Back to Portlandia

After a December winter special, IFC's Portlandia officially kicked off their third season this past Friday night. While it's hard to review a sketch series in general, Portlandia has enough recurring characters and very specific situations to garner something to say about it. It also manages to be funny to a great number of people, despite it's very narrow subject matter, namely, that all bits revolve around the strange residents of the city of Portland, Oregon.

In the premiere hour, the Mayor (Kyle MacLachlan) has a mission for Fred (Fred Armisen) and Carrie (Carrie Brownstein). He would like them to go to Seattle, which has been poaching citizens, and recruit some of their people to move to Portland. The catch? He thinks a personal touch is needed, so Fred and Carrie should go door to door in their effort.

I've always loved MacLachlan's take on the Mayor, even when he isn't accompanied by his assistant (Sam Adams, the real life mayor), as he isn't in this episode. He seems the perfect mix of liberal hibbie and actual idea man to sort of keep Portland going, but never to push it beyond the elements that make it such a distinct place, and into the world at large. This newest project is fantastic in keeping with the themes of the series, and Fred and Carrie's willingness to take it on is perfect.

As the bit plays out in several scenes, Fred and Carrie take on the personas of Mormon missionaries. I like this because nothing in Portland ever seems entirely original, just an odd take on a thing that exists elsewhere, taking it to the extreme. Also, living in Portland and embracing the town is like a religion, so the concept works very well. It's also funny in plenty of places, such as where Fred introduces some young housemates to the "Portland invention" of the chore wheel.

I don't know why it's so enjoyable to watch Fred and Carrie play a version of themselves, but the times that they do, stripped of the utter goofiness of the other characters, are always fun.

Having never been to Portland myself, Portlandia makes me feel like I have been. It's not just a humorous series of sketches, but also a love letter to a town where the odd, lovable people are earnest and living the way they want to, uncaring about what others may think. Maybe it's not for everyone, and maybe we shouldn't be laughing at them. But there's no mean spirit present, so it's easy, rather than uncomfortable, to chuckle at.

Portlandia has some truly memorable personalities, so it's wonderful when they are brought back over and over again. In the first two half hours of this season, we revisit Peter and Nance, Malcolm and Kris, Kath and Dave, Spyke and Iris, and Toni and Candace. Each of these duos manage to stay completely unique, even when played by the same two, very talented, actors. There's also a level of comfort to find new situations for beloved favorites.

Not that Portlandia isn't accessible to newbies; it is. The structure of the show invites anyone to jump in at any point, and still laugh. But for those loyal viewers who watch week after week, the recurring people are a treat.

Doug and Claire also return. They are featured in my favorite episode of the series to date, season two's "One Moore Episode," and I love that their second appearance not only gives us more TV goodness, but also finds a way to once more, organically, stitch in the old, black Ron Moore and his wife.

Other characters not played by Fred and Carrie in the premiere include Alan (Jeff Goldblum), who now sells doilies, rather than knots, MTV video DJs, and Chloe Sevigny (Big Love, American Horror Story: Asylum) as Fred and Carrie's new roommate. This is her first appearance, but we should be seeing her quite a bit more throughout the year.

Portlandia airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on IFC.

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Article first posted on TheTVKing

30 Rock goes live again

This week, NBC's 30 Rock is "Live from Studio 6H." Jack (Alec Baldwin) decides that he will save the company a lot of money if they stop filming TGS live. Almost everyone agrees to the scheme except for Kenneth (Jack McBrayer), who locks twelve of the staff in a room and reminds them of the heyday of live television, shown to viewers in clips acted out by the cast. Meanwhile, Jenna (Jane Krakowski) disagrees with Paul (Will Forte) over the perfect proposal, and Hazel (Kristen Schaal) plans a stunt to get herself on air, a la Sinead O'Connor.

Quick question: Is the picture of Sinead that Hazel rips ups actually Tina Fey as Sinead?

This is the second time 30 Rock has gone live, and there's a big difference from the first time. "Live from Studio 6H" feels more like a series of skits than a cohesive story. This is bringing many of the performers back to their Saturday Night Live roots, of course, and they excel at funny shorts. But it does not really feel like an episode of 30 Rock, despite keeping much of the same spirit and tone.

Continuity is not that important this week. Last time a live show was done, Julia Louis Dreyfus (Seinfeld, Veep) played a semi-convincing Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) in a cut scene. This time, Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) plays Liz without even changing the color of her blond hair! Also, twelve major cast members are locked in a room, and yet somehow they keep slipping out to put on different costumes and perform various bits of "classic" NBC shows. What's up with that?

Yet, story cohesiveness is not the point of "Live from Studio 6H," so it's hard to get upset. The episode is meant to be nostalgic and humorous, and it does both rather well. The various bits play on a number of famous shows such as The Honeymooners and Laugh-In. These are comedy gold. Everything else in the episode is fluff, except for the proposal.

