We're not sure how it happened. But at some point in 2012 people who probably would not have found Portland on a map a couple of years ago were suddenly head-over-heels in love with the city. Or, we should say, the absurdist idea of Portland, Ore., as presented through the "Portlandia (2011)" prism. It's a place where feminist bookstores so militant that they defy you to make a purchase can exist, where hipsters can embrace the values and practices of the 1890s (one of the funniest rehashes of the show's first original songs) and where, as we saw in one hilarious episode, people can force a stranger who happens to be named Ronald Moore (but who isn't the Ronald D. Moore) to write more (creatively bankrupt, poorly plotted) episodes of "Battlestar Galactica (2004)". Fortunately, "Portlandia" fans won't have to resort to such desperation. The third season kicks off on January 4, 2013 on IFC.