Baskets

I can't help it. I've come to love this show. The characters have grown on me. At first I was a bit taken aback at the style of the show. After about the first four episodes I was hooked. I can't wait to see what happens next to my dear Baskets family. The show is original, there is no laugh track, and it's more true to life than most television these days. Chip is a nice guy, an aspiring natural clown, and Bakersfield is a real town. What's not to love. I'll be rooting for Chip and hoping that the show is successful so that it will continue. Kudos to FX for airing this wonderful, refreshingly unique take on the American family. I think that the Baskets are more true to life than most people would care to admit. I for one have been in dire need of characters that are life like in a show. I hate to over analyze. All I know is that I love it. I hope there will be more.

Louis Anderson is the standout in this series. While Zach Galifianakis is a good actor in his own right, he is great here.. But Louis Anderson is outstanding. His performance makes me want him to be my mom.

At least one resident of Bakersfield should write a review of "Baskets" -- so here goes.

I agree with the majority opinion. This is an excellent dark comedy/satire with some amazing acting and quirky, creative scripts.

From now on I will think of Louie Anderson as a middle-aged woman in a man's body. Martha seems dull and naïve but she's actually the sanest character. Zach's characters are amazing tragicomic nutty brothers.

Why is the show set in Bakersfield? Our city has been the butt of jokes in Hollywood for decades. It continues to be the go-to prototype of a backwards redneck town in the worst part of California. Some years back there was a comedy cop show called "Bakersfield PD".

I was expecting to see some actual places and settings in or around Bakersfield. Some of the road-trip scenes looked like Kern County but I didn't see any identifiable landmarks. Bakersfield has a few odd cultural events, but clowns are not among them, and we only have the usual kinds of rodeos.

According to IMDb, none of the filming locations were in Bakersfield. Oh well...

When the series started, and I saw that Zach Galifianakis was starring, I set my DVR to record the series. Yes, I started watching for Zack Galifianakis- I now watch it, primarily, for Louis Anderson. During last season I told my husband, If Louis Anderson doesn't win an Emmy I will be physically ill. Louis won the Emmy, I didn't have to get ill. So glad that Zach & Louis CK saw his potential outside of stand-up. The rest of the cast, it goes without saying, is so special, Scripts are so well written. Truly a gem, I feel very lucky to have found it.

If it was only season 1, I would rate it a 10. The first Seasons is why I fell in love with the show. The type of humour is my absolute favorite, and I loved Penelope, I was very disappointed when I realized she wasn't in any other season. Well, she appears in S2 and 4 but only for a couple episodes. She was such a great complement to the character or Chip.

S2 was pretty good, not as good as the first one, but still pretty solid. S3 has really good moments, I particularly love the episodes about the opera, the trip to vegas and when they want to film the commercial for the rodeo.

S4 however was a major dissapointment. I felt like nothing happened, everything was skippable, and from season 2 onwards, Chip is just less and less as a clown.

Also I didn't like what they did with the characters of Martha and Dale on S4. Martha is now sort of aggressive which is nothing like her in previous seasons. Dale is now this weird stereotypical republican trailer park 2nd ammendement crazy guy and I dont know, I didn't like that, nor did I find it funny. The only episodes worth watching are the first and last one. But even so, it didn't feel like it got a proper closure.

And also, one of the reasons I fell in love with the show was that it didnt have any jokes relying on current politics and social stuff, in seasons 2 and 3 there are a couple jokes like that, but in season 4... Too many, I mean, for this show it was too many, so unfunny. Like the whole situation with dale in the restaurant... cringe.

However, Christine is the only character that remains perfect all throughout the show. I have never ever seen such a great portrayal of a woman, by someone who is not a woman. It is beyond fantastic. He doesn't try any weird mannerisms or be or sound feminine and exaggerated, and still it is as if he was an actual mother. Sometimes I just can't believe how good Louie is in this role.