Portlandia
Portlandia | |
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Genre | |
Created by | |
Based on | ThunderAnt by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein |
Written by |
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Directed by |
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Starring |
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Opening theme | "Feel It All Around" by Washed Out |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 77 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Production location | Multiple camera |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | IFC |
Release | January 21, 2011 March 22, 2018 | –
Portlandia is an American
The show shared its title with the
In January 2017, the series was renewed for an eighth and final season, which concluded on March 22, 2018.[4]
Production
Conception and development
Brownstein and Armisen first met in 2003 and began collaborating on a series of comedy sketches for the
In July 2009, the duo pitched their idea for a full-fledged sketch comedy show to IFC and Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video production company, and the project was quickly approved.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7] The budget for the first season was set at less than $1 million (US).[5] Along with Allison Silverman, a former head writer and executive producer for The Colbert Report, and Portlandia director Jonathan Krisel, Armisen and Brownstein wrote the sketches that appear in the first six episodes. Lorne Michaels served as executive producer.[8]
The series stars
On February 14, 2011, IFC ordered a ten-episode second season, which began airing in January 2012.[12] On March 21, 2012, IFC announced its renewal of the show for a third season.[13] 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.[14] On February 10, 2015, it was announced that IFC had picked up Portlandia for sixth and seventh seasons.[15]
In January 2017, the series was renewed for an eighth and final season to debut in 2018.[4] Filming for the final season began in Portland in June 2017.[16]
Series overview
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 6 | January 21, 2011 | February 25, 2011 | |
2 | 10 | January 6, 2012 | March 9, 2012 | |
3 | 11 | December 14, 2012 | March 1, 2013 | |
4 | 10 | February 27, 2014 | May 1, 2014 | |
5 | 10 | January 8, 2015 | March 12, 2015 | |
6 | 10 | January 21, 2016 | March 24, 2016 | |
7 | 10 | January 5, 2017 | March 9, 2017 | |
8 | 10 | January 18, 2018 | March 22, 2018 |
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 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 Kyle MacLachlan and Sam Adams, the actual mayor from 2009 to 2012), Fred and Carrie's landlord (played by Steve Buscemi, 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), an owner of many quirky shops (played by Jeff Goldblum) 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.[17]
Reception
Portlandia debuted on IFC on January 21, 2011.
The show has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Review aggregator site Metacritic 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".[21][22] Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times called the show "funny and charming."[23] Verne Gay of Newsday 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."[24] 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."[25] Comedian Jerry Seinfeld 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".[26]
The sketches set in the
Awards and nominations
Portlandia won a
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 Steve Buscemi for the episode "Celery".
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
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2011 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Costumes for a Variety, Music Program, or Special | Amanda Needham and Nichole Dimitras (for "Farm") | Won | |
2012 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series | Jonathan Krisel (for "One Moore Episode") | Nominated | |
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series | Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel and Karey Dornetto | Nominated | |||
Peabody Award
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Area of Excellence | Portlandia | Won | ||
Writers Guild of America Awards
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Comedy/Variety (including talk) series | Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karey Dornetto, Jonathan Krisel, Bill Oakley | Won | ||
2013 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series | Jonathan Krisel (for "Alexandra") | Nominated | |
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series | Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel and Bill Oakley | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Costumes for a Variety Program or a Special | Amanda Needham (for "Blackout") | Won | |||
Writers Guild of America Awards
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Comedy/Variety (including talk) series | Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel, Bill Oakley | Nominated | ||
Art Directors Guild Awards | Multi-Camera Unscripted Series | Tyler Robinson, Schuyler Telleen and Katherine Isom | Won | ||
2014 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series | Fred Armisen | Nominated | |
