IFC Renews Armisen’s “Portlandia” for an Eighth and Final Season in 2018

Fred Armisen’s time in Portlandia is limited…

IFC has announced that Portlandia, the comedy starring the 50-year-old half-Venezuelan actor and Carrie Brownstein has been renewed for an eighth and final season in 2018. Season seven returned this month.

Fred Armisen

“There’s still a lot to say with the show, but it seems scary to say it’s over,” creator/executive producer/writer/director Jonathan Krisel told reporters at the Television Critics Association‘s winter press tour over the weekend, though he seemed to suggest that it might not be a final goodbye. “These things never are finite,” he added. “We’ll work together again. There’s other outlets. We’ll just stop doing it in this form.”

For his part, Armisen compared the end of the series to leaving NBC‘s Saturday Night Live.

“It was a goodbye of sorts, but I’m back there all the time anyway,” he told press. “It just really seemed like a way to having a beginning, a middle and an ending, but I think nothing really ends anyway.”

Added Brownstein of the upcoming end of the road for the show: “The creation of art, sometimes it’s nice to put parameters around it; it helps with keeping it pointed.”

Portlandia‘s last renewal — a two-season pickup — came in February 2015.

The series hails from Lorne MichaelsBroadway Video banner.

Nuñez Earns His First-Ever Primetime Emmy Nomination

Oscar Nuñez is having an Emmy-otional week…

The Television Academy has announced the nominees for the 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards, with the 57-year-old Cuban actor and comedian earning his first career nomination.

Oscar Nuñez

Nuñez, best known for his SAG Award-winning role on NBC‘s The Office, picked up the nod in the Outstanding Actor In A Short Form Comedy Or Drama Series category for his performance in the History Channel‘s The Crossroads of History. 

Anthony Mendez has picked up his second consecutive nomination in the Outstanding Narrator category for narrating the CW‘s Jane the Virgin. Mendez faces stiff competition from the likes of Hollywood A-Listers Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne.

Fred Armisen has earned his fourth nomination in the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for co-writing IFC’s Portlandia. The 49-year-old half-Venezuelan actor and former Saturday Night Live star co-created the sketch-comedy series, which that parodies life in Portland, Oregon, with Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel.

Goya Award-nominee Victor Reyes has picked up the first two Emmy nominations of his career. The 54-year-old Spanish composer earned nods in the Outstanding Music Composition For A Limited Series, Movie Or Special (Original Dramatic Score) and Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music categories for his musical work on AMC’s series The Night Manager.

He’ll face off against Rodrigo Amarante in the Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music category. The Brazilian singer-songwriter picked up his first Emmy nod for his musical work on Netflix’s series Narcos.

The 68th annual Primetime Emmy Awards will broadcast live at 5 p.m. PT Sunday, Sept. 18 on ABC.

Louis C.K. to Guest Star on IFC’s “Portlandia”

Louis C.K. is heading to the Pacific Northwest…

The 48-year-old Mexican American actor, comedian, producer, director and editor will guest star on season 6 of IFC’s Portlandia.

Louis C.K.

Starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, who are the masterminds behind the series, the sketch comedy series returns to the small screen on January 21.

In addition to Louis C.K., who stars in the critically acclaimed FX series Louie, the show’s guest stars this season will include the likes of The Flaming Lips, Zoe Kravitz. Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat and Mitchell Hurwitz, as well as Top Chef’s Gregory Gourdet

IFC Renews Armisen’s “Portlandia” for Two More Seasons

Fred Armisen will spend two more years in the Pacific Northwest…

IFC has picked up the 48-year-old half-Venezuelan actor’s short-based comedy series Portlandia.

Fred Armisen Portlandia

The an absurdist series that gently pokes fun at the laid-back city of Portland, Oregon, has been picked up for Seasons 6 and 7, with IFC ordering 10 half-hour episodes for each.

Armisen, a Saturday Night Live alum, and Carrie Brownstein, the show’s creators and stars, will remain at the helm for both seasons. Portlandia is executive produced by Lorne Michaels and produced by Broadway Video.

Season 5 of Portlandia airs Thursdays at 10 PM.

Vanessa Bayer, Ed Begley Jr., Steve Buscemi, Jeff Goldblum, Kyle MacLachlan, Kumail Nanjiani, Jason Sudeikis, Gus Van Sant and Olivia Wilde are among the recurring guest stars who’ve guest-starred on the show over the years.