The cast of 30 Rock is fantastic. For "Live from Studio 6H," all the stops were pulled out in bringing even more talented people on board, most having appeared on the show before. Sadly, this means that some of the best supporting players are relegated to background status. However, all of the guest actors are terrific. Jimmy Fallon (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) kills as a young Jack, and Donald Glover (Community) is the perfect earlier version of Tracy (Tracy Morgan), getting the mannerisms spot on. Jon Hamm (Mad Men) returns, but not as his recurring 30 Rock character. Instead, he participates in a very memorable sketch. Chris Parnell (Suburgatory) is the familiar Dr. Spaceman, and Fred Armisen (Portlandia) manages to stand out without any lines at all. Brian Williams (NBC Night News and a 30 Rock veteran) is great as an old-timey newscaster on the West Coast (Hamm takes the part for the East), and Cheyenne Jackson finally returns to the series!

And 30 Rock manages to single-handedly kill the "Zou Bisou Bisou" craze started by Mad Men only a few short weeks ago.

Because the show is live, two versions are done, one each for the East and West coasts. Thankfully, in the era of internet, both are freely available to everyone. Only a handful of jokes change, and Cheyenne and Jenna again split the theme song, which makes more sense in the East because Cheyenne's character doesn't return until mid-episode. But the East coast broadcast has a major leg up over the West, because in the East, Sir Paul McCartney gets a fantastic cameo. The West, though, is left to suffer through Kim Kardashian instead.

30 Rock is what it is. "Live from Studio 6H" is not typical, but it will not disappoint long-time viewers who delight in the zany slapstick the series thrives on. Credit must be given to the show for taking such a big chance and playing in such an unexpected sandbox.

30 Rock airs Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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Portlandia Season One comes to Blu-ray and DVD

     IFC launched a new sketch comedy series last year, produced by Saturday Night Live's Lorne Michaels, called Portlandia. Now season one is available on Blu-ray and DVD. It will likely not surprise you to learn that it stars a SNL cast member, Fred Armisen, known for playing Barack Obama and Joy Behar, among others. Fred is joined by musician Carrie Brownstein. The show is made up of a series of shorts featuring odd characters, some stand alone, some recurring in multiple episodes. The jokes are much more understated than SNL. The unique catch here is that all the bits take place in Portland, Oregon, and the show tries to capture the spirit of the city. Having never been there, I can't say if it does so accurately. I can say, I have enjoyed watching it.

     In the first two weeks alone, Fred and Carrie visit a free range chicken farm populated by polygamists, an uber-feminist bookshop, engage in an adult game of hide and seek, write a theme song for Portland at the request of the mayor, and do a huge opening number for the premiere! And that's just the tip of the iceberg! The humor is unexpected, and fun. For instance, the sketch about writing the song is back and forth random ideas between the pair. What makes it rise above average is that Carrie falls in love, accidentally kills the guy, and attends his funeral while giving her thoughts. It is never mentioned, but really elevated the whole sketch. It's fresh, unique fun.

    Celebrities, too, seem to like the show. Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Kyle MacLachlan (Desperate Housewives), Aimee Mann, Jason Sudeikis (SNL), and Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) are among those who stop by to join the pair in their odd stories. This sort of proves the respect the duo has within the performing community, and makes it all the more fun to see who will pop up next!

     The tone of Portlandia speaks to the outsider. Whether you are an outsider yourself, or just enjoy a light hearted poking of such people, there is something for you in this series. Portland may or may not be made up of young people who "go there to retire," but the grunge and indie spirits of the 1990's thrive in the city, or at least this fictional version of such. Thus, Portlandia routinely goes into territories other comedies merely touch on, if that.

     One may question whether or not to buy the Blu-ray version of Portlandia Season One. The price difference isn't big, so why not? True, owing to the low budget of the series, not everything is as crystal clear as other Blu releases. The blacks are not particularly rich. But the creators do pay much attention to detail, and you wouldn't want to miss that. Also, it isn't a cheap conversion, so why the picture does go soft at times, there is a quality different over the DVD. As far as audio goes, it does lack the surround sound many Blu releases have, but he mixing is done nicely, and with little action, many will not even notice.

     Bonus features are sadly lacking on this set. The audio commentaries aren't particularly insightful, and do drag on a bit. Deleted and extended scenes, almost twenty minutes in length, are mainly a snooze fest. There are a couple of gems within, but it's not worth sitting through the others to get to them. A commencement speech given by Armisen is included, but he looks uncomfortable, and his humor is uneven. A couple of sketches of the former Armisen / Brownstein project, Thunderant, are pretty cool, though. And the packaging, with an tone-appropriate environmental package and great graphics, is neat.

