Louie

I was watching Rescue Me tonight, and I saw the previews of this show. I didn't know if it was old or new. I later checked on the cable box and saw it was new. I gave it a shot, and I was a bit surprised that there might be another great show on TV.

While I am not going to sit here and say this is the next Seinfeld, it had certain feelings to it, like the stand up comedy part in the start and the end. But "Louie" seems more edgier and more explicit than Seinfeld's method of 'beating around the bush' of what they want to say due to restrictions. The jokes I would say are more like Curb Your Enthusiasm.

I will not try to spoil much for those who haven't seen it, but the show is basically about a middle-aged man who has two children, both girls, and recently split up with his wife. He is a stand up comedian for a living, and while off the job -- he is looking for a rebound for his break up with his wife. His character symbolizes Larry David's to a degree, although I don't see his good will like Larry shows time to time, yet he's still a very sympathetic character and one who is easy to get behind.

I love the comparisons to Seinfeld and CYE, because I think they are both excellent shows, thus I hope this show can use that type of formula but also be able to come up with some innovative and compelling ideas on its own. It's already did its main job with me: making me want to see it again. I am looking forward to see if this show becomes something epic or something that epic fails.

Worth checking out, especially if you're a Seinfeld and/or CYE fan.

Ricky Gervais called Louis C.K. "the funniest comedian working in America today", so it's fitting that Louis should repay the compliment with a guest spot for Gervais on his show. And what a guest spot! Gervais is allowed to do what Gervais does best, say ridiculously sublime and horribly tasteless things while still remaining oddly endearing. Ricky's jokes in anyone else's hands could seem the punch lines of a sociopath. Whether Louis C.K. will fulfill Ricky's pronouncement as "the funniest comedian working in America today" remains to be seen, but he's off to a good start. Each episode of Louis is presented in two vignettes, two seemingly random episodes connected by a greater theme, such as aging, love, death, health, wealth and happiness, etc. And so far, Louis C.K. has surrounded himself with excellent playmates (Gervais, for one). Now let us hope that he takes a cue from Ricky Gervais and keeps his comedy grounded in a painfully bittersweet hyper reality, as opposed to a Jerry Seinfeld/ Larry David world of snarky cynicism. The random quirkiness of his show has already drawn Seinfeld comparisons, but it's pretty obvious Louis has a hope for humanity his predecessors have never had. Louis C.K. (the character) is both a schlemiel and a schlimazel, a loser either way you look at it, but he has a dignity befitting a Ricky Gervais character. And that's a winner anyway you look at it.

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.

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.