Portlandia is currently gearing up to air its sixth season on IFC, but as it turns out, there looks to be an end to the series in sight. Just as the Game of Thrones producers see an end to the HBO drama after the next few seasons, it looks like Portlandia will be ending in the not-so-distant future, too. Recently, series leads Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein stated the last season of Portlandia will be Season 8.
This makes sense. IFC’s actually been known for renewing Portlandia for chunks at a time, and a short time ago, IFC renewed the sketch comedy series for two more seasons on the network. This means we are definitely getting a sixth and seventh season of the series, although it stands to reason that IFC would probably let Armisen and Brownstein keep making new episodes for as long as they want. Whether good or bad “what they want” seems to be eight seasons of the funny series. However, even when the show ends, there could be room for more Portlandia--just not on TV. The Oregonian reports that Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein are “leaving the door open” for what could be a movie or something else.
After all, Portlandia was a series before it became a TV show, in a sense. Brownstein and Armisen have been teaming up since the early 2000s to create fun sketch comedy of this ilk. They had internet sketches under the moniker ThunderAnt that frequently featured Portland and nods to some of the types of people who live in the Portland area. That eventually came together to be the IFC series fans have come to know and love, with memorable sketches, including the rideshare bits and all of the feminist bookstore segments.
Thus, the show could live on in another form, even after the more grueling pace of creating a TV show is over.
Although Portlandia could very well be ending after Season 8, there are still a few more years before fans are going to have to worry about not getting their Armisen/Brownstein fix. After all, Portlandia isn’t even expected to return to IFC until early in 2016 for Season 6. So, it’s not like the duo is calling it quits tomorrow. And when they do, I’m sure the show will go out on a high note.
For now, if you’d like to see what is hitting the schedule this fall, check out our fall TV premiere schedule.
