204: Grover

Hey, hey, hey, watch, watch Hey, hey, hey, watch, watch Hey, hey, hey, watch, watch Hey, hey, hey, watch, watch Hey, hey, hey, watch, watch You're watching Podlandia.

I'm Carrie Brownstein.

I'm Fred Armisen.

And this is AO Rewatch.

This is the Portlandia podcast where we look back at all our episodes. Yes.

Finally.

I hope you were taping. Yep. So today we're going to talk about the episode called Grover, which is from our second season. And we... watch these episodes the night before we do this. And it's a weird thing because I really, you know, we're in it and then it feels weird to laugh at it. But I have to say, I really laughed watching this.

See, this one, I actually cringed during most of it.

Oh, really?

Yeah. I laughed, but I also cringed. I think watching Grover, well, let's explain what and who Grover is.

Yeah.

Not that cringing is bad. I feel like a lot of comedy that I watch, but I was like, oh my God.

Yeah.

These parents are terrible. Anyway, let's explain Grover.

So Grover is the name. So we have these characters. I think that's Brendan and Michelle, right?

Yes.

So these characters, Brendan and Michelle, who the look was based on people we know.

Yes.

Named Brendan and Michelle.

Yeah.

And this is not the first time they would be hearing of that either. Hi, Brendan and Michelle. Hi. Doubt you're listening or watching.

Yeah.

But we told them this. Yes. We said, hey, we've modeled characters after you.

Just some friends of ours from Washington, D.C. Yeah. Who I believe in the writer's room we had a picture of them up.

Yes.

Just to sort of reference.

Yes.

Anyway, so they're this Portland couple and they've got this kid who's about to start school.

Preschool.

Preschool. Start preschool. So I don't know who this idea came from or maybe John.

I bet Jonathan– Jonathan Kreisel, our co-creator and the director for really the first two seasons, which is fairly rare. He directed every single episode for the first couple of seasons. He had a young kid, a kid who was born the first season of the show. And so he was, parenthood was at the forefront of his mind. And even though his child was probably only, you know, a year and a half, I'm sure as a guy, like, With a kid in LA, especially, he was already thinking like, where is my child going to go to preschool and how is that going to affect the rest of his life? Yeah.

And he's probably told also like, this is the right school to go to or if you want to get into.

You have to start now.

Yeah. So this couple is just really, they've got a real agenda. They've got a, they really make it, it's almost like a campaign campaign.

It's a campaign. There's graphics. They have an easel up. They've basically printed out these charts. This is what your life will look like if you go to Shooting Star. Is it Shooting Star? I think Shooting Star Preschool. And this is what your life will look like if you don't get into this school. And the young actor playing Grover could not care less.

He's just sitting there.

Grover's like, why?

In another world. But they're really, they're speaking to him as an adult.

Yes.

In that way also, that's probably not appropriate.

Yes.

That they think, oh, we're just talking to him like an adult, but this is a case where.

This is like the beginning of the inappropriate things they do. Yeah. They're also so disparaging. And I will say like, this is like, I know people like this, like people who just, what they say outwardly about not caring.

Yeah.

In terms of what they're actually thinking or how they're judging other people and where their kids go to school. I mean, this is very real. Definitely. It's pretty gross, but these people are absolutely right in there.

Yeah, they've got graphics and an easel and everything, and they're going through it. Eventually what happens is they make a short film.

So part one is basically... Brendan and Michelle are introducing the idea of this preschool to Grover.

Yes.

Showing what the two paths his life could take.

And the exterior is this house that we, it's got an interesting design that's in Portland that we've shot at a lot. I think we might've even shot the interior of it at some points. I think we've been in that house.

And this to me is maybe the first sketch we did We worked with a lot of really great child actors, but this might be the first wraparound sketch, you know, which is the three-part sketch that we did with a young child actor. Yes. Yeah. Which can be challenging because it's, you know, like it's hard to sort of contextualize. Of course.

And it's improvised. So, you know, even for a young actor who's used to scripts and preparation, there's not much prep to do and you're confronted with too. who probably we must have seemed pretty intense. The characters are intense.

And to him, he's not like, oh, they're just acting.

No.

You know, it's like these two people. Really, he's talking at him.

Yes.

Aggressively.

He actually doesn't say anything in this first part. Yeah.

The episode starts with this cold open where everyone's a DJ. Yes. And... I think this came from experience that everyone was a DJ.

It's shot like a horror film.

Yeah.

Yeah. Where Fred and Carrie, so Fred and Carrie, like the analog, the avatars of Fred and Carrie on the show are sort of a much more, I would say guileless, clueless version of us.

