I have to admit, I’m pretty psyched for the TV adaptation of the Coen brothers classic 1996 film, “Fargo.” Not just because I am a huge fan of the original film, but also because I’m a huge fan of the Coens in general.
What I am also excited for is that one of my comedy heroes, Bob Odenkirk, will be not only in it, he plays a Bemidji cop in it as well.
Most probably know of Odenkirk as the criminal lawyer from “Breaking Bad.” I know this is going to really age me, but I remember him first from “The Ben Stiller Show” and most of my friends remember him from “Mr. Show with Bob and David.”
I will be interested to see Odenkirk play a Minnesotan, and kind of more interested in hearing if he will speak in that very pronounced Minnesota accent that made us Minnesotans sound like drunk Canadians in the film.
I remember when the film came out. I enjoyed it quite a bit. Then people started imitating the thick Minnesota accent on TV all the time. It got quite annoying. In fact, it got very annoying. I can understand how some people have negative feelings toward this film and probably toward the show, based on this piece of Minnesotan history.
Also, Key & Peele will be playing FBI agents hunting down Billy Bob Thornton’s antagonist character and supposedly they end up tracing the character to Bemidji. So, it will be interesting to see how the show will recreate Bemidji. Obviously, if they mess up how Paul and Babe look, there will probably be a lot of strongly worded letters about that.
So far, there is only some tidbits and rumors floating about the plot, so we will have to wait until April to see how “Fargo” looks on the small screen.
The JOE-DOWN 
Let it be known, non-Minnesotans: We don’t talk like that.
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Ok then, you betcha
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Let it be known, non-Minnesotans: we do sorta talk like that.
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Ah, yeah we do…
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I have a classmate who talks like that. He has farmed with family his entire life and has never lived outside our small hometown of 500 people. My favorite quote from him: “I don’t have a cell phone. I don’t even have a computer” in “Fargo”-esque tones. Freaky. I’ve lived in northern Minnesota my whole life and have heard no one else who is now younger than 75 talk like that.
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I never thought I had a Minnesotan accent until I worked with a guy from Chicago who would constantly point my accent out. I reminded him that he sounded like Dan Aykroyd. He was not amused.
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I grew up in Chicago and have lived in Bemidji for 37 years. Early on my Chicago relatives started noticing a Minnesota accent developing in me, which I couldn’t yet hear. And some Minnesotans to this day can still hear Chicago roots in my dialect. As a snow bird now, whenever we fellow Minnesotans connect, we OVER-emphasize our Minnesota-speak…especially making sure we include “uff’da” and “you betcha” whenever it fits in. Makes us feel like we’re back home 🙂
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Daaaaa Bears
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All I know is I must have a weird accent cause my phone doesn’t understand half the things I say….Don’t cha know den der.
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You Minnesotans definitely have accents, but then again I also have a weird Michigan accent so it’s all good.
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(Case in point: Nobody pronounces the word “bag” like you guys do. Seriously, just listen to yourselves.)
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I try to avoid that word as much as I can. I can’t fix my pronunciation of that word at all.
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I grew up in Iowa, have lived in Bemidji for 12 years now. A few years ago I was in Orlando at Disney World talking to my Iowa family I was with. A gentleman interrupted and asked if I was from Northern Minnesota…..I slapped my forehead. I have adopted the long /o/ into my speech.
I am interested if they are going to use the phrases “For Funny” and “For Cute” that I have never heard until I moved up here. Are those Northern Minnesota phrases?
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I haven’t heard those phrases before I moved to Bemidji (I’m originally from St. Cloud). I think those might be special to the Bemidji area.
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