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“Portlandia" premieres on the IFC Channel Friday night. It is a dreamy interpretation of Portland, Oregon.

"It's really about the relationship between [actor Carrie Brownstein] and I,” says Fred Armisen, who also stars in the series. “We're friends and it's a lot of that, and it's lots of different characters and it's lots of different characters and it's all set in Portland. It's a good backdrop for everything and it's very pretty, too. It's very green, very dark and that's where she's from, so it's mostly that.”

Other cast members from SNL turned out to support Fred at the premiere.

Scorching up “Portlandia” is Fred's co-star, Carrie Brownstein.

“I think Portland embodies a certain idealism and a kind of internal contradiction that a lot of sort of progressive-minded people are dealing with, which is that they want to do good but they're so flummoxed by how to do good and that creates just a straight conflict,” she says.

Former New Yorker Jonathan Krisel directed the series.

"Portland is like the Utopia of what cities could become,” Krisel says. “Nicely planned, everyone is very conscious about the environment. The restaurants are rivaling of New York. It's a very curated city that's really cool."

But how do you make a comedy in Utopia?

"Utopia looks silly! It's very earnest, you know,” says Krisel. “It's like New Yorkers, they're a little jaded, you know. Portland people are like, they're going for it and it might look a little funny because of that."