series’ original music, is written and performed by Armisen and Brownstein.

Alison Hallett served nobly as the Mercury's arts editor from 2008-2014. Her proud legacy lives on.

23 replies on “Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein to write <i>Portlandia</i>”

  1. I just hope it has recurring appearances by some wacky characters – ala Daryl, Daryl and Larry from Newhart – who are supposed to be Vancouverites…

  2. This show already reeks of predictability, but I also believe there is a more pressing need for Portlanders (read: hipsters) to be put into their proper place…which is down a few pegs.

  3. This is just going to be a live action version of Stuff White People Like: Farmers markets, the Sunday NY Times, bikes, recycling etc etc etc.

  7. If the show makes hipsters look like the fools they are, and makes even one of them go back to where they came from (or better yet, gain 30 lbs., get a shave and a haircut, wear pants that fit, get a job, and throw the fixie in the dumpster), it’ll be worth it.

  12. Will this show finally define “hipster” as anyone under 35 currently living in Portland, Oregon?

    Complaining about “hipsters” is like complaining about the weather; you’re not adding anything to the converstation and you still can’t tell me when its going to rain.

  14. This sounds completely terrible. I’m pretty sure all of those sketch premises have been used and abused before. I know for a fact that the punk-couple-negotiating-safe-word was played in a recurring scene on Dmitri Martin’s Important Things last season.

    And as a native Portlander, this just sucks.

  15. As a native contemplative of Portland, I´ll let production borrow my Super 8 mm camera that´s being air-sealed since the sixties, along with many super 8 tapes, and well, if anyone needs a blood transfusion.

  16. This was already done – as other folks have pointed out – before…most recently, Flight of the Conchords, who recognized they ran out of material after 2 seasons…and, unlike many other folks chiming in, I liked FOTC’s music more than anything Brownstein’s ever done…

  18. I’ll watch only if Carrie Brownstein, playing Beau Breedlove, humps mayor Kyle MacLachlan in a pool while flopping around like an epileptic dolphin.

  20. If making the rest of the country hate us means that the rest of the country will be dissuaded from moving here, then I’m fine with that. 🙂 (and I’m an import, too, as are half or more of the Portlanders I know..hypocritcal or not, we want Portland to remain a “big town”)

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