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | Steve Buscemi | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series | Jonathan Krisel (for "Getting Away") | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series | Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel, Graham Wagner and Karey Dornetto | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Art Direction for Variety, Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program
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Tyler B. Robinson, Schuyler Telleen and Katherine Isom (for "Celery") | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series
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Bill Benz and Daniel Gray Longino (for "Getting Away") | Nominated | |||
Online Film & Television Association Award | Best Direction in a Comedy Series | Portlandia | Nominated | ||
Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | Steve Buscemi | Nominated | |||
2015 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
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Portlandia | Nominated | |
Outstanding Production Design for Variety, Nonfiction, Reality, or Reality-Competition Programming
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Tyler Robinson, Schuyler Telleen, and Katherine Isom ("Dead Pets") | Won | |||
Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Carrie Brownstein | Nominated | ||
Online Film & Television Association Award | Best Male Performance in a Fiction Program | Fred Armisen | Nominated | ||
Best Female Performance in a Fiction Program | Carrie Brownstein | Nominated | |||
Best Ensemble in a Fiction Program | Nominated | ||||
2016 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
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Portlandia | Nominated | |
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series | Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel, Graham Wagner and Karey Dornetto | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Nonfiction, Reality, or Reality-Competition Series
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Schuyler Telleen and Katherine Isom (for "Family Emergency," "Pickathon," "Weirdo Beach") | Won | |||
Online Film & Television Association Award | Best Variety Program | Portlandia | Nominated | ||
Best Female Performance in a Variety Program | Carrie Brownstein | Nominated | |||
Best Ensemble in a Variety, Reality or Non-Fiction Program | Nominated | ||||
Best Writing of a Variety Program | Nominated | ||||
Art Directors Guild Awards | Variety, Reality or Competition Series | Schuyler Telleen | Nominated | ||
2017 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
|
Portlandia | Nominated | |
Outstanding Costumes for Variety, Nonfiction or Reality Program | Amanda Needham, Jayme Hansen and Jordan Hamilton (for "Carrie Dates a Hunk") | Nominated | |||
Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Nonfiction, Reality, or Reality-Competition Series
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Schuyler Telleen and Katherine Isom (for "Fred's Cell Phone Company") | Nominated | |||
2018 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
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Portlandia | Nominated | [32] |
Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series | Carrie Brownstein (for "Riot Spray") | Nominated | |||
ACE Eddie Awards | Best Edited Comedy Series for Commercial Television | Heather Capps, Ali Greer and Jordan Kim (for "Amore") | Nominated | [33] | |
Art Directors Guild Awards | Variety or Competition Series/Awards or Event Special | Schuyler Telleen (for "Portland Secedes", "Ants", "Fred’s Cell Phone Company") | Won | [34] | |
Writers Guild of America Awards
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Comedy/Variety - Sketch Series | Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Karen Kilgariff, Jonathan Krisel, Graham Wagner | Nominated | [35] |
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.[36][37]
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.[38]
There is also a combination set of both seasons available..
See also
- "The Day the Earth Stood Cool", a 2012 episode of The Simpsons featuring Armisen and Brownstein
- Lady Dynamite, a television series starring Maria Bamford that crossed over with Portlandia at the end of season seven
References
- ^ "I Have a New Band". NPR: All Songs Considered. NPR. September 22, 2010. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- ^ a b Turnquist, Kristi (September 9, 2010). "IFC's 'Portlandia' crew says joke won't be on our fair city". The Oregonian. Advance Publications. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
- ^ "Portlandia, the TV Show". Portland, Oregon: KOIN. September 13, 2010. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
The series gets its name from the Raymond Kaskey sculpture above the entrance of the Portland Building on Fifth Avenue.
- ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (January 14, 2017). "'Portlandia' Renewed For Eighth & Final Season By IFC, Will There Be Spinoffs:TCA". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
- ^ a b c Aaron, Mesh (November 3, 2010). "Mock Star – Carrie Brownstein is Making Fun of You". Willamette Week. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- ^ "15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Portlandia". ifc.com. 2014-12-29. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
- ^ "Portlandia, the TV Show". KOIN News. KOIN. September 13, 2010. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2010.
