Louie

Louis C.K. has found his voice. He's always been unaffected, without gimmicks, both as a stand up and as a comedic actor, but he now speaks and acts with near elegant confidence. His old HBO show "Lucky Louie" was original, edgy and often hilarious, but it was basically a sitcom, and even though it thoroughly mocked its own premises, it felt constrained by its traditional format. He was also quite raw as an actor and his rhythm was often awkward and rushed. But this latest project has him portraying a much more genuine version of himself and it takes its sweet time setting up and delivering its original punchlines. The humor now is very organic, arising not from slapstick absurdity but from honesty of character. Integrity is a word that just might pop up in a more competent review.

Like Seinfeld who inter-cut his show with staged fragments of his live routine, Louie uses his nightly club sessions to vent his daily frustrations, but the mood and feel is very different because Louis C.K. is not just riffing on airline peanuts and oddly buttoning shirts. He's also describing his complex, often extreme reactions to being alive. His carefully argued opinions on the inane and demoralizing nature of modern urban life are brilliant. Taboos are the targets at which the better comics aim their lacerating wit most emphatically, and the taboo that Louis mercilessly eviscerates most is fatherhood. If his frequently profane and sinister comments on parenting weren't so poignantly true and uncomfortably familiar they'd qualify as grounds for denial of custody. His honesty in expressing just how tedious, cold, and bland so much of his waking time actually is only works to heighten the comedic impact of his concise eloquent rants. His pacing and timing are at expert level now, as he has relaxed into himself; his aging, decaying, disappointing self. That's the kind of truth that "reality" TV could never pick out of a police line up.

The supporting players are all sensational and equally genuine. His friends, cohorts, and sociopath side kicks are marvelously candid and natural. Together they have some of the most entertaining, informative and enlightened discussions on life's more sensitive subjects. And they do it while exchanging great dick jokes. Pamela Adlon, who played his tough, often stressed working wife on the old HBO show, joins him again but now as a more crass and disillusioned fellow single parent. And the recurring visits of Ricky Gervais' maniacally demented doctor are sublimely outrageous, positively some of the most excruciatingly intense laughter I've ever experienced. That pudgy Brit is deranged!

What else can I add to this near solemn memorial I've contrived for this most enjoyable, most satisfying show? Just the fact that it is without a doubt the quickest passing twenty two minutes of quality comedy I've ever enjoyed. Yeah, it flies by way too fast.

This show as everything else can be compared to other shows but it is its own in many ways. First of which can be said is kudos to Louis C.K. is he greatly underrated and should be a much more respected star. His comedy is genuine and honest and i know it sounds corny but his show feels very real the dialogue and the situations are how real life i think would be. I've heard it be compared to seinfeld but the only comparison is that there are clips of louie doing stand up, the actual show is nothing like it. Also id like to commend FX on giving it time to grow, they are a very good network for that, same with SUNNY IN PHILLY, that show grew into an excellent show. Shows get canceled to quickly. Anyways to sum up. Louie gets a 10/10, its just my opinion.

Say what you will about Louis C.K. but his talents as a director, writer and actor are truly incredible. The writing in "Louie" is at times hilariously vulgar and other times touching and sad; there are moments of sincere honesty and other times of complete bizarreness. That is one of the ways the show is truly one-of-a-kind - you simply don't know what you'll get in any particular episode. Aside from that, the acting, directing and cinematography are all fantastic in their own right. If you're not ready to commit to the show, watch Horace and Pete (2016) and you'll be running to see more from this man shortly after. Masterpiece Television. 👏

Louis CK began his career as a writer for various show's like the Ben Stiller Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He also made several surrealist style short films which I highly recommend you look up on YouTube. With "Louie", CK has essentially perfected what he's been working at for over twenty years: short films/comedy sketches.

While the show retains an overarching structure revolving around Louis' daughters and his stand up comedy, the actual content of the episodes can cover virtually anything CK chooses, a sense of freedom he clearly loves. In fact, in a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, CK talked about the inconsistencies on his show: how characters appear out of nowhere and then disappear, never to be seen or spoken of ever again. Why? CK lost interest or couldn't think of anything funny to do with them. Other shows require their less interesting characters to have scenes in each episode, forcing the writing staff to jimmy them into the plot just so the actor can have a line of dialogue. CK views this as an unnecessary formality that it's about time television moves on from. I heartily agree.

If you enjoy laughter, watch Louie. If you hate boring, dull characters, watch Louie. If you're fed up with every character speaking like a comedy writer and having their conversations broken up by the requirement of canned laughs so that you, the stupid viewer, will know when to laugh, then watch Louie. Finally, if you like to ruminate on topics like inevitable death, the tragedy of aging, the annoying yet fulfilling requirements of parenthood, and then after much brooding, find yourself laughing at the absurdity of it all, then watch Louie. Because that's the show.

I watched this show for the first time last week after Wilfred (another great new show), and I must say - Louie is wondrously on a WHOLE new level. Where have I been?! Yes, the show is quite explicit, vulgar, and just plain dirty - all of which I'm not a huge fan, but the writing/dialogue depicts the everyday thoughts and issues that are really running in the minds of the rest of us, but we're just too afraid to speak our minds. That's what really amazes/captures me about this show. It is rough around the edges submerged with complex, bizarre, vulgar situations, yet the overall tone of the show is so...simple, mundane. This very stark contrast is not only captivating and mind-blowing, it is very intense and disturbing to the human psyche. It is just a whole new level of comedy. I am thoroughly and mindbogglingly wow-ed.