Pack away your bird-themed accessories and pay attention, fans of IFC’s Portlandia, because next season is chockablock with curio of the human variety. It seems that the eye-winking takedown of hipster culture has enlisted the help of several compatriots to bring the series’ fourth season to life. And trust us, Internet; you have plenty to look forward to in what will be the first of two sure-to-be-audacious new seasons. The Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen laugher carries itself with a winking eye and an earnest nod, making its absurdist comedy leanings all the more enjoyable (especially when you put a bird on it). And now the series has given us 25 more reasons to get amped for its February 27, 2014 premiere.
Namely, those aforementioned guest stars: Armisen and Brownstein are set to tackle Oregon’s Etsiest home alongside a veritable smorgasbord of guest stars new and returning, including (spoiler alert!) Vanessa Bayer, Kirsten Dunst, Maya Rudolph, Dan Savage, Olivia Wilde and husband-to-be Jason Sudeikis, Steve Buscemi, Nick Swardson, Gus Van Sant, Jeff Goldblum, Kumail Nanjiani, Kyle MacLachlan, Silas Weir Mitchell, Mark Proksch, and Ed Begley Jr. Of course the series has also reached out to local heroes, and has set members of the Portland Trail Blazers, including owner Paul Allen, to appear as well.
If that weren’t enough for you, the series has also locked down a host of musicians, too, because everyone knows Portland, Oregon is nothing without a quirky, bouncing soundtrack (it helps the artisanal raccoon jerky — locally sourced, natch — taste better). Those appearances shall be covered by TV On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, Jello Biafra, Jeff Tweedy, k.d. lang, St. Vincent/Annie Clark, Josh Homme, Michael Nesmith, and Duff McKagan. So: a little bit of old, a little bit of new, and a heck of a lot of odd and delightful.
Of course, the series couldn’t announce its arrival in any sort of typical way, so it decided to take to Instagram — #nofilter, because of course.
The series’ two-season order was announced this past summer, following Fred Armisen’s exit from NBC sketch comedy stalwart, Saturday Night Live. Though outside of a cameo in the pilot of FOX’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine (starring fellow SNL recent alum, Andy Samberg), Armisen does not seem to have any other projects lined up. Brownstein, on the other hand, has been busy with her recently reunited band, Sleater-Kinney, who recently performed a rendition of Neil Young’s “Rocking in the Free World” with fellow 90s Pacific-Northwest icons, Pearl Jam and members of R.E.M. in — you guessed it! — Portland. No word on whether or not we can expect Eddie Vedder’s beplaided grumble to make an appearance on the series but there’s no dream to big for Portlandia, it seems, so hold out hope, nostalgia addicts.
Portlandia’s fourth season premieres on February 27, 2014 on IFC. And lest you forget to dream…