     Even without a ton of extras, Portlandia Season One is worth the purchase for the episodes alone. Pick up your copy now and prepare for season two, which premieres on IFC in early January.

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Portlandia Uniquely Amusing

     IFC has a new sketch comedy series produced by Saturday Night Live's Lorne Michaels called Portlandia. It will likely not surprise you to learn that it also stars a SNL cast member, Fred Armisen, known for playing Barack Obama and Joy Behar, among others. Fred is joined by Carrie Brownstein.

     The show is made up of a series of shorts featuring odd characters, some stand alone, some recurring in multiple episodes. The jokes are much more understated than SNL. The unique catch here is that all the bits take place in Portland, Oregon, and the show tries to capture the spirit of the city. Having never been there, I can't say if it does so accurately. I can say, I have enjoyed watching it.

     In the first two weeks, Fred and Carrie visited a free range chicken farm populated by polygamists, an uber-feminist bookshop, engaged in an adult game of hide and seek, write a theme song for Portland at the request of the mayor, and did a huge opening number for the premiere.

     The humor is unexpected, and fun. For instance, the sketch about writing the song was back and forth random ideas between the pair. What made it rise above average was that Carrie fell in love, accidentally killed the guy, and attended his funeral while giving her thoughts. It was never mentioned, but really elevated the whole sketch.

     Celebrities, too, seem to like the show. In the first two episodes alone, Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire), Kyle MacLachlan (Desperate Housewives), Jason Sudeikis (SNL), and Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) stopped by to join the pair in their odd stories. I don't know who will be next up, but I'm excited.

     Check out Portlandia Friday nights at 10:30 p.m. on IFC.

Article first published as TV Review: Portlandia Uniquely Amusing on Blogcritics.

For frequent mini-reviews and occasional TV news, follow Jerome on Twitter.

Saturday Night Live - "Gwyneth Paltrow / Cee Lo Green"

For frequent mini-reviews and occasional TV news, follow Jerome on Twitter.

     I've been waiting all season for an episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live to inspire me to write an article. Had I been writing TV reviews a couple of years ago, I would have considered covering the series every week, as it was so good and consistently funny. Sadly, for the past year or so, consistently mediocre is the best label I can give SNL. After thirty-six years, there are bound to be cycles, and the show has gone through bad patches before. Sadly, we are firmly stuck in one of them now.

     However, this week's episode was great. Not the best I've ever seen, but the best in a long time. Almost every sketch was truly funny. And the thing is, the success cannot be attributed to host Gwyneth Paltrow, so it is highly repeatable. Don't get me wrong; Gwyneth did a fine job. Most of the hosts do, including recent ones. Cee Lo Green, the musical guest, also appeared in several bits, and also did well. But this series always comes down to the writing, and for the most part, last night's writing was something quite superior to this season's norm.

     The opening sketch was a fine example of political satire. FOX News went with the 'Embracing Civility' message being called for after last week's shooting in Arizona, and Greta van Susteren (Kristen Wiig) brought together some of the network's most popular hosts, including a very reluctant Glenn Beck (Jason Sudeikis). However, she also allowed liberal James Carville (Bill Hader) on to provoke Beck and the others, and when Rachel Maddow (Abby Elliott) took over Glenn's chalkboard, it was all over.

     It was a timely, tightly run piece of material put together by the cast and writers, which despite recent showings, proved that they are still talented. Sure, FOX is an easy target, but that doesn't mean it isn't hilarious when they are lambasted properly, as they were in this opening. Easy target or not, it still takes talent to execute a good parody. SNL has gobs of talent, and it's past time the show itself stop forgetting that.

     Also memorable, though the joke did start to wear a little thin before the segment was over, was a foul-mouthed record executive (Paltrow) fighting to get Cee Lo's "Forget You" on the radio. Yes, the sanitized version. The conceit here was that 'forget' was the filthy word, and so the exec used it quite frequently, in the same ways some of us would use f***. She and the other actors in the scene, including eventually Cee Lo as himself, used a variety of other words to fill in for other curses, including 'Country Strong', the title of Paltrow's new movie. The end segued into Cee Lo singing "Forget You", which, except in Paltrow's capable hands on a recent episode of Glee, is not nearly as enjoyable as the original, "F*** You". Still, a neat way and different way to present a musical number. This is something the show should try to do again, as it better connects the musical guests, which often seem out of place. I usually fast forward through them, even if it's an artist I enjoy. I didn't this time, thanks to the sketch.

     The weakest parts of the show, because, of course, it wasn't a perfect episode, were mostly jokes that went on a little too long, like the aforementioned skit. It also occurred during a recurring gag on Weekend Update with Garth (Fred Armisen) and Kat (Wiig), who were joined by a friend (Paltrow) this week. Sure, sometimes the improvising duets gets sort of amusing, but only in the way that an unfunny joke runs so long that eventually it elicits a slight smile. I would be pleased to not see Garth and Kat again.

