It seems like a stale attempt to emulate "House", its gimmick of "I'm a..." quickly gets old and annoying, and in the very first episode, it demonstrates a total lack of research on the city it's set in.
A) one of the characters is being tried with the death penalty. Oregon DOES NOT HAVE THE DEATH PENALTY.
B) It takes the factoid that Portland has lots of strip clubs and then portrays those strip clubs according to every tired 90s stereotype, including the "girls become strippers because they have daddy issues" trope. Portland's strip club culture is heavily punk-themed, and most of the employees at the prominent clubs are well-educated and sex positive. In fact, sex positivity is a humongous part of Portland culture. The worst possible thing you could do in the pilot of a show set in Portland is portray its strippers as evil, manipulative succubi.
C) Some characters are said to go to U of O. U of O is in Eugene, two hours South of Portland.
Portland has a very distinct vibe. "Portlandia" might screw up its portrayal of that vibe, but this show doesn't even try.
A) one of the characters is being tried with the death penalty. Oregon DOES NOT HAVE THE DEATH PENALTY.
B) It takes the factoid that Portland has lots of strip clubs and then portrays those strip clubs according to every tired 90s stereotype, including the "girls become strippers because they have daddy issues" trope. Portland's strip club culture is heavily punk-themed, and most of the employees at the prominent clubs are well-educated and sex positive. In fact, sex positivity is a humongous part of Portland culture. The worst possible thing you could do in the pilot of a show set in Portland is portray its strippers as evil, manipulative succubi.
C) Some characters are said to go to U of O. U of O is in Eugene, two hours South of Portland.
Portland has a very distinct vibe. "Portlandia" might screw up its portrayal of that vibe, but this show doesn't even try.