Fred Armisen’s new show, filmed in Portland and pretty much about the city’s residents and their odd way of living. I don’t know if they can keep an audience that doesn’t actually live here, but it was pretty quirky and pretty much on the mark. Anybody else see the premiere?
They stole my location for the show’s title. Can I sue?
I recorded it. Haven’t watched it yet.
Almost Live featured Seattle-based humour, and I appreciated it even though I was living in SoCal. I’ll admit that I didn’t specifically know why they made fun of Lynnwood in one sketch (and I still haven’t been there), but I ‘got’ the joke because there similar places where I lived.
It’s skit-based humor (I think I saw Lorne Michaels’ name go by in the credits), with some surprises as guest cameos. I’d be surprised if it goes past one season.
Some of the things at which they’re poking fun are universal amongst the various hipster communities scattered across the country.
Of course, hipsters and those who wish to make fun of them are still a pretty small segment.
Lorne Michaels producing a skit-based show? You’re right. It’ll never fly. 
I was hoping for a sitcom with a steady cast of characters, only because it would have a better chance of surviving (a la Seinfeld). I think they’re going to run out of material otherwise.
I’ve never even heard of IFC before.
Independent Film Channel. They show a lot of R and NC17 films.
Carrie Brownstein. Sigh. She’s like a little china doll. With an attitude.
Hey, she went both ways once. She could again.
Mrs. FtG and I loved this.
She was about to go to bed and I started playing it. She stayed put. Lots of inside yuks and all. Hey, you have to have lived just off SE Lincoln St to understand some of this. (Or Hawthorne, or gone to PCC or …)
One thing they got wrong is that Portland isn’t stuck in the 90s, it’s stuck in the 60s. There were some “hippie” references which is more apropos. The 90s culture was just a later iteration of hippie culture, but basically the same. (I’ve said it before: The standard grunge “style” was just everyday college dress of the 70s in the PNW.)
Fred Armisen just doesn’t have the range of talent to make this work though.
Buscemi was great as usual.
Agreed on both counts. Buscemi’s bit was the best of the lot, although the restaurant skit was pretty funny, too.
Speaking of Portland weird, we went to one of the Fertile Ground plays last night. The name of the play:* 99 Ways to Fuck a Swan*. Portland weird, indeed.
So, are there?
99 ways to fuck a swan, I mean.
I could write a play called 99 Ways to Fuck Carrie Brownstein, but I won’t subject you to that. Or Carrie.
It’s complicated.
Not all of them. Many are very simple and obvious.
Probably true with Carrie as well. 
I do live on SE Lincoln, which they flashed on the screen in the “Mind Fi” scene. That was amusing.
After visiting Ithaca, the world depicted in Portlandia seems very, very familiar.
I thought it was intermittently clever, but a bit uneven. I’m also worried that it won’t play well outside of the target Portlander audience.
(disclosure, I’ve lived in PDX since college, in 1991)
We re-watched it last night. FtGKid1 and FtGKid1’s SO wanted to see it. Watching it again with 20-somethings was fun. They thought it was hilarious throughout. They are not so familiar with Portland but still got a lot of place references. Had to explain the PCC thing to them.
Which brings me to:
Or, in the case of one of our group: Athens, GA.
I think for a quite a few people, the “college town touchy-feely” thing is universal, so it will appeal to a lot more people. But still kind of limited in that regard.
Is Portland sort of special in regards to being in effect a college town-style place but much larger than most such cities?
(I blame the Reedies of course for starting it all, and the PSU crowd for trying to emulate them.)
All you really need to know about Portland: Hackysack was invented by some PSU students.