Portlandia

The first episode I saw of this was the one with Aimmee Mann and Sarah Maclaughlin, I LOL'ed in real life and I am far from a person to LO. Sometimes I might chuckle or give a fees hearty laughs, but this show had my stomach hurting from laughing. My girlfriend was laying on my stomach as we it started to come on and she had to angrily huff as she flounced from laying on my chest. I was laughing so hard and I don't know if my laughter vibrations disturbed her or she is genuinely disturbed by me being happy. Either way I said to her "Come back over here" as I chuckled continually. The show itself is like the best skits of "Saturday Night Live" and each showcases the unique people of Portland and it makes me want to go to Portland and check it out.

Comedy is very personal. I think it's harder than drama- as to tastes- I think something is over sweet or too salty and it's some one else's favorite food. Often, I can't get a single laugh from some comics others think are funny. I can't say all the skits are even; some better. Is it ha ha funny, not always. But I found it entertaining and original. and I like a different voice. they break through sexual and social stereotypes by displaying them. Carrie as a man and Fred as a woman pull it off, not by their physical, but by the spirit and mimic of the essence.

Portlandia is a wonderful mockery of a sort of the silliness of the modern age, poking fun at obsessions with food and authenticity and playing with concepts of gender.

Portlandia walks that very thin line between so weird it's funny and too weird to be funny. That means you can see something truly inventive, original sketches, but also that you can watch an entire episode without a single funny thing in it. This has become increasingly true as the series has progressed - as of season 8 the humor has been somewhat patchy, although it is still sometimes brilliant.

If you haven't seen this series, you should definitely check it out. Start with the early episodes to get the most bang for your buck.

Written by and starring Carrie Brownstein, of Sleater-Kinney fame, and Fred Armisen, of Saturday Night Live fame, a sketch comedy show set in Portland, Oregon.

Funny, clever and original comedy. Captures well the absurdities of everyday life as well as parodying many organisations and types of people. Often irreverent in the institutions and people they take on.

The humour spans subtle to over-the-top. Therein lies the main problem with the show - the subtler stuff can be too subtle and you miss the joke. Some skits just don't work. In addition, while having regular characters helps familiarity and engagement some of the characters are just plain irritating, limiting engagement. There's also a degree of repetitiveness too.

Brownstein and Armisen are wonderful as the lead actors. While Armisen's comedic credentials are already well known and respected, Brownstein is a revelation. Her background, through Sleater-Kinney, is in socially-orientated rock music, and here she takes on sketch comedy, and does so extremely well.

Kyle MacLachlan is also great as the Major of Portland.

Another great feature of the series is the star-spotting as just about every episode has a major star (or several) in the cast, often as themselves. I can only imagine the clout Brownstein and Armisen must have to get those names on their show.

"Portlandia" is a parody of/homage to the City of Roses, depicting scenarios that look like typical Portland occurrences. "Saturday Night Live" cast member Fred Armisen and singer Carrie Brownstein play various characters that truly represent the city, with occasional guest stars. This is not a sitcom in the common sense. It's filmed on location, and the humor is sort of like the kind in Christopher Guest's movies. "Portlandia" isn't a masterpiece of a show, but it's a very fun look at my hometown. I can affirm that it's a pretty accurate portrayal. And a very funny one. This show probably won't be for everyone, but if you like quirky stuff then you'll probably enjoy it.