Portlandia

I have just watched the first season (it was only six episodes) of Portlandia on Netflix, the IFC comedy about the biggest city in Oregon. It is sketch comedy, with no plot, really. There are a few reoccurring characters but they have no story arc.

Now I lived in Portland one summer when I was doing an internship in Oregon City. And for five years I lived in Vancouver, Washington, which is a suburb of Portland. So Portland is not an unknown thing to me. And the show nails the culture of Portland almost perfectly from the feminist bookstore to the aggressive bicyclists to the all-consuming more-liberal-than-thou politics of its residents. If you've lived or visited Portland, you'll recognize something, and not just the scenery.

And just when I keep thinking I'll give up on the show, it does something laugh-out-loud funny. Like when the mayor had to come out a "reggae" and his stoic wife stood by his side (he'd been caught playing in a reggae band).

I don't know if I'll keep watching it. But I probably will. It just manages to be funny enough to keep me interested. Plus I'm waiting for Better Call Saul season two.