Thursday, Mar. 29, 2012
Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen
Ages: 37, 45
Occupation: Portlandians
Brownstein and Armisen make an unlikely comedic duo: one is an alumna of alt-rockers Sleater-Kinney, the other a longtime Saturday Night Live utility player. But they've paired up to create one of the most innovative things on television: IFC's amiable, bizarre sketch-comedy show Portlandia, now in its second season. While the joke is on Oregon's überliberal minimetropolis ("a city where young people go to retire"), Portlandia is also the best mainstream expression yet of the beard-friendly, sustainable-everything zeitgeist that's creeping across the nation like free-range kudzu.