Talk:Portlandia

Slant
I saw hardly any mention of the slant of the show, although the blatantly anti-liberal humor of the Feminist bookstore sketches is so over the top. Are we suppressing this information, or is it just that no one has found a published review describing this? --Uncle Ed (talk) 18:40, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
 * The latter. If you find RS about it, feel free to include. tedder (talk) 18:45, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Just because they're making fun of something does not mean they're against it. 76.105.144.20 (talk) 21:38, 13 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney is anti-liberal and anti-lesbian, and the community is covering-up that super-obvious information. It must be sad to live in a world where every joke is an attack. ▫  Johnny Mr Nin ja  23:39, 28 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry, but that's ridiculous. Sleater-Kinney has written several songs specifically in support of liberal and feminist themes. Just because someone makes jokes about something doesn't mean that they don't support it. I'm about as liberal as they come, and I make jokes about liberal things all the time. Just take it as a joke, for God's sake... If they really wanted to make an anti-liberal, anti-gay, anti-feminist show, then they wouldn't make a show celebrating Portland. Edit: Half an hour later, I just realized that that was sarcasm... Uh, sorry... Well, redirect this comment to the original poster! 98.246.143.11 (talk) 01:40, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Even I, a non-USAn, etc. who never heard of Sleater-Kinney etc. understood it as sarcasm... ;) Zezen (talk) 02:46, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

What is the show actually about?
That's kinda missing from the well written article, even though it's the part that is the most important. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.52.61.103 (talk) 10:36, 10 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Many media descriptions do not (and can not) explain what it is about. Carrie and Fred were on NPR last week and asked that very question.  Their answers were wishy washy at best, and probably not to be taken seriously.  —EncMstr (talk) 21:06, 10 January 2012 (UTC)


 * What type of show is this, what happens, what is the drive? I have yet to watch this, coming here to find information & yet there is nothing about the show & the episode list doesn't explain much! Why is there an article that does not explain the most basic question, 'This show is...' ? Saying the media can/do not explain what it is about does not answer the question, I believe it is on it's second series so something must be happening! 86.63.26.124 (talk) 14:47, 28 January 2012 (UTC)
 * It's a offbeat sketch comedy show that self-deprecates "Hipster" and Portland culture, though also sort of celebrating it.-- occono (talk) 22:10, 2 May 2012 (UTC)
 * It's not really "about" anything, it's a sketch comedy show. It would be like asking what The Kids in the Hall is about, or Saturday Night Live. It does have the general theme of making fun of hipsters, though. Which might be why it's sticking around, since most people now are hipsters so it's relevant pretty much anywhere. 24.212.155.102 (talk) 02:12, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

I think it could be made a bit clearer that most/all of the sketches poke fun at portland stereotypes, especially hipsters. Also that the style is extremely dry/subtle. I could well see people outside the main demographic "not getting" 90% of it.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, I'd also add that some shows are collections of random sketches with no connective theme -- like watching SNL -- whereas some shows have a general "thread" -- healthcare, travel, dating, whatever -- woven through most or all of the sketches. The season finales, in particular, are all cohesive episodes with actual "plots" to speak one (save s01).

Also, in any given ep, some sketches resume (continue) further down, whereas many are just one-offs. That is, an arrangement like A B C D B2 D2 B3 E F B4 G, where the numbers represent "continuation". 209.172.23.8 (talk) 05:50, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Characters
I think it would be beneficial to have a section on the various characters in the show, since they do have different personalities, and it would help complete the article to discuss them. I am not personally qualified to write such a section, but I will include an incomplete list of characters to start some discussion. 98.246.143.11 (talk) 01:46, 9 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Fred and Carrie
 * Dave and Kath
 * Peter and Nance
 * Lance and Nina
 * Toni and Candace
 * Spyke and Irys(sp?)

Portland Mercury's hatred of it
Can we just talk about that for a second? Anyone else here a Mercury reader? They hate the show (hits too close to home). Could this be mentioned in the reception section? --98.246.156.76 (talk) 02:10, 26 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes, there should be something about what the actual citizens of Portland think of the show, and how it may be having negative local effects from more people coming here. Jason McHuff (talk) 14:19, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

I am also missing this basic info on that being a spoof of Social Justice Warriors, triggered Hipsters and such. (I only watched 10 mins of the show on YT) and came here to check the reactions etc. Zezen (talk) 02:48, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

Yes, they hate it indeed, and not in a funny way: But even before the Trump era, the show's relationship with its subject, Portland, was rocky. This point was eloquently made to me by Monica Drake, a Portland-based novelist, lecturer, and critic. "The shallow, mocking style of humor that's the signature move of Portlandia's sketch comedy is inherently a kind of insidious way to tear down the work of people who aim for conscious living," Let us mention it. Zezen (talk) 02:54, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

Opening Titles
I think something should be said about the opening credits beyond just what *song* is used. Something like "montage of people and places around town, both prominent and mundane" -- do we need a source to add that?

Moreover, has anyone noticed that the titles are different in each of the season finales besides s01? (s02 brunch, s03 blackout, s04 new beavertown trip, s05 weirdos trial to refresh your memory). Also bears a mention, I suppose. AFAICT, no other eps have non-standard intros. 209.172.23.8 (talk) 05:43, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Requested move 22 July 2021

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: Move Consensus is that the TV show is the primary topic. One objection based on RECENT and one other based on questioning PT overall. Each oppose argument has only one proponent. The nom, plus three editors, support based on PT. (non-admin closure)  В²C ☎ 05:18, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

– Portlandia (the television show) is the clear WP:PRIMARYTOPIC over the namesake statue. Views aren't everything, but over the last day 90 days, the show has received almost 13x the views. The show is popular enough and well known enough that it should be the primary, with the current Portlandia page being moved to Portlandia (disambiguation) Cerebral726 (talk) 13:10, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Portlandia (TV series) → Portlandia
 * Portlandia → Portlandia (disambiguation)
 * Oppose WP:RECENT In ictu oculi (talk) 09:41, 23 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Support: the TV show is clearly the primary topic. It has been nominated for multiple Emmy Awards and even won a few. The article for the statue even states the statue is not an icon or symbol of the city of Portland so I just can't see how it could have any claim of being considered the primary topic.  Bait30   Talk 2 me pls? 16:33, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Support. The show is the primary topic. The fact that it shares the same name with an older statue is irrelevant. -- Calidum  21:25, 29 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Oppose. The TV show may be the most likely search term but that is not enough. There are five entries in the DAB, and to be primary topic the TV show would need to be more likely than all of them taken together. Nom (for example) appears to be unaware of this. All in all, no evidence of primary topic has been provided or even attempted. Andrewa (talk) 11:07, 31 July 2021 (UTC)
 * It is, though, and has been for as long as page view numbers have been available: |Portlandia_(statue)|757_Portlandia|Portlandia_(plant)|Yoldiidae Rublov (talk) 14:13, 31 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you! That is (finally) evidence. But whether it is enough evidence is another question. See The Problem With Page Views. Andrewa (talk) 11:06, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Support the statue isn't prominent enough to prevent the TV series from being the primary topic. Everything else is of trivial importance. User:力 (power~enwiki,  π,  ν ) 01:48, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.