Louis C.K. Collects Five Primetime Emmy Award Nominations

Louis C.K. is still a Primetime Emmy Awards darling…

Following a record-setting nine nominations last year, the 46-year-old Mexican American actor/comedian cleaned up once again during Thursday morning’s Emmy nominations.

Louis C.K.

Louis C.K., a four-time Emmy-winner, earned five nominations for the 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, the most individual nominations of anyone, Latino and non-Latino, this year.

Louis C.K., the creator of FX’s dark comedy series Louie, is nominated for Actor in a Comedy for his laugh-inducing performance as the show’s title character.

His behind-the-scenes work on Louie has also resulted in nods in the Writing for a Comedy Series and Directing for a Comedy Series categories. Louis C.K., one of the executive producers onthe show, saw the series receive a Comedy Series nomination.

And last but certainly not least, Louis C.K. earned a nomination in the Guest Actor in a Comedy Series category for hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live earlier this year. The actor/comedian, a two-time SNL host, has earned Emmy love for both his hosting stints on the long-running NBC sketch comedy series.

But Louis C.K. isn’t the only Latino to receive multiple nominations…

Fred Armisen, a former Saturday Night Live cast member, earned a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nod for portraying various characters on his critically acclaimed IFC satirical sketch comedy series Portlandia.

The 47-year-old half-Venezuelan American actor, who created the series with co-star Carrie Brownstein, also earned a nod in the Writing for a Variety Series for hisbehind-the-scenes work on the series.

Helena Bonham Carter, a two-time Oscar nominee, has earned her third career Primetime Emmy nod. The 48-year-old part-Spanish actress earned her first nomination in 11 years in the Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie category for her portrayal of the late Elizabeth Taylor in the BBC/BBC America production Burton and Taylor.

Alfred Molina earned his first-ever Primetime Emmy Award nomination. The 61-year-old half-Spanish actor is nominated in the Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie category for his performance in HBO’s The Normal Heart.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who earned his first-ever Daytime Emmy Award nod earlier this year, now has his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

The Tony Award– and Grammy-winning American composer, rapper, lyricist and actor picked up the nod in the Original Music and Lyrics category for penning the lyrics to “Bigger!,”a tune performed by Neil Patrick Harris at the 2013 Tony Awards.

The 66th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be held on Monday August 25, 2014 at the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles, and will be broadcast live by NBC.

Here’s a look at the categories with Latino nominees.

Comedy series
“The Big Bang Theory” (CBS)
“Louie” (FX)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“Orange Is the New Black” (Netflix)
“Silicon Valley” (HBO)
“Veep” (HBO)

Actor in a Comedy
Louis C.K (“Louie”)
Don Cheadle (“House of Lies”)
Ricky Gervais (“Derek”)
Matt LeBlanc (“Episodes”)
William H. Macy (“Shameless”)
Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”)

Writing for a Comedy Series
David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik (“Episodes”)
Louis C.K. (“Louie”)
Liz Friedman and Jenji Kohan (“Orange Is the New Black”)
Alec Berg (“Silicon Valley”)
Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche and Armando Iannucci (“Veep”)

Directing for a Comedy Series
Iain B. MacDonald (“Episodes”)
Paris Barclay (“Glee”)
Louis C.K. (“Louie”)
Gail Mancuso (“Modern Family”)
Jodie Foster (“Orange Is the New Black”)
Mike Judge (“Silicon Valley”)

Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Bob Newhart (“The Big Bang Theory”)
Nathan Lane (“Modern Family”)
Steve Buscemi (“Portlandia”)
Jimmy Fallon (“Saturday Night Live”)
Louis C.K. (“Saturday Night Live”)
Gary Cole (“Veep”)

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Andre Braugher (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”)
Adam Driver (“Girls”)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”)
Ty Burrell (“Modern Family”)
Fred Armisen (“Portlandia”)
Tony Hale (“Veep”)

Writing for a variety series
“The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central)
“Inside Amy Schumer” (Comedy Central)
“Key & Peele” (Comedy Central)
“Portlandia” (IFC) 
[Fred Armisen]
“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC)

Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
Jessica Lange (“American Horror Story: Coven”)
Sarah Paulson (“American Horror Story: Coven”)
Helena Bonham Carter (“Burton and Taylor”)
Minnie Driver (“Return to Zero”)
Kristen Wiig (“The Spoils of Babylon”)
Cicely Tyson (“The Trip to Bountiful”)

Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
Colin Hanks (“Fargo”)
Jim Parsons (“The Normal Heart”)
Joe Mantello (“The Normal Heart”)
Alfred Molina (“The Normal Heart”)
Matt Bomer (“The Normal Heart”)
Martin Freeman (“Sherlock: His Last Vow”)

