I agree entirely, @cosmo, and added my vote and encourage others to as well. (And you were in a great sitcom!)
Another workaround would be to add your own single-select portfolio-level custom field and use it instead of/alongside the official Status, though that’s not as good (hence, workaround).
Also, you would probably want to vote for the following, but I think it’s good not to merge because the requests are different, though both would offer you a solution.
Thanks,
Larry