After seven seasons of the wacky and odd, Portlandia is reaching its wit鈥檚 end.
The IFC sketch comedy series that gently skewers the hipster culture of Portland, Oregon, has launched its eighth and final season.
The show, a flagship for a cable network that specializes in alternative comedy, poked fun at artisan shops, community gardens and quirky characters as it positioned Portland as 鈥渢he place young people go to retire.鈥�
Stars and executive producers Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, who created Portlandia along with Jonathan Krisel (Baskets), announced last year that the eighth season would be the last, allowing them to devote more time to their various individual projects.
While pleased with the decision to end the show on their own terms, Armisen, a Saturday Night Live alum, and Brownstein, who plays in the Portland-based indie rock bands Sleater-Kinney and Wild Flag, admit to mixed emotions now that the production that showcased their offbeat comedic sensibilities is wrapped.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a bit of strangeness to it,鈥� Brownstein said, seated next to Armisen during a recent joint interview in Pasadena. 鈥淚t will feel very pronounced next spring when we鈥檙e not in the writers鈥� room. Right now, it鈥檚 intangible.鈥�
鈥淲hat was most important to us,鈥� said Armisen, 鈥渨as not so much that this was the final season. The most important thing was 鈥楬ow can we make this funny?鈥� It really wasn鈥檛 until the last month that we started thinking, 鈥極h, this is the end.鈥� On the last day of shooting, it was pretty dramatic and really sad. Everyone on the crew came out. It was a nice feeling. We made it to the finish line together. We weren鈥檛 cancelled.鈥�
Since its 2011 premi猫re, Portlandia has won accolades from critics and viewers amused by the show鈥檚 observational commentary on hipster culture.
One signature sketch suggested that you can put a bird on anything in Portland and call it art. A quaint neighbourhood store run by guest star Jeff Goldblum sold only doilies. (Another gag had him selling intricate knots.) Brownstein鈥檚 boyfriend in one sketch sported a tattoo of Pearl Jam鈥檚 Eddie Vedder that talked. Armisen and Brownstein portrayed numerous characters, including Toni and Candace, the bohemian feminist owners of the Women and Women First bookstore.
The series earned a Peabody Award and has won several Emmys and been nominated three consecutive times for variety-sketch series. Portlandia was also a key player for IFC as the network switched its focus from independent film to a brand that highlighted comedy.
Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks), who had a recurring role as the mayor of Portland, said he wasn鈥檛 clear on exactly what he had signed up for.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 understand what it was going to be,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I knew the people involved were so creative. It was a very pleasing and satisfying experience. I will miss it. And Portland really embraced the show.鈥�
The final 10-episode season will be a mix of the old and familiar, including the return of Toni and Candace.
The first instalment had a sketch about the reunion of 鈥�80s punk band Riot Spray, and how its musicians struggle to reconcile their former radical outrage with their current middle-class lifestyles (鈥淢y deck guy is calling 鈥� I have to take this,鈥� says one member during a rehearsal).
Although Portland was a central component of the series 鈥� the show was shot primarily in locations all over the city 鈥� Armisen stressed that the show was more about personalities and human nature than a specific area.
Armisen said, 鈥淔rom very early on, Portlandia was not about what we wanted to say about Portland. It was about what we wanted to say about people, and about ourselves. It was about characters more than the city. That city exists everywhere.鈥�
Armisten and Brownstein are already at work on other projects. Armisen is teaming up with his old SNL pal Maya Rudolph for a still-untitled comedy series on Amazon, while Brownstein is working on developing a series for Hulu based on her memoir, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl.
Though their Portlandia wigs and wacky outfits have been put in storage, Armisen and Brownstein are not totally closing the door on Portlandia.
鈥淥ur hope is that people will still be watching it 鈥� there are folks who are just now discovering the show,鈥� Armisen said. 鈥淲e might do a stage show in the future, or something like that. We all love to work with each other.鈥�
