Portlandia

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.

I think the funniest sketch of all time is the pretentious thrift store one, and that alone gives this show a 10. Brownstein and Armisen are the best comic duo in recent memory - there unique brand of irreverent humor is so smart and can be so delightfully crass at the same time. Also the running format of the show is so brilliant. Want more of this!!

This show is incredibly funny. It is very dry, and there is no laugh track, so if you aren't into that type of humor/show, this isn't the show for you. They are particularly good at making fun of hipster overly sensitive liberal culture, while also making fun of the other side of the isle. There is something in each episode for every type of person. Sometimes, the humor isn't obvious. It isn't quotable. Its not something you can go tell your friends or share on twitter. A lot of it relies in the actual plot itself, or the subtle delivery from the actors. Sometimes it makes fun of movies, TV shows, or other traditional forms of entertainment. It doesn't stick to making fun of one type of person, and it doesn't stick to one type of humor. If you have a broad sense of humor or can at least appreciate their varying forms of humor, you'll love this show. If you only think very specific types of humor are funny, you won't like this. This show is brilliant, creative, and doesn't care about if it hurts your feelings.

Portlandia depicts life in Portland, Oregon for many characters played by Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstei. Each episode is a collection of sketches featuring reoccurring and cameo characters played by Fred and Carrie.

This show is 8 seasons of consistently good sketch comedy. I didn't realize that was still possible.

I am forever in awe of Fred and Carrie's work and relationship. I highly recommend this show.