Yes. Somewhat.

Somewhat. I would definitely say a little more naive, I think, which just gave us more allowance to be, yeah, to just be a little more stupid. You know, you don't like, yeah, to suspend the disbelief of the characters and to sort of buy into the, like the tone of the show, which can get absurd and, you know, you don't want to be married to like, nope, this is me and I'm representing me. Like it just allowed for a little more leeway and creativity.

Yeah. And I mean, like a version of ourselves, but also like really like, of every season naturally. Yes. We did those characters. Yeah. You know, it was like the framework.

That's true. And I, I, I guess to your point, like they did sort of vacillate, but some versions of Fred and Carrie were a little more akin to who we are. And I would say actually in this sketch closer to who we are in real life. Yeah. And then some versions of us were hopefully a slightly stupider version.

I hope. Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, but in, in, I guess I'm only saying that because I realize you're, there's in the intro, you're talking about, we're talking about buying greatest hits albums. And I know that neither of us would buy a greatest hits album.

True. But we talk about sympathy, feeling bad for a record. Yes.

Which is something that I think we do. Yeah.

Sometimes I do buy a record. I'm like, oh, I feel bad for this artist that they don't get enough credit or whatever.

Yeah.

And it's a weird reason to buy an album. Yeah. I wonder if there are any artists out there who have made their career from sympathy or like, or people thinking, or people thinking I should buy this record. So, I mean, I don't want to, no one comes to mind except for classical artists. So thinking that like, I wonder if there are a number of records, whatever, Haydn or something, The people were like, I guess I should know about classical music, so I'll get this.

Oh, okay.

Yeah. Sort of just to make themselves feel a little more educated on music. I'm also thinking of just artists from the 50s and 40s.

Okay.

Where, okay, Glenn Miller is great, but I'm saying if I have a Glenn Miller album, I'm not listening to it actively. Right.

Right.

Where, wow, this is really moving me right now. I appreciate it, but it's more in the record collection. Just like, I should have Glenn Miller.

But are there bands for you that you thought, like, this is a band that people really love that I don't get, like a more contemporary band?

Oh, I must have a lot of those in my collection, just from over the years.

Yes.

That's just.

It's not quite a sympathy buy, but it's definitely, to me, like it feels... Like there's an imperative, like, oh, I should have this in my collection, but then I don't quite get it.

Yeah.

Like I actually like Captain Beefheart, but I think that's another example of a band that people are like, oh, you should check out Captain Beefheart.

Perfect example. Like you should have this album. Yeah.

And I think it's a pretty challenging listen for most people.

Yeah.

Including myself. And it's not something I would just put on all the time. I do appreciate a lot of their music, but it's not an easy listen. No. And there's other, like, I think it is a sort of challenge, like Can is another band, like anything that has a little bit of that, or Frank Zappa, like just music that's a little more challenging, but you know, like, oh, this artist influenced these other artists.

Yes.

And so I should have them in my collection.

Sometimes they're a good listen, a song, like, oh, I get what this is. Oh, I see.

Yes.

Yeah.

Like a whole album is a lot. Yeah. But yeah. Okay. Great. Yes.

Oh, everyone's a DJ. So that felt– also when we went to the bank. Yes, yes. That's the first guy who's got like a flyer for– but that felt a little bit like a real version of us, maybe a little jerkier. A little like impatient.

Yes.

With– Being at a bank.

Yeah.

But yeah, so it escalates and more and more people are DJs. We meet your mother.

Yes, and she turns out to be a DJ.

Yes.

She's working on her... She's actually doing needlepoint of her DJ name.

And it goes... And she goes... I think we've had her in other episodes too as your mom.

Yes.

And then it ends with. God.

That Earth is just a record that's being spun by DJ God. Yeah. Yeah. So it has this sort of heightening horror movie vibe.

I just really liked it as a sketch. And not that this is all about critiquing these sketches, but I felt very, I felt like, oh, that's a really good, that felt in its own way, timeless to me. Yes. Yes. even though someday maybe there will be no DJs, but I'm saying for, but like.

Oh, a day we can only dream of. When we're in a post DJ landscape. Yeah. I mean, we almost are kind of. Yeah.

Yeah. That's true.

It is. I mean, literally everyone kind of is a DJ now because everyone just makes a playlist. So this was like the precursor to that when everyone just had a DJ night. But I, I, I think we did in the writer's room, we were speaking to a phenomenon that of, you know, Some kind of hobby that everyone was starting to, you.

Know, sort of have. I'm a this.

I'm a this. I'm doing this now.

Yeah.

This is a repeated trope for us. Like there's another sketch that we'll talk about from another episode. She's making jewelry now.

Yes.

Where these sort of trends and it feels like, oh my gosh, this is so ubiquitous. Everyone's knitting now. Everyone, you know, is making this kind of coffee now. Everyone is doing mood boards now, you know, like.

Yeah.

Yeah, this is.

It went on to that for sure. Yeah.

And also the use of genre in like the filmmaking, you know, where we sort of borrowed from a genre and applied it to this show. You know, it really was filmed like a horror film. There's that whole slow motion sequence when we're running through the alley.

Yeah, it's like almost a strobe.

Yeah, yeah.

And then, yeah, that was a really... I guess it's the editors or whatever, whoever put... Because the music is.

Yes.

Really, really good. And I think it ends with or I know it ends with the guy who runs Voodoo Donuts.

Yeah, Tracy. Yeah. So Voodoo Donuts, which I think now is all over the US or at least in a handful of cities. Another. Place company that started in Portland. And that's something I think we'll talk about a lot in this podcast. We've talked about Stumptown. We'll probably end up talking about Salt and Straw, Ace Hotel.

Yeah.

And Voodoo Donuts is the guy that started in Portland. And that guy actually, Trace used to run one of the best music venues in Portland called the X-Ray Cafe, which had.

So- Oh, I remember that place.

Yeah, on Burnside. It's such a great- I didn't know that he ran it. Music venue.

Yeah. I asked him to- cause it's such a success even back then. And he was sort of local celebrity. Yeah. I asked him, I don't know how, you know, I was like, how, what is it about these donuts that makes him so good? And he had a very simple answer is that he changes out the oil frequently as opposed to just letting it sit there.

That's a good answer. Yeah.

Yeah.

I hope you're not giving away like his secret.

You know, as, as we were talking, I was thinking about that. And then I thought, I'm sure he said it to a million people.

I'm sure. It's not like you gave away the KFC.

But if you're listening, no, no. Which I wouldn't.

You're one of the only people who knows that.

Yeah. And it's more simple than you think. But if you're listening to this and you repeat this information, please don't say you got it from this podcast. That's all that we're asking.

We don't want to get sued.

No. That's something you heard.

A-L-L Then we go into the dog park sketch with Kath and Dave, who are characters that have already been introduced. And Kath and Dave are, I mean, we see Kath and Dave's, Kath's and Dave's everywhere.

Yeah.

You know, they are the people who get really angry over small infractions. I feel like Kath, like, In modern parlance, a little bit, she would be a Karen, except that her anger is ambient. It's directed at everything. And to me, Kath, it's like the version of myself if I never had music to sort of help mitigate some of my just general angst. I feel like I would go through the world a little more like Kath in the sense that like just aggrieved and unable to sort of just like tone things. Like everything, there's just a disproportionate amount of like anger and vitriol. Like she's, and she has this pwn.

Like Kath's like hair was always this ponytail. I mean, I just called it the pwn.

Yeah. Yeah. How was it applied? I think they just tied it to.

The back of your hair. Yeah. Jen Serio, our hair person, and potentially Jodi Mancuso before her, would just put my hair back in a very small ponytail because my hair is pretty short. And then they would attach this long hair ponytail to it.

It did make you seem angrier for some reason.

And I was angry because my hair was being yanked back. And I just see, you know, there's, I mean, Kath and Dave are some of my favorite characters because they're so unchecked. And they are very clueless. In this way, that's very fun to play.

They're also righteous. Their anger is about, we are trying to, by the way, the characters just, you know, if you need more description of them, they have like, sort of camping gear on most of the time. They're very prepared. They're very sort of outdoorsy prepared.

Ready to hike.

Yeah. And their whole goal is like, or their whole theme is we are doing the right thing. Why isn't everybody else?

Yes.

And the part of Dave that is like myself is that I do sometimes feel that way at the airport where I'm very like, my thoughts, carry on is small. Oh, why isn't everyone else's?

Yes.

And there, there is anger in that.

Yes.

When I see someone trying to force, you know, or anything like that, just moving through the airport, I could feel the Dave of like, I packed light for you guys for the whole world. Yeah.

Like why didn't you pack light for me?

Yeah.

Yeah. I, I feel cast. Like if I'm at, a grocery store. I really noticed this. Like I've, if I've traveled outside of the Pacific Northwest, the Pacific Northwest, if you don't live there, it has a specific pace to it. Um, it's, it's a little slower than New York for instance, for sure. Um, it's, and people are very friendly there and really like to have conversations. And there's no sense that anyone else is waiting.

People love to wait. People are happy to wait. So if I've been out East and then I come back, to Portland and I'm in line at a grocery store and I'm third or fourth in line and everyone is having a private, not private, sorry. It's a public, but conversation, but it's personal, a doctor's appointment, a child with an illness, you know, like a recent trip they took, like something happening with a toe, you know, like that's a conversation that's happening. And I want people to be more efficient in that moment, just to move forward quick, more quickly.

And I feel the cath in me like, Hey, let's, let's move along.

Yeah.

You know, let's sidebar this combo. Um, and I don't, I'm not, I'm not proud of myself for that impatience, but that impatience is, is cath.

It happened to me in Portland at a sports, uh, like an outdoor, one of those camping shops.

Yeah.

Um, and When someone at the register or at the counter says, do you want to join our rewards program? We all know the answer is no. We just want to buy whatever it is. And I remember someone saying yes in front of me.

It's a how dare you.

So they had to take out a little whatever, however they did it, a little form or something. As we were speaking, I could feel the tingle in my body of like, oh, that really is slowing everybody down.

Yes.

This whole store. Now we're all waiting for your meeting, an appointment. Yeah. They turned it into an appointment.

Yeah.

Um, so, so that's where Captain Dave are at and they're at a dog park.

They're at a dog park with their dog Quicksilver played by my, uh, my first dog as an adult, Toby, RIP, um, a German wire haired pointer mix that I got at the Oregon Humane Society, um, And Toby at this point actually in real life was a little bit older. I can see the gray in his whiskers. And also my other dog is in this too, Cricket, who at the time I think was pretty young. But Cricket, we are not the owners of Cricket in this. Our dog is Quicksilver.

And we walk in. Another thing Kath and Dave like to do is announce their presence and also let everyone know what's going on with them.

Yeah.

They, you know, it's like, this is Quicksilver and he was rescued from a tsunami. Yeah.

Why did we think of a tsunami?

I don't know.

Because that equals that it was at a distance. Yes.

It doesn't, I mean, though the Oregon coast, there are tsunamis at the Oregon coast. Again, you have to, it's a reach. I mean, we can't go back and change it, but, or anyway. Anyway. So we're asking everyone to be careful with him and yeah. And then it just escalates from there.

I guess the announcing when you go into a part, it just helps the sketch so that at least we're, we've got some volume to what we're saying.

They are loud people, Kath and Dave. It is. Yeah.

And I think by then, as, as I watched it, I realized that this is very different than the first season and that we, got the characters. We kind of knew what they were. We had a shorthand for how Captain Dave were.

Although in the first season, it's them out at a cafe complaining about a dog being tied up.

It's all dog stuff.

At least at the beginning.

That's right.

And actually, they were pretty bombastic and hectoring then, too.

Yeah. Yeah. My friend Kristen Rivers is in the sketch.

I have two friends in the sketch.

Yeah.

A woman that I volunteered with at the Humane Society, Jennifer. And then my dog sitter at the time, Sam, is in it. This is very common. One thing about rewatching is just like, oh, this is who I was hanging out with at the time. Because often it was like, oh, let's call friends and text friends and see if they can pin it.

When we did the DJ sketch, this is like, I mean, it's not exactly about all our friends who are in it. I also remember, you know, we ended on this top of the hill.

Mount Tabor.

Yeah. And it's just a special thing about shooting in Portland where all of these locations, my memory of it now, it's like, it is like a postcard or something that we were up on this hill. What a great.

And I could tell it was the end of the day. It was like, it was starting to get dark. But yeah, so the dog park sketch, we shot it at Normandale Park, which is a real dog park. And yeah, it looks it. Yeah. There's a photo shoot in the middle of it. We decided to.

Take photoshoots of the dogs and.

Then we leave with the wrong dog. We leave with a different dog.

Yeah. Nice tidy sketch.

Yeah. It made me miss both those dogs who are both gone. I, that was the hardest part about watching this for me. Both cricket and Toby are now deceased and they made it to 15, both of them. So I didn't lose them early, but it's really. Yeah, I think that's the hard thing about watching, going back and watching any of this stuff. I see people who are no longer with us and animals and just, yeah, that's, I think just on a personal note, that's a tricky part as much as it's really enjoyable. There's some moments that are a little bit heartbreaking for me too.

Yeah, those, both Cricket and Toby were a big part of the show, including the writer's room. They were there all the time or, you know, I have many pictures, photos of them.

I was just going to say you and, yeah, both of them. They were in the little Airstream that we used for our dressing room. They were always around.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, right. You're right.

You're right.

You're right. Okay.

Good point.

We were just corrected that we leave with no dogs.

Yeah. It's worse than we thought.

Yeah.

We abandoned them both.

First, we leave with the incorrect dog.

Yeah.

And then we ditched that dog too.

Yeah, there's some line like, will you take care of me? Yeah.

And then that second dog that we first leave with is Cricket.

Yeah.

And then we ditch her too.

What were we going to rush for?

We're always, yeah. A classic way for us to end a sketch. Someone just leaving.

Yep.

Okay. Now we get to DMV hold music. With another recurring actor, Rick, who plays our coworker, who puts the guy on hold.

Yeah.

And this, like the music for... The Massage. The Massage, which was in an earlier episode. Again, you and I just having an excuse to sit around and improvise some music for a long time.

But I like this. The music we did, I liked it a little better in this one in that it actually did seem almost like it could be hold music, at least in the beginning.

Yeah, and these are one-off characters. These never recur. And yeah, so basically this guy's on hold. Instead of, you know, pre-recorded music, it's two people, two struggling musicians making a go of it for an unwitting listener.

And yeah, an excuse for us to play it live.

Yeah. My memory.

of shooting the whole show is I didn't realize that we did so much of that. I'm glad we did, but I always think, oh, I wish we had done more music, but we did plenty.

We did so much music, especially this. And, and one thing to note is, you know, even though our schedule was, you know, felt pretty rushed and we crammed a lot of stuff in, you know, these take, our takes were very long.

Yes.

And so I imagine the main like coverage of us sitting around, like a keyboard and, you know, musical keyboard, drums, whatever, guitar. I mean, this, this could have been a 45 minute take.

Definitely.

Yeah.

And we probably, or I probably, you know, played into that too. I'm sure I was like, I want the crew not to get bored by this. So I'll just keep it.

So instead of stopping, we'll just keep going.

We'll make the music better.

Do you guys like this song?

Yeah.

I did. I really liked the ending.

Yes, sending the CD.

It's like he, yeah.

He gets a letter in the mail.

Saying that he wasn't approved or whatever.

Yeah, or that we're still processing your request. In the meantime, please enjoy the CD of music. Also, again, sort of the timestamp of CDs still being a thing. Like there's certain moments in the show, you know, of course you can't avoid that. But yeah, although you know what? CDs are back, so.

They are.

Yeah.

Is there something, am I trendy in that Over the last couple of years, I've been saying to people, I actually like CDs because for traveling, if I go overseas, I buy CDs because they're easier to travel with. Or am I just because everyone is enjoying CDs again, I worry that I'm actually like. What are you saying? Like that I'm just a follower of whatever's popular.

But you were around when CDs... True. I feel like... True.

Yeah.

Okay, good. Okay. You're an early adopter of CDs. I don't know what kind of validation you're seeking right now, but I will continue to reassure you.

It's the self-doubt.

You're the CD guy, Fred.

Fred Armisen? Oh, he was.

Early on the CDs.

It's his birthday. You know what to get him.

A CD.

Here we go. Any CD will do.

Yeah. And you even know that it stands for compact disc.

That's right. Yes.

For people, some people might not know.

They might not know.

Compact disc.

Because they're.

Compact.

As opposed to.

Big.

Gigantic.

Broad.

I went to.

Broad discs. As opposed to a laser disc, which were really.

Those are.

Those are big. Yeah.

That would be trendy. That would be like. Oh, yes. You don't like laser discs.

Yeah.

You know what?

Sometimes I'll be reading like an interview with like a director or someone in film and they'll talk about their laser disc collection and it. It feels... A little forced. A little forced. Yeah. You don't want to be the LD guy. No. Yeah.

I went to this record store in Wyoming somewhere.

Okay.

And looking through the CDs, you know, they have a section for box sets. Now, you know box sets when they're new. There's like a... sheen to them. Old box sets are the saddest thing you've ever seen.

Oh, they're really frayed at the edges, right? Really worn down.

Yeah. They don't age well. They don't age well. And you could see the hope in the design because it'll be shaped like a guitar case.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah. And oh, this is the ultimate collection. It'll say things like ultimate collection and And it just looks so too big and really sad. Yeah.

You have to have a display case for that. Like, yeah, those are in history's dustbin for sure. And no resale value either.

And I had no nostalgia. I wasn't like, oh, I should get it for old time's sake. I was like, this is, this is garbage now.

Yeah. Yeah.

Or like a jukebox, whatever it is.

Oh, yes, yes. A novelty case.

Yeah. Yes. There was a theme for a while. Yeah.

Or it was like a coffin. Yeah, a coffin. Yeah.

An anvil tour case.

Yeah.

And the cardboard really showed, like it shines through. Like this is just cardboard. Yeah. Where at the time you're like, ooh, could this be made out of? Yeah.

Whatever.

Steel.

Anyway, that's the DMV hold music.

That's the DMV hold music.

Yeah. By the way, this is now the second music. sketch in this episode. So yeah, yes, we are. We can, we can confirm there's a lot of music in this show. Now we're on to Grover part two.

Yes.

Where we head to shooting star preschool.

Yeah.

To have our meeting with, with the head of the school, played by Jana, another recurring... Frequent. Frequent local actor on the show.

Yeah.

And instead of the traditional, she's assuming, Jana is assuming that there will be an interview, but instead, Brendan and Michelle have produced a video. But we claim that Grover self-produced this video. I.

I don't know whose idea this was. I love the idea of it. It was such, also because there's a quote, Barack Obama quote in it.

It's egregious. It is like a shocking, like it is just the worst version of these parents. Like just like a disproportionate, like a sense of, yeah, self-importance, drawing influence from like, again, like why? You know, like it's just.

Dishonesty?

Dishonesty. The interviews that were like a Ken Burns kind of.

Yeah. So they filmed themselves doing these interviews.

And then claimed like speciously that their child, a four-year-old, had like produced. I actually, you can see on the screen that they, we've listed credits and it says that like Grover like.

Did it all.

Yeah. And it's a, yeah. Again, though. Like probably not too far off. This predates, predates the college admission scandals. I mean, this is, yeah, this is, these are some really craven parents.

Yeah.

And just no, no regrets. They'll do whatever.

And too much money probably.

Yeah.

They produced this film. Yeah. It's nothing to them. Yeah. And there's a really good, just a quick edit where they're talking about AV equipment and they roll in. I just like how quick, quickly that happened. Yeah. Um, so yeah, that's the show, this film, there's music in it. It's like very produced.

Highly produced.

Yeah.

Yeah. And that's basically it. Then the, you know, Deanna.

Has a good, like a good reaction.

Yeah.

We'll, we'll let you know.

Yeah. A lot of eye rolls from her. Um, gutter punks, gutter punks. I feel like gutter, so gutter punks, I think, if you maybe didn't grow up on the West Coast or in a certain era, you may not be familiar with, I feel like it was kind of a 90s phenomenon. Yeah.

Sort of dreadlocked.

White person with dreadlock.

Yeah. Kind of.

Usually someone actually that had money.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Kind of.

Like a sort of trust fund punk. They were called crusty punks.

Crusty punks.

Gutter punks. Shit punks.

In New York in the 80s we called them peace punks. Little backpacks and usually a dog with them. Asking for spare change. Patches. So not like punk like flashy with like.

No.

Spikes more sort of.

Crusty. Yeah.

Yeah.

Kind of like a nomadic lifestyle, like a choice.

Yeah.

A choice. I think that's what really differentiates it, you know, from other forms of panhandling, like a choice to sort of be living, you know.

In the streets and walking.

Uh-huh.

Boots, kind of old boots.

Yeah.

Army navy surplus clothes lots of big pockets yeah um definitely dirty nothing wrong with being dirty i'm not saying like ew i'm just saying but there was.

A sort of yes there was there was an aesthetic it was yeah an aesthetic lifestyle choice.

Yeah yeah so we had this couple your wig was great yes mine was just a little cap with wisps of hair coming.

Down yes and a And in this sketch, we're asking for change a dollar for some reason that I was doing a slight, we both are doing a slight kind of Canadian.

Yeah. Yeah. It's a little Northern. I don't know why it felt like Vancouver.

I mean, Vancouver for sure. Yeah.

Yeah. So I just imagine they were from Canada. Yeah.

From Canada. Yeah. Um, so recently left their parents' fancy home on Vancouver Island and now we're, yeah. Um, train hop down to.

Yes.

Um, so.

This wasn't, I can't remember if this was our first one though. Might have been.

Might have been, yeah.

And this is them with animals.

Yeah, well they realize that an animal garners more sympathy and more money. Yeah.

Yeah. So I feel like typical Portlandia sketch and that like it was just us, the build of it all.

Yeah, and I think another thing is again, you and I coming from like independent music and punk, like these, this might feel esoteric, but for us, this was like definitely part of that sort of vernacular. Like if you were sort of, you know, doing a taxonomy of like the different iterations of like punk and, you know, in like the nineties, like this was definitely part of the ecosystem that these were you know, like, or if you went down and played a show at like Gilman street in Oakland or something, you know, like this, this was, these people were part of that ecosystem.

They were around. Yeah. Yeah. But also kind of not around. They were definitely not t-shirt buyers or no, no, or even fans really. They were just like, we're here. We're around.

Yeah.

Yeah. So I'm glad we, we got to do those. Yeah.

Um, go over part three.

Well, there's also the scavenger hunt.

Oh, I'm sorry.

What's the name of that sketch? Is it scavenger hunt? It's the, I'm a little guy.

I'm a little guy, which is something you, this was an observation you had.

No, this, well, yes. Or, well, no, it was, uh, the singer of my band trench mouth in the nineties. He did this as just a morning bit for no reason. Just walked. We were just talking to each other. And he just said, I'm just a little guy. My hands are small. He did that whole description. So that's Damon Locks.

And it just always stuck with me as like, oh, yeah, there is that is a description of a type of person.

Now I think they're called short kings. It's like a it's like a popular thing. Like just like a shorter guy.

Yeah, just. Yeah, it's as simple as that.

Yeah.

But Damon is, you know. Isn't that he just did it as a bit and it just made sense to me. And then as we did it, it worked out as, as the sketch where we're on a scavenger hunt throughout Portland.

Yeah.

And our team is like dressed like Sergeant Pepper. And the other ones are like pilgrims. The other team.

Yes.

We're in competition with. And the scavenger hunt is like, we opened it. We get to see a lot of Portland in it.

Yeah. Yeah. And both those actors, I think Ryan and Megan, are also recurring.

Yeah. Yeah. So the thing I noticed about it, which I don't know if we talk about it enough in that it's so easy to take for granted, the sound effects.

Yes.

There's a lot of like cartoony sound effects throughout. And then through many sketches that even watching it, it goes through me until I'm wait a minute, there's something highlighting.

It's definitely something we've talked about a bit but just that kind of like musicality in the editing yeah you know whether it's the cadence of the editing or the pacing or the timing of the cuts or actual sound effects I feel like It helped with the pacing and the texture of the show, I think, because I always thought of these sketches, like these sort of fast paced sketches to kind of be the counterbalance to things that were a little more contemplative. I mean, nothing was, I mean, it's sketch, nothing's too contemplative, but there were obviously other sketches that didn't have that kind of like fast paced.

like percussive vibe. And I felt like we often use this and gutter punks was one too, where, you know, you just, it has like the snappiness to it. Cause I think you need things that sort of move along, especially with the, the wraparound sketches, like, cause those were, had a little more storytelling and these needed to kind of like, you know, fit into this one part of the show where it was like, we only have a minute and a half. So how can we kind of keep this like paced up and exciting.

And, Yeah, holding your attention.

Yeah.

But I sometimes think about those, the editors, because those choices, sometimes I think where do they find these sounds? I wonder if, I guess we could just ask them, they just did something as a joke for themselves just to make themselves laugh and then it stuck.

I feel like we should have one or two of the editors on the podcast. To me, they so very much shaped the language of the show. You know, and they, from the beginning, you know, they really, yeah, I guess I shouldn't say we should have them on the show because maybe we'll have them on in an earlier episode.

But anyway, we should get the editors on.

I just enjoy watching the sketch because there's so much of Portland in it. Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's sweet and it's not even making fun of anybody or any, even the scavenger hunt seems like a fun scavenger hunt. Yeah.

Yeah. Again, I'm always, I'm always surprised at sketches where we cover a lot of real estate. Cause I just, I think now more than I did at the time, I'm just so much more cognizant of how hard that is to just be moving through space like that, you know, especially on location, you know?

Yeah.

And there are so many moments that we just were happy accidents that because we were, uh, a fair, very nimble crew, very, um, like fast moving. We kept things light. We didn't have a huge crew. Like we were able to just like add a quick shot or see something that was inspiring or funny or additive and actually shoot that, you know, last minute unplanned. Um, and that's, I think was very much part of the show. And I, I sense that every time I watch something like this with a lot of like movement in it.

That one, especially. Yeah. And it ends with the Portland sign, which I think represents the city of Portland. Then on to part three of Grover's Parents.

Oh, God. This part. This is where, okay, I said at the beginning, you were like, I really laughed. And I was like, I really cringed. I think this is the part where I really was like, oh, my God.

I know. It feels a little unlike the show, a little bit.

Yeah.

It's not what we usually, I mean, once in a while, Nina and Lance, but. Yeah. Yeah. It was silly.

It was silly. It's definitely silly. We should say what it is. So we're back at home. Brennan and Michelle are back at home. Michelle walks into the kitchen. The mail has arrived. Grover's gotten into shooting star preschool. And we're so ecstatic that we just are immediately like the only thing we can think to do is just basically have sex.

Yeah. And we start making out.

In front of our kid.

Yeah.

In front of Grover. Grover. This whole thing, I was like, I was like, what?

And then we go to another room and it gets, luckily, it does get silly enough.

It gets silly. Yeah. But there's like fake nudity, you know, like we, yeah, it was just, it goes on for so long in the way that I guess is the comedic comedy sex part of it. But I just was like, I had completely blocked this out.

I'd forgotten about it. Yeah.

Yeah. Which is telling that we both blocked this out. Yeah.

I mean, like if someone had asked me, do you know how that sketch ends?

I would say I actually was predicting how the sketch, I was, I actually had a whole other ending in mind.

What was that?

Not this. It was anything this, like I was, I.

Was imagining that he didn't get in or something. Yeah.

I don't know what it would have been, but I just thought I was, it really took me by surprise and it, I will say there's not a lot of... Okay, Lance and Nina, who we've talked about before, when we're both in drag, those characters... They have a very physical relationship.

Yeah.

And, you know, I think their physical intimacy was always part of that, those characters. It very much defines how they connect.

Yeah.

Peter and Nance, you know, we've talked about, they have that very syrupy, you know, lovey-dovey. They are, it's not sexual, but it's very, it's intimate and sweet.

It's physical, but not sexual.

Exactly.

Or their version of sexual.

Exactly.

And.

you know, we'll get to them later. There's a few, you know, sex scenes that are again played for laughs, but this, I just did not remember. And because they were fairly rare. Yeah.

I mean, I wonder if it's like, in a way it's still early in the, our existence as a show.

Yeah.

There were still, I don't know.

Yeah. We both, we both seem like I'm looking at you right now. I feel like we both seem like not traumatized by it, but. Yeah.

What's the, yeah.

Like we're like, I'm like stuck. I'm like, you know what it was like, there's a moment, this is this moment where I, so we each leave the room. We're like, we leave the room. We're like making out. And then we leave. And it's like, the camera stays on Grover and you hear Michelle and Brendan copulating.

And sometimes on our own.

Sometimes on our own. So, so I walk back in as Michelle and I'm, I mean, it's blurred out, but like, and I know I was wearing like a little, you know, modesty cover, but I look nude. And I was like, oh my God. I felt scandalized by myself. Who is this naked woman on screen? No one wants to see this, including me. I'm watching it. And obviously this, and I think the kid wasn't in the room when we shot this because it would have been his. on me i would yes you know and also by the way of course i am actually irl wearing.

Something yes i don't think yeah no.

For 100 100 but i i was like oh goodness yes yeah.

It made me happy to hear the comedic sounds you were like please make this yeah because you know there's those times where we're on our own.

In that room yes that's when it's funny and yes.

And i'm like okay good something's happening yeah that equals a version of comedy and i'll take it Yeah.

We're just, we're crawling towards the end of this episode as I feel like there's so much to talk about in therapy, which is a different podcast.

That's a different podcast. That's on its way. Yeah. There's a good sound effect I wrote down here of a hand clap.

During the sex? Yeah.

Or one of us does like a clap and for some reason they amplify it.

So it's like.

Yuck.

Yeah. Okay, great.

The writers on this one was us and Carrie Dornetto.

Yes, who joins in season two and who we never let go.

And we really love Carrie Dornetto. So funny.

Still do. Very, very funny. Very silly. This is the season that we wrote in Gus Van Zandt's office downtown.

Yes.

Portland.

That's right.

Yeah.

And I've got Alison Silverman and Bill Oakley as consultants. Bill Oakley wrote on The Simpsons and Alison Silverman, we've already talked about, who's great.

Yep, she was with us in season one. She came from the Colbert Report. And yeah, Bill came on for this season and it was super helpful and also interesting just to see how his mind works coming from The Simpsons. And yeah, very clever guy.

So that's the Grover episode.

That's the Grover episode. And I hope to never see myself fake nude on screen again.

I have to watch my reaction because when you said that, I couldn't go like.

I would.

You know what I mean?

We are on camera right now.

That's what I'm saying.

Yeah, I'm glad someone liked it.

But I just want to reiterate to everyone, go out to your local thrift store and get those box sets of CDs.

Yeah, and take photos and send them to us.

Yeah.

Let us know what box sets you've purchased recently. And also congratulations to Fred Armisen on your CDs. That's right.

Yes. The CD king.

Yep. All right.

So thank you.

And with what's left of me, goodbye.

Goodbye.

204: Grover

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