Original Music and Lyrics
“No Trouble” from “A Christmas Carol — The Concert”
“Les Mis” from “Key & Peele”
“Home for the Holiday (Twin Bed)” from “Saturday Night Live”
“Merroway Cove” from “Sofia the First: The Floating Palace”
“Day Is Gone” from “Sons Of Anarchy”
“Bigger!” from “67th Tony Awards” [Lin-Manuel Miranda, lyrics]

Directing for a miniseries, movie or a dramatic special
Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (“American Horror Story: Coven”)
Adam Bernstein (“Fargo”)
Colin Bucksey (“Fargo”)
Stephen Frears (“Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight”)
Ryan Murphy (“The Normal Heart”)
Nick Hurran (“Sherlock: His Last Vow”)

Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie
“Fargo” (Dana Gonzales)
“Fargo” (Matt Lloyd)
“Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond”
“Killing Kennedy”
“The Normal Heart”
“Sherlock: His Last Vow”

Costumes for a Series
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Downton Abbey”
“Game of Thrones”
“Mad Men”
“Once Upon a Time” [Eduardo Castro]

Outstanding Cinematography For Reality Programming
Project Runway (Lifetime) [Gus Dominguez, Director of Photography]

Armisen to Serve as Band Leader on the new “Late Night with Seth Meyers”

Fred Armisen is the leader of the band…

The 45-year-old half-Venezuelan actor and former Saturday Night Live star has been named the new bandleader on the new Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Fred Armisen

Meyers, Armisen’s SNL cast mate for several seasons, just tweeted the announcement.

Armisen, a talented drummer – as evidenced in the video clip below – currently stars on IFC’s sketch series Portlandia opposite fellow musician Carrie Brownstein, who fronted the rock band Sleater-Kinney.

Armisen “will curate and lead the band, and continue to run it even when he’s off shooting Portlandia,” announced Meyers on his Twitter page.

Meyers’ Late Night will make its big debut on February 24.

Armisen to Direct a Kings of Leon Concert for American Express Unstaged

Fred Armisen is preparing to work with music royalty

The 46-year-old half-Venezuelan actor/comedian and former Saturday Night Live star is set to direct a Kings of Leon show next month for the American Express Unstaged series, according to the Associated Press.

Fred Armisen

The Portlandia star, who recently ended his SNL run after 11 years, has previously directed music videos and is himself a drummer and musician.

Armisen wrapped up his SNL run as his memorable punk character Ian Rubbish along with former Sonic Youth member Kim Gordon, J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and former Sleater-Kinney guitarist and vocalist (and his Portlandia co-star) Carrie Brownstein, among others.

The Kings of Leon concert will take place on August 9th at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, and will be streamed by YouTube and Vevo.

It will mark the 13th entry in the American Express Unstaged series; the series’ last show featured Steve Buscemi directing Vampire Weekend, which had Armisen open as Ian Rubbish.

Kings of Leon’s next album, Mechanical Bull, will be out September 24th.

Mars Among Latinos Nominated for O Music Award

If you’re not following Bruno Mars on Twitter, you’re apparently missing out…

The 27-year-old part-Puerto Rican singer-songwriter is nominated for an O Music Award in the Must Follow Artist on Twitter category. Mars is up against ?uestlove, Frank Ocean, Andrew W.K., Erykah Badu, Grimes, Carrie Brownstein, Solange Knowles, Ryan Adams and Richard Marx.

Bruno Mars

Meanwhile, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato are both nominated in the Fan Army FTW category for their fiercely loyal fans on social media.

Lastly, Mariah Carey has been nominated in the Best Artist Instagram category. She’s up against Pictureplane, Tyler the Creator, Bon Iver and Riff Raff.

Fans can vote for their favorite nominees by logging in to OMusicAwards.com via their Facebook or Twitter accounts. The winners will be announced during a 24-hours live-streamed ceremony beginning on June 19 at 7:00 pm to celebrate and honor innovators in music, culture and technology.

