Portlandia DVD Review
Portlandia is a sitcom/skit show created and starring by Fred Armisen (SNL) and Carrie Brownstein (of the bands Sleater-Kinney and Wild Flag). It’s inspired by their collaborations on their Internet comedy sketches under the name Thunderant. Those became increasingly more Portland, Oregon centric so they eventually decided to pitch a Portland skit show to a network and in this case IFC. The show has since become a cult hit in the US and now over here despite no channel in the UK showing it, it’s available on Netflix UK (which itself is only a recent thing).
The title refers to the famous statue of Portlandia in the centre of Portland, which is shown prominently in the opening credits. The UK dvd that has came out features the first 2 seasons, there is already a 3rd in the States and they have recently green lighted 2 more seasons. The show takes loving aims at the eccentric aspects of the city… after all this is a place that has the world’s only “Vegan strip club”. It’s also known for its D.I.Y music scene, microbreweries, veggie friendly restaurants, hipsters and its liberal politics.
The film has character such as 2 feminist book shop owners, numerous musicians, people on communes, dumpster divers, Battlestar Galactica superfans and even characters named Fred and Carrie… played by Fred and Carrie. The mayor of Portland is played by Kyle MacLachlan (a Pacific northwest native himself) and the former real mayor of Portland plays his assistant (he stepped down on New Year’s eve of 2012). The show also features numerous cameos from Steve Buscemi, Tim Robbins, Johnny Marr, Steve Jones, Gus Van Sant etc.
The 1st season is the worse of the 2 I’ve seen it’s trying to find it’s voice and it certain suffers from that. It does however have the classic “Dream of the 90s” music video in the first episode, which sums up the show pretty much. The 2nd season is when it really gets into its stride and becomes increasingly funnier and funnier. It’s never a total laugh out loud riot but it’s really worth checking out and each episode is like 21 minutes which makes it a nice way to past the time. It’s pretty funny if your from Portland like I am though.
Ian Schultz
Rating: 15
Release Date: 24th June 2013 (UK)
Director: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel
Cast: Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Kyle MacLachlan
Buy:Portlandia: Season 1 And 2 [DVD]
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