To the minds of Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen, the creators and stars of Portlandia, the "dream of the 90s' has never ended in Portland, Oregon. It's a place where punk rock and performance art will never go out of fashion, where the supplies of organic food, fixed-gear bicycles and tattoo ink are endless, and where 20-somethings can comfortably retire. Its residents indulge their personal senses of art, authenticity and coolness, often to the point of obsession. Portrayed in Portlandia by Armisen and Brownstein in various pairs, the characters include the co-owners of a feminist bookstore, a comically aloof, impractical yuppie couple named Peter and Nance, and "Fred and Carrie," a warped version of the actors themselves, who travel among Portland's various scenes and personalities (including Kyle MacLachlan's brilliant mayor) as both audience proxies and targets of the joke. In the rich world of Portlandia, Brownstein and Armisen (along with director Jonathan Krisel, whose singular vision brings the more off-kilter aspects of Portland to life) manage the deft satirical feat of calling out the more ridiculous traits of their subjects while fully identifying with those same idiosyncrasies. Portlandia knows that there is a little bit of Portland in everyone, and invites us to have a quick laugh at our own foibles. A Peabody Award goes to Portlandia for its good-natured lampooning of hipster culture, which hits the mark whether or not you're in on the joke.
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