Here’s a complete look at this year’s nominees:

Digital Genius Award :

  • PSY
  • Yoko Ono
  • Will.i.am
  • Trent Reznor
  • Pussy Riot

Best Web-Born Artist:

  • Kitty
  • Baauer
  • FIDLAR
  • Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
  • Angel Haze

Best Music App:

  • Scape
  • Vjayr
  • Timbre
  • CrowdSYNC
  • Jukely

Best Interactive Music Video:

  • “Lost in the Echo”, Linkin Park
  • “Sound and Vision”, Beck feat. Chris Milk
  • “Not The Same”, Tanlines
  • “Fastest Girl in Town”, Miranda Lambert
  • “e.m.-bed.de/d”, Yung Jake

Fan Army FTW:

  • “Aliens”, Tokio Hotel
  • “Glamberts”, Adam Lambert
  • “Sheerios”, Ed Sheeran
  • “Beliebers”, Justin Bieber
  • “Beyhive”, Beyonce Knowles
  • “Lovatics”, Demi Lovato
  • “Echelon”, 30 Seconds to Mars
  • “Selenators”, Selena Gomez
  • “Hustlers”, All Time Low
  • “Task Force”, Lil B

Best Music Hack:

  • Bonhamizer
  • Leap Orchestra
  • Maebe
  • Tweet Concrete
  • Boil the Frog 

Must Follow Artist on Twitter:

  • Bruno Mars
  • ?uestlove
  • Frank Ocean
  • Andrew W.K.
  • Erykah Badu
  • Grimes
  • Carrie Brownstein
  • Solange Knowles
  • Ryan Adams
  • Richard Marx

Best Artist Instagram:

  • Pictureplane
  • Tyler the Creator
  • Bon Iver
  • Mariah Carey
  • Riff Raff

Our Favorite Musical Cat:

  • Lil Bub
  • Keyboard Cat
  • Skifcha The Hipster Dubstep Cat
  • Collective Soul Cat
  • CatCERTO

Too Much Ass for TV (NSFW Music Videos):

  • “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” David Bowie
  • “Valtari” Sigur Ros
  • “Wait” DIIV
  • “Pyramids” Frank Ocean
  • “Blurred Lines” Robin Thicke

Make a Band Famous:

  • The So So Glos
  • Chill Moody
  • Syd Arthur
  • Striking Matches
  • Tatiana Owens
  • John & Jacob
  • Shy Glizzy
  • Fallulah
  • The Future
  • Darling Parade

Next Big Scene:

  • PostDubStep
  • CloudRap
  • Beats
  • #Seapunk
  • Vaporwave

Analog Genius Award:

  • Jack White
  • Beck
  • Neil Young
  • Shone

Most Inspiring Fan Outreach:

  • Dan Deacon
  • Avicii x You
  • Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir
  • Alicia Keys

The “Friday, Friday” Award:

  • Harlem Shake (the faux dance)
  • Flash Mobs
  • Goats Yelling Like Humans in Music Videos
  • Twerking
  • Lip Dubs

Louis C.K. Wins His First Writers Guild Award

Louis C.K. has picked up his first Writers Guild Award

The 45-year-old half-Mexican American actor, stand-up comedian and Emmy-winning writer was named the winner in the comedy series category at Sunday’s 65th Annual Writers Guild Awards ceremony.

Louis C.K.

Louis C.K., who will be starring in Woody Allen’s latest film Blue Jasmine this summer, won the award for penning his critically acclaimed FX series Louie, alongside Pamela Adlon and Vernon Chatman.

Fred Armisen won the WGA Award in the Comedy/Variety Series category. The 46-year-old half-Venezuelan actor and former Saturday Night Live star took home the prize for penning his IFC series Portlandia, along with fellow writers Carrie Brownstein, Karey Dornetto, Jonathan Krisel and Bill Oakley.

PBSMarcela Gaviria won the WGA Award in the Documentary – Current Events category. The Colombia-born journalist and filmmaker earned the award for penning Frontline’s “Money, Power and Wall Street: Episode One” documentary with Martin Smith.

The Writers Guild Awards, presented by the Writers Guild of America, honor outstanding achievement in writing in film, television, radio, new media, and other awards categories.

Armisen Heading to Springfield

Doh! Fred Armisen is about to get seriously animated.

The 45-year-old half-Venezuelan Saturday Night Live cast member—who currently stars on the IFC’s sketch comedy series Portlandia—and his co-star Carrie Brownstein have signed on to provide the voices for the Simpson’s new neighbors on Fox’s The Simpsons.

Fred Armisen

Armisen and Brownstein’s characters, who will make an appearance in an episode of the animated show’s 24th season, are described “a cool family from Portland.”

Homer will be seen desperately trying to befriend them, but Marge thinks that “being cool isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

“They’re the best thing to come out of Portland since everything our show took out of Portland,” gushed executive producer Al Jean about the casting of Armisen and Brownstein.

The episode featuring the Portlandia duo is titled “The Day the Earth Stayed Cool” and will air next fall.