Trivia / Portlandia

• Actor Allusion: Kyle MacLachlan is playing another Cloudcuckoolander authority figure in the Pacific Northwest. At one point he asks for a "conspiracy" video to be made about him to stir up controversy involving supernatural elements and a hint of some wacky things going on with the trajectory of time.
• Copiously Credited Creator: Invoked in-universe in the "Blunderbuss" episode. Indie filmmakers The Warnicker Brothers credit themselves as everything from directors to key grips to executive producers on their movie Finding Mr. Write, only acknowledging any work by others with a brief post-credit roll note:
  The Warnicker Bros would like to thank everyone involved on the film.
• The Danza: Fred and Carrie, of course.
  • Also there's Ebbe and Kristine, the recurring seedy couple played by Ebbe Roe Smith ^note Yes, the guy who wrote Falling Down and Kristine Levine.
  • Jeff Goldblum as Jeff in Season 5's "SeaWorld".
  • Shannon Woodward as Shannon in Season 8's "Open Marriage".
  • Dolly Wells as Dolly in "Rose Route" (the final episode).
• Directed by Cast Member: Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen both directed episodes in the final two seasons (Brownstein did several, in fact).
• I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: A bunch of Armisen's Saturday Night Live castmates made guest appearances. Brownstein's Sleater-Kinney bandmate Corin Tucker appeared a couple times, while Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss actually worked as a crew member on the show.
• The Other Marty: In Oscar the Grouch's appearance in "Fashion", he was puppeteered by Matt Vogel, but it was later redubbed with Carroll Spinney.
• Troubled Production: "Brunch Special" depicts the filming of the Season 2 finale "Brunch Village" as this. Director Jonathan Krisel is portrayed as a Perfectionist who holds up production for several months waiting for marionberries to come into season so they'll be fresh for the pancakes in the restaurant scene.
• You Look Familiar: Fred and Carrie and other actors play multiple characters. The former often encounter the same people, implying that they all exist in a shared world full of Freds and Carries. This is confirmed in the Season 2 finale, where among other things one set body surfs across a line containing another set!
  • Even some of the higher-profile guest stars got in on this; Steve Buscemi and Jeff Goldblum appeared more than once, always as (presumably) different characters.
  • Many of the local Portland actors who played supporting roles also appeared in multiple episodes.
  • Frequent Newscaster Cameo-maker Pat Boyle played some character roles in Season 8.

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