Inside the Jasmine Pearl Tea Company in Northeast Portland, nobody is chilling out, or tasting a soothing cup of organic Chai or Green Jade Oolong. On this Wednesday, the shop is packed with "Portlandia," as the comedy TV series is shooting on location.

Crew members crowd in to operate cameras and sound equipment, while near the front of the small space, "Portlandia" co-creators, co-writers and costars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein are preparing for the scene.

Brownstein is doing double duty, directing as well as acting, and she and Armisen start tossing lines back and forth.

It doesn't take long to get what they want, and the crew begins moving equipment out so they can shift to the next location, a nearby nondescript office/warehouse building at Northeast 22nd Avenue and Oregon Street.

It's not surprising that "Portlandia" is, as a producer says, "a well-oiled machine at this point." Armisen, Brownstein and the crew for the IFC show are wrapping up filming Season 7, so they have plenty of experience working on locations around Portland.

But things have changed in Portland since "Portlandia" made its low-profile debut in 2011. Portlanders can't stop talking about the rising cost of housing, an influx of new residents and arguing about whether Portland's growth is good or bad.

"Portlandia" itself got sucked into an example of how unhappy some Portlanders are about our changing city. In Other Words, where the "Portlandia" feminist bookstore sketches were filmed, recently announced the store and community center was ending its relationship with "Portlandia."

A message posted on the In Other Words website blasts "Portlandia," calling it "diametrically opposed to our politics and the vision of society we're organizing to realize," and claiming "Portlandia" "has had a net negative effect on our neighborhood and the city of Portland as a whole."

The post from In Other Words made significant ripples, with out-of-town media chuckling at the real feminist bookstore insulting the "Portlandia" sketches featuring the show's satirical vision of a feminist bookstore, "Women & Women First."

But on the "Portlandia" location, people downplay the In Other Words anti-"Portlandia" eruption.

"I have so many fond memories of that place," says Alice Mathias, an executive producer who has worked on "Portlandia" since Season 1. Mathias says "Portlandia" didn't film any scenes at In Other Words for Season 7, and that storylines didn't call for it.

"I have nothing but gratitude for them hosting our show in the amount of time that they did," Mathias says of In Other Words. "And I have respect for the future of the store, and what they're going to do with it."

Mathias, along with Armisen and Brownstein, emphasize they were already planning to makes some adjustments to the feminist bookstore storyline, and to Toni (Brownstein) and Candace (Armisen), the humorless, easily offended proprietors of Women & Women First.

As for how Portland is changing, Mathias - a Chicago native who now makes her home in Los Angeles -- says growth and development are transforming neighborhoods and cities all over the country.

In the upcoming "Portlandia" Season 7, which will premiere on IFC on Jan. 5, Mathias says, the humor isn't limited to Portland.

"There are a lot of universal experiences that show up," Mathias says, as in an episode she directed, about getting invading ants out of the house.

Around lunchtime, Armisen and Brownstein take a break from filming and directing (Armisen is also directing, as well as performing today) to talk to reporters on location for the annual media day.

The two are relaxed, though a bit reflective, maybe because they confirm that Season 8 - which will film in Portland in summer 2017 - will be the final one for "Portlandia."

"You don't want it to whimper away," says Armisen, who adds, "The things we admire most are the things that had a definite end to them, a band breaking up, or shows."

As to how "Portlandia" might end, Brownstein says, "We've talked a little bit about it, but I think we're kind of waiting until we start writing next season."

In Season 7, Armisen and Brownstein say we'll see more of the men's rights characters the two play in a sketch that IFC released as a preview for the new season.

And while Toni and Candace will appear in Season 7, Brownstein says they'd already planned some changes that affect the feminist bookstore characters.

"We wrote this season in May and June," Brownstein says, and the plan was to replace Toni and Candace with the men's rights activists.

In earlier seasons, Brownstein says, the way Toni and Candace reacted with outrage to the smallest comments was "disproportionate and outsized, compared to the rest of the culture."

But that seemed "outdated," Brownstein says, now that "feminism has reached this point where it is very much a mainstream discourse. So we wanted to usurp them, and I think we're really excited about that change."

Issues of masculinity and femininity are themes for the new "Portlandia" season, Brownstein says, as are people and cities feeling "disinherited."

What that means, Brownstein says, is that the men's rights characters will help the show get into "a sense of anger" felt by those who feel their privilege is going away in the face of greater awareness of diversity and other social evolution.

"A lot of these systems of oppression are being disrupted, and a lot of people aren't benefiting from then anymore," Brownstein says.

"Yeah, guys!" Armisen jokes. "Where's my men at?"

"So," Brownstein adds with dry humor, "it's really happy themes this year."

In the new season, Armisen and Brownstein will also return to characters they enjoy playing.

"I'm partial to these Goth Weirdos," Armisen says. "I'm finding more and more, the things that character says are the things I would say."

Warming to the topic, Armisen cites the episode where his Goth Weirdo details what he wants for his funeral. That's what Armisen wants, he says.

"I want it to be scary for everyone," he says, "sort of supernatural and satanic. The body is missing, Or there's lightning and thunder. Funerals should not be an enjoyable celebration," Armisen continues. "Birthdays are fun. Funerals should be scary."

Armisen and Brownstein have been asked about the issue again touched on in the post from In Other Words - namely, that "Portlandia" has made out-of-towners want to move here, because the city looks so quirky and cool.

While Armisen says he can't speak for all the people who watch the show or have decided to move to Portland for whatever reason, he agrees that development isn't limited to the Rose City.

"It is changing," Armisen says of Portland, "I think what's changing about this city is what's changing about any city that I live in," and "every city I go to has more buildings going up."

Brownstein says, "If anybody equates the depiction of a city via an artistic lens with the actual city, I think that sort of lends itself to a lack of imagination.

"I certainly think Portland's changed," Brownstein continues. "I've lived here since 2004, and it's been changing the whole time."

-- Kristi Turnquist



kturnquist@oregonian.com

503-221-8227

@Kristiturnquist