Portlandia has lock on nerd humour
The show: Portlandia, Season 7, Episode 2 The moment: The geek meeting When Fred (Fred Armisen) learns that Carrie (Carrie Brownstein) is dating a hunk, he convenes his fellow geeks in an underground tech-repair lair.
“There’s a new kind of hunk,” Fred warns. “They’re not just the guys who beat up people in high school. They’re charming, cool, they like music. They’re funny. I think the nerd thing is over.”
“I’m not going back,” Nerd No. 1 cries. “I won’t go back!”
“I was at a bar last week and told a girl I had clinical depression,” Nerd No. 2 says.
“Always interesting,” Fred interjects.
“No!” Nerd No. 2 says. “She didn’t care.” They all gasp.
Fred urges them to stop reading comic books. Nerd No. 3 argues that some comic nerds turn into heroes.
“Peter Parker got bitten by a spider,” Fred spits. “Know what happens when I get bitten by a spider? I get a rash!”
When this series started in 2011, its characters were fringy eccentrics. But hipster culture is mainstream culture now. You would expect creators Brownstein and Armisen’s observations to be quashed by that, but they’ve expanded.
This episode is a particularly rich one: There’s a funny bit about buying a rug as a sign of commitment and another sharp sketch about a duo that goes to couples’ therapy before their first date.
“I’m not seeing a relationship here,” the therapist purrs. “I’m seeing good candidates for a onenight stand and maybe a second round in a couple of weeks if you run into each other in a bar.”
We’re all Portlanders now. Portlandia airs on IFC. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.