     Weekend Update is always funny, no matter how bland the rest of the show gets, and this week was no exception. Hosted by Seth Meyers, SNL's current head writer, somehow the barbs there always land, and not just in Seth's to-the-camera headlines, though those are hilarious. This week's Update also included the return of Jimmy McMillian (Kenan Thompson), who wants to run for president with the platform 'The Deficit is Too Damn High'. You may remember, the real McMillan, who is a unique looking individual, recently ran for governor of New York for The Rent is Too Damn High Party. Timely, and sharp-witted, the gag worked beautifully.

     A recent trend on Saturday Night Live is to bring a bunch of singers together for very short samples of their music. This is often done with made-up, ridiculous groups or solo acts, but recently, with a cast rich in impersonations, there has been more famous artists in evidence. In my favorite sketch this week, several big names in the music industry parodied their songs for a boy's bar mitzvah. The guests included Taylor Swift (Paltrow), Jay-Z (newcomer Jay Pharoah), Alicia Keys (Nasim Pedrad), and Katy Perry (Elliott). I don't know why, but the absurdity of Hebrew-forced lyrics into pop hits made me giggle.

     A close second, almost as funny as the bar mitzvah, was a sketch set in Shakespearean times when The Globe theater introduced previews of upcoming attractions. Sure, it was silly. I know small snippets of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet were never presented, complete with a modern movie announcer's dramatic tone, before a performance of The Taming of the Shrew. However, the absurdness of the moment was surreal, and I hope more sketches like it will be revisited in the future. Historical comedy can definitely be funny, though it's so infrequently done. I don't know why it worked, exactly, but then, most great comedy is elusive to pin down. It was original and clever, a powerful combination.

     I could go on and talk about the Digital Short with Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens playing his famous character), or the monologue duet with Kenny Rogers (Sudeikis), or The Fresh Prince of Bel Air DVD special features (starring Pharoah and Thompson, of course), or even the fantastic parody commercials of The Cape knock offs, but this article is long enough. The bottom line is, Saturday Night Live and its cast showed us that they still have what it takes to produce a show worthy of the respected series name. I wish they'd do it more often.

     Saturday Night Live airs live Saturday nights at 11:30 p.m. on NBC.

Article first published as TV Review: Saturday Night Live - "Gwyneth Paltrow / Cee Lo Green" on Blogcritics.

Tina Fey hosts best Saturday Night Live of the season

     In a year of mediocrity, Tina Fey (30 Rock) returned to her old stomping ground on NBC's Saturday Night Live last night and proved that the show can still deliver.  With an opening monologue that featured a brief cameo from comic legend Steve Martin, Fey knocked it out of the park from the get-go.  She also was allowed to flex her Weekend Update chops, returning to the desk alongside the man who now has her former job, both as anchor and head writer, Seth Meyers.  Of course, no Fey episode would be complete without the character that brought her back to the show a number of time in the last few years, Sarah Palin.  The Sarah Palin Network, a new station being launched, featured a number of hilarious ideas, including Palin playing a parody of Fey on 30 Main Street, and her husband Todd solving crimes in the big city while riding a snow machine.  It was funny enough, I wish it were real.

     The success can't all be credited to Fey, as talented as she is.  The opening featuring Fred Armisen as Barack Obama going over this year's Census form made me laugh harder than anything in recent memory.  Although the questions were not the same ones featured on the actual census, they played to every right wing eccentric's fears, asking where the firearms are kept and when the residents would not be home.  The SNL version also queried several sexual topics, and asked which members of the household did not support the health care overhaul, so that they would not receive care in the inevitable shortage to come.

     Also of note was Jason Sudeikis's portrayal of The Devil during Update.  It seems even the ruler of hell objects to what priests are doing to young children, and how dare they claim that He had anything to do with it.  Top tier comedy.

     The low point, unfortunately, was the musical guest.  Sudden teen sensation Justin Bieber performed his own numbers decently, but stunk up a couple of sketches.  Particularly, the one where he had a number of lines as a student that a teacher, played by Fey, was in love with.  Bieber was required to sing several parodies of his own music, which he performed not very well, and with no emotion.  He also was incredibly lame on the dialogue.  It begs to question, is his voice polished by computer and every live performance is lip synched?  Or does he just practice certain things many, many time until he finally gets them right, and did not have time to do it for SNL?  Either way, tween fans would probably object strenuously, but Bieber stunk.

     Fey will soon return as part of a 'Women of Comedy' episode on Mother's Day Weekend with Betty White and other SNL alum.  Saturday Night Live airs Saturday nights at 11:30pm on NBC.