- IFC. Archived from the originalon August 16, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
- IFC. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ^ Mesh, Aaron (September 9, 2010). "Portlandia Shooting Fake MusicfestNW at MusicfestNW". Willamette Week. Movies & Television. Archived from the original on September 14, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
- ^ "News Slightly Less Insidery Than Portlandia". Willamette Week. Scoop. September 15, 2010. Archived from the original on October 9, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
- ^ Itzkoff, Dave (February 14, 2011). "IFC Orders Second Season of 'Portlandia'". The New York Times. Arts Beat. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
- ^ "'Portlandia' Renewed for Third Season". Rolling Stone. March 21, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2012.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 12, 2013). "'Portlandia' Renewed For Seasons 4 & 5". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
- ^ Roots, Kimberley (February 10, 2015). "Portlandia Renewed for Seasons 6 & 7". TVLine.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
- ^ Turnquist, Kristi (June 21, 2017). "'Portlandia' back in Portland". The Oregonian. p. B16. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
- ^ "15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Portlandia". IFC. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
- ^ "Portlandia Season 1, Ep. 1 'Farm'". Amazon. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
- ^ "IFC Cheers Ratings, Views Of 'Onion' 'Portlandia'". Multichannel News. January 27, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ "Portlandia Comes Only to Netflix in the UK and Ireland, and the first season is available in the US". Netflix. Archived from the original on May 4, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- ^ "Portlandia – Season 1 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. January 21, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ^ "Portlandia – Season 2 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
- ^ Lloyd, Robert; Critic, Television (January 21, 2011). "Television review: 'Portlandia'". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Gay, Verne (January 19, 2011). "'Portlandia' is a Hoot of Satire". Newsday. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (January 19, 2011). "Onion News Network, Portlandia". Variety. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ "Is Portlandia One of the Best Comedies of All Time? Jerry Seinfeld Thinks So". Vulture. October 2, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ "Fuck Portlandia". In Other Words Blog. In Other Words Staff. September 30, 2016. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
- ^ 71st Annual Peabody Awards, May 2012
- ^ "IFC Original Comedy Series "Portlandia" Nominated for Two Emmy Awards". The Futon Critic. July 19, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
- ^ Maerz, Melissa (January 30, 2011). "For the birds? 'Portlandia' lovingly pokes fun at Portland, Ore". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
- ^ Rose, Joseph (January 25, 2011). "Portland company offers 'Portlandia bike rides'". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
- ^ Hipes, Patrick (July 12, 2018). "Emmy Nominations: 'Game Of Thrones, 'The Americans', 'Atlanta', Defending Champ 'Handmaid's Tale' Among Top Nominees". Deadline. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ Carolyn Giardina (January 3, 2018). "'Dunkirk,' 'Shape of Water,' 'Baby Driver' Among ACE Eddie Awards Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ Petski, Matt Grobar,Denise (January 28, 2018). "Art Directors Guild Awards Live Blog & Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Littleton, Cynthia (7 December 2017). "Writers Guild Award TV Nominations: 'The Americans,' 'Handmaid's Tale,' 'GLOW' Grab Multiple Mentions". Variety. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- TVShowsOnDVD. May 25, 2007. Archived from the originalon January 14, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ^ "Portlandia: Series 1 (DVD)". EzyDVD. Archived from the original on May 9, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- TVShowsOnDVD. Archived from the originalon June 29, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
- ^ Lambert (September 19, 2012). "Portlandia – Official Press Release for 'Season 2' on DVD, Blu-ray (and Combo S1/S2 DVD)". TVShowsOnDVD. Archived from the original on September 23, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
- ^ See the search indexes of the iTunes store and of Amazon.com, accessed 2012 10 1
- ^ "Portlandia: ABC TV". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
External links
- Official website
- Portlandia at IMDb