‘Portlandia’ comes to Vancouver

The popular TV show “Portlandia” is apparently filming in Vancouver today.

Film crews were spotted this morning at the Clark County Courthouse and across West 11th Street outside a bail bonds office. They apparently shot scenes in a courtroom on the fourth floor of the courthouse before occupying the block of Grant Street between West Evergreen Boulevard and West 11th Street.

The seventh season of the sketch comedy is currently in production, to be aired on cable’s IFC channel. It stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, according to the film website IMDB.com.

The show parodies modern culture by skewering the hipster life in Portland, building on the city’s “Keep Portland Weird” reputation.

Today isn’t the first time the show’s production has moved north of the river. The courthouse has previously been featured in the show. And in July 2014, crews filmed on location in an unoccupied portion of PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center and used the campus of Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School.

The Vancouver sites worked well for “Portlandia,” which does all of its filming on location and, per union contract, must stay within 30 miles of the Rose City.

Though Vancouver is not a regular stop for film crews — unlike Vancouver, B.C., the Canadian film capital — it’s not rare, either. Episodes of TV series such as “Leverage” have filmed here, and Vancouver has been the backdrop for scenes in movies such as “Wild,” which starred Reese Witherspoon, and “Extraordinary Measures,” with Harrison Ford, Keri Russell and Brendan Fraser.

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