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Portlandia: Seasons 1 & 2 (TV)
R2 - United Kingdom - Mediumrare Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (15th June 2013). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews of the show from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** The show is driven by a series of hilarious character-based shorts all of which take place in Portlandia, the creators' dreamy and absurd hipster rendering of Portland, Oregon where right on has gone beyond wrong, 90s culture reigns supreme and political correctness is all the rage. Armisen and Brownstein play an array of colourful and unique characters with guest stars including Steve Buscemi, Selma Blair, Heather Graham, Kyle MacLachan, Tim Robbins, Kristen Wiig, Gus Van Sant, Jeff Goldblum and Eddie Vedder to name a few. The series is shot entirely on location in Portland and co-created by Jonathan Krisel (SNL, Tim and Eric Awesome Show) and executive produced by the renowned creator of Saturday Night Live Lorne Michaels.
Video
Mediumrare present their release of the first two seasons of "Portlandia" in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1, which has been anamorphically enhanced. An indie style comedy with a medium-range budget, the picture quality is more than adequate - yet nothing to shout home about. I have to say though, the second season did appear a little more polished overall, possibly due to the success of the first season giving the show a slightly better budget. The colours used are quite tepid, never bright and never in your face, but certainly in suit with the comedic style. It does occasionally feel a little too soft, mainly in the earlier episodes and contrast is a little inconsistent, surprising consididering it was shot on HD video. Black levels are also a little consistent depending on the scene but I was surprised at how detailed some of the browns and greys are, especially clothing. As should be expected for such a new show, there is no noticeable damage to the transfer and although the overall quality does have some minor anomalies, this an altogether solid effort and a little better than I had expected when researching the show. All three discs are in PAL format.
Audio
Just a single audio option has been included here; English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. To be honest, separation is minimal and for the majority of the time it feels more like a dual mono track. The show uses a lot of 'hippie-ish' music in keeping with the general tone of the characters, with the theme using the stereo seperation to its advantage the more than any other moment in the show. There is no sign of damage in anyway with zero dropouts, scratches or background hiss. Volume levels are consistent and dialogue is always clear. The score really would've benefited from a 5.1 track, but we have received is fine. No subtitles have been included.
Extras
Commentaries Impressively, and these days becoming a rarity outside of animated television shows, there's audio commentaries on all episodes by stars/director/creators Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel. I was a little wary when I first started listening to the commentaries as the brand of comedy was a little flat for my liking (maybe I'm not hip enough?) but my fears were soon eleviated when it turned out the participants were going to be giving toned down commentaries throughout both seasons. It was good to hear about the various aspects of the inner-workings of a comedy show rather than hearing stars being loud, obnoxious and terribly unfunny - so much so, I found the commentaries to be far more entertaining than the actual show itself. Disc One We start the extras that are present on the first disc with some standard bloopers of various fluffed lines and random attempts at humour. This felt like it was any regular blooper reel I had ever seen with no stand-out laughs and just a few cringeworthy moments. The bloopers run 4:58. Next up, are the following extended and deleted scenes: Extended Scenes: - "Gotta Get Out" (2:26) - "Sparkle Pony Song" (1:42) Deleted Scenes: - "Aerosmith" (1:32) - "Aimee Mann Bed" (2:43) - "Ambulance Driver" (3:27) - "Cambodia Cut" (2:35) - "Deuce Hotel Carrie" (0:49) - "Forest Meeting" (1:56) - "Light Bulb Song" (2:58) If like me, you found the show to be distinctly average, then you're probably best off avoiding these as they were all reduced in length or cut completely from the show for a reason - they're boring. It's a shame the commentary track didn't extend to these scenes so we could find out the reasoning behind the cuts. Fred Armisen Speaks to Oregon Episcopal School Graduates (11:12) in the third extra on disc one. It's essentially co-creator/director Armisen giving a graduation speech to a prep school, but it's an interesting listen mainly thanks to the fact he doesn't make the whole thing about everybody becoming successful in their futures. Next up, some Thunderant Videos: - "Closed" (3:59) - "One Man Show" (7:09) These videos are skits that were used for the webshow pre-cursor of "Portlandia", "Thunderant". You'll most certainly notice that the distinct style has carried over and how the concept for "Portlandia" may have started life. Disc Three We start the extras with the "Portlandia the Tour" featurette (9:41). It features the cast members in what appears to be some sort of live show tour, though we generally see the participants talking to the crowd, with very little footage of them in character. Judging by the cheering in the crowd when they are in Seattle, they certainly have their fans. It kind of felt like three skinny Kevin Smiths being on stage at times. "Inside Portlandia" featurette (22:36) is the next extra. It initially aired as a promotional piece for IFC and amounts to your average behind the scenes look laced with interviews with members of the cast and crew. We get to see previous footage of what the cast members did before "Portlandia" and how they initially met through music. Next is a director's cut of the episode "Brunch Village" running 43:14. This features narration by MacLachlan and extends several scenes quite a bit. A chunk of the running time at the end of the episode is given to a mockumentary style behind the scenes featurette which looks at the episode going over-budget. The extras package finishes up with a deleted scene entitled "Feminine Bookstore" (2:49). Read what I write for previous deleted scenes on disc one for my thoughts.
Overall
Although the show didn't really do it for me, I can see why it has its fans. Those who love the show should consider this an essential purchase thanks to the wealth of extras.
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