Portlandia (on IFC, Fridays at 10/9 C), the sketch-comedy phenomenon, is currently in the midst of a third season that continues to showcase IFC’s success at originals. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein the co-creators and stars along with Jonathan Krisel, co-creator, writer and director have found a way to make an hilarious new kind of TV who’s comedy also addresses the most important issues facing social TV right now. Here’s why Portlandia and IFC are dominating social TV.
Mocking the spoiler alert:
In episode two of the new season the duo nailed the idea of the spoiler alert in this sketch. While the TV spoiler is not a new concept, the social web has definitely proven that it’s harder and harder to keep TV from people and expect them not to hear about it.
IFC’s Twitter Twitter Co-Op fan takeover project:
IFC’s genius social TV strategy is a sign of good things to come for the social TV world. In sync with the season they’ve actually programmed fan take overs of their Twitter after a competition they ran with the help of partners like Etsy. They’ve had everywhere from a couple in Philadelphia to the LA Kings take over the Twitter handle.
Put a bird on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0XM3vWJmpfo#!
No, this isn’t some clever Twitter advertisement. Even better, it’s one of Portlandia’s many anthems that has taken over the social web. We attended Portlandia’s TimesTalks yesterday in NYC where Fred, Carrie and Jonathan were joined by The New York Times’ David Itzkoff. Towards the end Itzkoff talked about how the show’s been successful at “creating clips that go viral online,” referencing the Nerd PSA and spoiler alert clips. He then asked, “creating comedy for the viral age…does that change how you approach it?” Armisen smartly answered, “A little bit, in a way. It is part of the discussion, I’ll say that in the very least.” Krisel then added, “we’re trying to tap into those things…hopefully we’ll be the first to get that type of colloquial thing that’s happening.”