Portlandia

[domino harvey]

Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, they of the great unsung internet comedy team ThunderAnt and also SNL/S-K, of course, have a six episode miniseries on IFC starting January 21 called Portlandia. Based how successful and observant their off the cuff little comedy pieces work (I mean, this is so dead on for anyone who went to a liberal arts college that it's barely satire), I am very hopeful that this series, with a little money and structure, could finally be one of those cultural markers of indie life that for some reason just can't get an accurate representation in popular culture.

Here's the music video trailer for the series

[Cold Bishop]

As someone who dislikes IFC's new direction (Comedy Central for Hipsters!), runs more cold than hot on Fred Armisen (mostly from his embarrassing SNL tenure, mind you) and lives in Portland (and as such, have already heard an ear-full), I have three reasons to find this show obnoxious. But I'll wait and see how perceptive and/or savage its satire is. Plus, it means I may run into Agent Cooper somewhere in town eventually, and that's a good thing.

[Highway 61]

My family and friends are going nuts for this. Personally, I'm already sick of it, and it only cements my decision to move this year. I doubt I'll ever watch the show. Of course, the show could very well turn out great. But my prejudice against Portland culture means I'm incapable of making an impartial judgment. "So dead on that it's barely satire" is certainly the vibe I get from the trailer, and I would argue, it appears to revel in what it purports to satirize.

[domino harvey]

"So dead on that it's barely satire" is certainly the vibe I get from the trailer, and I would argue, it appears to revel in what it purports to satirize.

I didn't mean that as a negative, but even if it does indeed do what you argue, it wouldn't necessarily bother me much. I remember people having similar complaints about Enchanted. I would argue here as there that personally I don't necessarily need a vitriol-filled viciousness to the satirical bite-- I'm more concerned with the level of specificity and observation offered rather than the attitude. In fact, some of the best satire being made today is by Scharpling and Wurster and they too are so hyperspecific in the things they mock that the resultant product is more affectionate than hateful and none the worse for it. But again, who knows if they'll rise to that level or not when afforded the larger scale of a miniseries

[Cold Bishop]

Oh, certainly good satire doesn't need to be vitriolic. But when dealing with a place like Portland, it certainly helps.

[Highway 61]

Domino, I understand, and I'm sure you'll like the show very much because the specificity and observation shown in the trailer is truly spot-on. The only part that wasn't accurate was the joke about Carrie Brownstein's piercings, which were perfectly in line with mainstream Portland.

[Gregory]

I have no access to IFC, so I'm not sure when I'll get to see this, or if I'll ever seek it out. My partner got two tickets to the premiere at Hollywood Theatre on Friday, but I don't plan to go. The music video trailer just wasn't all that funny, IMHO, and it suggests the show will rely too heavily on predictable observational humor such as the shopworn jokes about the women wearing glasses and putting a bird on something and calling it art. It's hard for me how the show will be able to satirize "Portland culture" without going deep into "Stuff White People Like" territory (wretched) only honed in a bit more on punks, lefties, and hipsters of the tattoo and fixed-gear bike variety. I'll wait and see of course.

[flyonthewall2983]

The thing I dislike most about IFC's new direction is that they air the movies uncut, but with fucking commercials now.

[domino harvey]

Wow, really? I have IFC but haven't watched it in probably four years. I had no idea they did a little VH-1 type reinvention

[Cold Bishop]

Well, they bought the Sundance Channel, with the plans of sticking "artier", more "foreign" stuff on there, and using IFC for syndicated series, original programming, and popular pseudo-indie films like "Pulp Fiction" or "Super Troopers". Okay, bad move, but at least one channel stuck with decent films, and perhaps its a little logical not to have two film channels covering the same demographic. But not only have they shifted towards nearly all non-film programming, not only have they started adding commercials to the rare films they do, but even Sundance is mostly non-film programming now.

[flyonthewall2983]

Maybe it would be a good idea for them to then add a 3rd premium channel of completely indie films, stuff that goes under the radar of HBO, Starz, Showtime, and Epix.

On a similar note, I'm really digging this Ovation channel. Reminds me of Bravo before they were one of the first cable networks to fall prey to the reality craze.

[Murdoch]

The thing I dislike most about IFC's new direction is that they air the movies uncut, but with fucking commercials now.

I'm not convinced they're uncut, I think they cut them to fit the timeframe. I watched Heathers on it a few weeks ago and there were a lot of fade-to-blacks not originally in the film, they seemed to have excised a few seconds off here and there. The channel's gone to shit, the only reason I watch it now is for the Larry Sanders reruns and occasional movie.

As for this show, it looks odd.

[flyonthewall2983]

You're probably right. I'm not great at noticing these things, unless it's a movie I know inside and out.

[Cold Bishop]

Maybe it would be a good idea for them to then add a 3rd premium channel of completely indie films, stuff that goes under the radar of HBO, Starz, Showtime, and Epix.

Give it 6 months, and it would also be mostly non-film programming. Rainbow Media simply isn't very interested in a film channel.

On a similar note, I'm really digging this Ovation channel. Reminds me of Bravo before they were one of the first cable networks to fall prey to the reality craze.

Well, Ovation tries there best, but it too suffers. Yeah, its nice (and odd) to see a commercial tv station show a movie like Pierrot Le Fou, but its still cut up with commercial breaks, often their films won't even be in the correct aspect-ratio, and its still mostly middle-of-the-road stuff. And as can be expected from an American Arts network, they have a woefully small budget.

[Murdoch]

I just thank the TV deities that TCM manages to stay afloat and not compromise itself too much. I had high hopes for Sundance but with shows like Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys on the rise I'm afraid it's turning into a Bravo-IFC hybrid.

[tartarlamb]

I liked the ThuderAnts stuff enough to be slightly interested, but I have to echo the weariness of the other Portlanders. The problem is that I hear the same kind of jokes everyday. It's a small city with a distinct culture, everyone gets it and everyone already has fun with it -- has been having fun with it for years. Also, admittedly, as a 20-something that can often be caught in skinny jeans, it may hit a bit close to home. But hell, maybe they'll show my apartment building on TV and make my mother happy.

[Markson]

Did you read?

[domino harvey]

Did you read?

Oh man, I've gone from optimistic to full-blown anticipatory

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

That was a dead-on parody of hip fashion. Didn't like the ending, though.

[Markson]

That was a dead-on parody of hip fashion. Didn't like the ending, though.

Agreed, on both counts. The blandly tidy, SNL-esque tag was unnecessary, but the rest was refreshingly on-point. Looking like a must-see.

The first episode has just appeared on Hulu.

[domino harvey]

Okay, so that was pretty good, with the highlight definitely being the swipe at Rollerderbies and other alternative sports with horribly punned names

[tartarlamb]

Eh, it was okay. The most genuinely hipster bit was this comment left on the hulu page: "I used to like this show before it premiered but now since people have watched the first episode it's too trendy for me."

[domino harvey]

It is basically exactly like ThunderAnt, only with a budget. That's not bad, of course, but it's also not the ambitious undertaking I thought it would be either

[tartarlamb]

Those were my thoughts exactly. Between the promo clips and Thunderants, I felt like I'd already seen most of the sketches in some form.

[domino harvey]

http://www.putabirdonit.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;