'Portlandia': Meet Mayor Roseanne!

Image Credit: Frank DiMarco

Roseanne Barr may have fallen short in her bid to become the next President of the United States, but on IFC’s sketch series Portlandia, the comedienne will serve as the city’s highest-ranking public official — at least briefly. “The mayor of Portland (Kyle MacLachlan) disappears, and through a temp agency, she fills in as mayor,” teases series co-creator/star Fred Armisen of her two-episode stint, which airs on Jan. 25 and Feb. 1. “She does things in the most efficient way. Because the character didn’t grow up in Portland, she doesn’t have the same understanding of how things go. She’s more like, ‘Look, this is a city, so we have to do those things that cities do.’ We wanted an outsider to come in and say, ‘What is this place?’”

Armisen was thrilled by Roseanne’s pit stop in Portlandia. “We were just fans of her show [Roseanne], and having her on was really, really cool,” he says. “It also made us feel more legitimate as a show.”

Other famous folks appearing on Portlandia‘s third season, which begins on Friday night. include Patton Oswalt, Juliette Lewis, Rose Byrne, Bill Hader, and George Wendt.

For more on Portlandia, check out EW’s Winter TV Preview issue.

Image Credit: Frank DiMarco

Read more:
‘Portlandia’: Juliette Lewis, Roseanne Barr, Bill Hader among season 3 guest stars — EXCLUSIVE
‘Portlandia’: Everything gets spoiled — VIDEO

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They're not kitten around: Alaska town says its cat mayor is purr-fect for tourism

TALKEETNA, Alaska - The mayor of a sleepy Alaska town is feline fine.

The part-Manx cat clawed his way onto the political scene of Talkeetna, Alaska, through a write-in campaign shortly after he was born 15 years ago.

KTUU-TV reported (http://bit.ly/LYvzBV ) Friday that residents didn't like the mayoral candidates years ago, so they encouraged enough people to elect Stubbs as a write-in candidate. The town has nearly 900 residents.

Although his position is honorary, Stubbs' popularity is real. His election earned him enough press to catapult the town at the base of Mount McKinley into a tourist destination.

Residents say they're happy that their stubby-tailed mayor is promoting tourism. The general store where Stubbs hangs out says it gets dozens of tourists a day asking for him.

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Information from: KTUU-TV, http://www.ktuu.com

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