Portlandia

Chameleonic SNL vet Fred Armisen and the wry Carrie Brownstein (formerly of indie band Sleater-Kinney) complement each other well on Portlandia, a single-camera sketch-comedy series based in the unabashedly liberal city of Portland, Oregon. While its setting isn't as accessible as, say, 30 Rock's New York, the stereotyped crunchy left-coast town is mostly an excuse to make fun of hippies and hipsters. The show is heavy on the frenetic editing, and the result is equal parts comedic brilliance and distracting overkill. Brownstein and Armisen play most of the characters, joined by a revolving cast of guest stars, including Kyle MacLachlan, Steve Buscemi, Jason Sudeikis, and Aubrey Plaza, among others. The storylines vary dramatically in quality and funniness—a pair of aggressively feminist lesbian bookstore owners and Armisen's angry bicycle-rights activist are highlights—but an underlying vein of quirk is ever-present. Portlandia is more daring than many of its contemporaries, and, while this makes for some very funny moments, it does miss the mark from time to time. One particularly uncomfortable storyline has Brownstein playing an oversexed voice-modified tough guy and Armisen as "his" coy girlfriend. The result is off-putting, as are a handful of other sketches, but, overall, Portlandia is a promising addition to the canon of boundary-pushing TV comedy.