During a commercial break during "Feminist Bookstore 10th Anniversary," this week's installment of Portlandia, there was a promo for an online chat with the show's director, Jonathan Krisel. In the spot, Krisel says, "There's no definition of what a Portlandia sketch is. We try to do some experimental sketches, and if they fail, so what?" This week's episode felt like a string of experimental sketches that all slightly missed the mark, and you could almost feel Fred and Carrie shrugging their shoulders and thinking, "So what?"
Portlandia's second season, thus far, has been consistently funny but this week's show was the first to completely misfire. The episode's failure was mostly because the structure of the sketches and the performances were almost entirely experimental, not because they were lackluster bits. And, even though the laughs were few and far between this week, "Feminist Bookstore 10th Anniversary" could easily be an episode that Portlandia geeks come to love in the future, much in the same way that hardcore Bob Dylan fans insist his obscure, under-appreciated 1983 album Infidels is a work of genius.
Fred and Carrie definitely inserted a heavy dose of odd moments into this episode; there's a bizarre cameo by Portland Trail Blazer LaMarcus Aldridge (who scored four points in last night's NBA All-Star game) as Penny Marshall's boyfriend. Oh, and Fred ends up making out with Marshall at the end of the show.
Fred and Carrie definitely inserted a heavy dose of odd moments into this episode; there's a bizarre cameo by Portland Trail Blazer LaMarcus Aldridge (who scored four points in last night's NBA All-Star game) as Penny Marshall's boyfriend. Oh, and Fred ends up making out with Marshall at the end of the show.
Another high point was a sketch where Fred and Carrie (as Peter and Nance) design a sign to hold at a Portland Timbers soccer game. You can't help but love Portlandia when it incorporates points of civic pride (like the Timbers) into the show.
Check it out below:
Check it out below: