I wonder if people in Detroit feel the same way about Detroiters as Portlanders felt about Portlandia. I doubt it—Detroiters’ cheerfully inclusive silliness is the polar opposite of its Portland counterpart. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s brand of smug, barbed humor was one of too-cool-for-school kids at the back of the classroom, talking snark about everything and everyone.
Detroiters’ Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson, on the other hand, are cheerfully sitting up front, raising their hands and irritating the teacher with too many questions. Portlandia was ostensibly a show about a place where young people go to retire—Detroiters is a show about how our best friends keep us young. For a show written by and starring grown-ups, it’s a much better look.