Seriouspost Alert: this concerns an episode of Louie that aired two nights ago, but really needs to be addressed.
The first two episodes of Louis CK’s new show were every bit as great as they should have been (in case you missed it, Matt posted video of last week’s incredible poker scene). The show could be nothing but this — stories and thoughts from a pessimistic yet giggly deconstructionist — forever, and it would leave nothing to be desired. The third episode, though, signaled to us that this is not simply a “comedy show.”
The show’s first act, a damned funny bit featuring Ricky Gervais, was followed up by a nine-minute arc in which Louis gets in a fight with fellow comedian Nick DiPaolo. At first, it seems bizarre. This… this isn’t funny. I think this is a serious scene. What’s going on? Wait, is this supposed to be funny? Am I missing it?
Eventually, we see the two sitting in a hospital waiting room. A few legitimately funny jokes are sprinkled into an honest, unassuming conversation about family relationships and getting old. It isn’t a happy conversation. Being funny was not Louis’ objective here; he was simply taking the next logical step: taking the worldview and observations that inform his comedy, and using them for a different purpose. He isn’t afraid to take this detour, apparently, and if this is indicative of his approach to the show, Louie has the potential to be the best show on television.
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/global/images/default-avatar.jpg){kind=avatar}
![[image]](http://cdn.wg.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2012/03/happy-endings-cast-2-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.wg.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2012/02/louie-main-150x150.jpg)
I don’t know, that’s taking a pretty meta look at the whole thing. Even given that benefit of the doubt, I don’t know how well the audiences will react to it. Even fans of off-the-wall shows like Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Life and Times of Tim might find Louie a little too out there.
You fucks are looking way too far into Louie. I love his stand up, it is poo and dick jokes from a guy you love as he ruins himself and others and is a funny man and likable. This show sucks, it isn’t clever nor smart or meaningful, what audience is it going for? Smarmy bloggers with too much freetime to analyze bad shows?? It’s uninteresting tv, it looks so badly acted and written and forced. That poker scene was pure cheeseball, the fight with Dipaolo was awful, the predictable shriek of Ricky’s laugh (which I otherwise enjoy from any gag reel or podcast) after every lame joke he made to Louie was just stupid. Extras and Curb does this style of television so much funnier and effortlessly than Louie, who is a bull in a china shop. I never seen a show try so hard to not look like it’s trying, Louie is a slightly funnier version of The Hills except I don’t want Brock Lesnar wearing hulk hands soaked in syphilitic hobo blood to assfist the otherwise likable cast of Louie
C.K. is my favorite stand up comic and i really wanted to love this show but it really just isn’t that funny and it was to disjointed. His first show sucked and this one will probably follow suit by getting canceled after one season, Pootie Tang was hilarious though.
Jon’s post (paraphrased): This show could be good because it reaches beyond comedy into an honest examination of the human condition, one that is rarely achieved by even dramatic programming.
Idiots: THIS SHOW ISN’T FUNNY SO I HATE IT.
I like that this show is rooted in realism, but the stupid helicopter scene took away from that. I hope that was just a pilot episode thing and there’s nothing similar to that.
Nothing cracked me up harder than the stand-up at the end of the first episode when he’s talking about dead dogs and ends it with “that’s why it’s so hard for me to date.”
Jon seems to be making a lot of friends here today.
Ricky Gervais and his cackle should be the doctor on every TV show that requires a doctor. Well, either Ricky or Leo Spaceman.
It’s … different. I like it, but I think that it would be better with more writers a better producer and maybe a better budget. Maybe those things would alleviate that disjointed feeling you get when you jump back and forth between comedy and serious life stuff. I honestly really enjoyed the hell out of the real life interactions between the comedians like in the poker game and the dinner fight. Maybe it is forced or ham fisted or whatever people are saying, but it is just nice to see comedians address their life in a way that is intended to get a laugh.
When you’re as bad an actor as Louis you need the script and the rest of the cast to bring the funny (Seinfeld, Curb). That just doesn’t happen here. Your human condition must be awful depressing if it’s the same as this show.
I’ve never seen a comic be fellated more passionately than Louis by bloggers.
I enjoyed the show more than I thought, but I’m not going to suck Louis CK off. Now his Nazi friend…we’ll talk.
Whoa, if you apply this wisdom to The New Adventures of Old Christine and Two and a Half Men, you realize that they’re actually GENIUS! They’re really not SUPPOSED to be funny, they’re actually a running commentary on the human condition and how we define comedy in today’s society! Best Shows on Television. Period.
Warming Glow + Louis C.K. = ESPN + LeBron
needs moar photoshopped cats and bewbs
The comments are exactly what I would have expected. People just aren’t going to accept this show and it will fail…
That being said, I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THE ARTICLE SAYS (and I rarely agree with ANYTHING on this page…) Louis is daring, funny and intelligent. If you look at each disjointed segment on its own, it will either make you laugh your ass off or think. Thinking’s dangerous with this crowd, I guess. Either way, you’re right, it could be the best thing on TV.
What the fuck is wrong with you cunts to proclaim durrr people are afraid to think help lead us to salvation Louie with cock jokes I need enlightenment. Shitbag blogfags most of us have lived enough life to not require tv for insightful life lessons. Make me laugh Louie, like your stand up does, or fuck off. You too Gervais, show your ginger slob friend how to blend comedy, unpleasant awkwardness and reflection into a half hour cause Louie is missing the mark…[www.youtube.com]
This show falls under that post a few weeks aog about Treme, where the creator/producer was basically, “Because we don’t provide the show in a format that is easily digested by knuckle draggers, people think it is a good show.”
That being said, given the format/subject matter of the show it would be a bit nice if the time slot were better suited for actually absorbing it, rather than where it currently is, after I’ve knocked down a few and don’t know wtf’s going on so I just pass out.
^^ people think it’s a BAD** show
Listen to you pretentious fucks. “I don’t like the way Gervais laughed, the helicopter wasn’t realistic, I don’t like the time slot because I’m drunk by then!” Fuck off. The show is funny in a depressing way. And no I’m not a CK fanboy, but if I was, fuck you still! It’s funnier than 90% of the comedies on tv (so far).
you Louie fans are just as bad as the Lost fans
I totally agree with everything you said in this post…so much so, I posted pretty much the exact same thing on my blog this morning. Should I sue you for plagiarism?
Just kidding. I know no one reads my ramblings.
Curb Your Enthusiasm sucks. There, I said it.
@Kubo you are prittayyy prittayyy wrong there.
Meh. It was alright. I thought it was better than the first episode. I loved the interaction with the waitresses. Niggas don’t tip!
Louis CK has grown into a morose, depressing, middle aged turd. he looks EXTREMELY unhealthy and miserable. I worry that whatever stresses he’s suffering through in his life are just going to wear a hole in him somewhere and he’s going to keel over and die in the middle of one of these episodes.
His show is intense. its funny, it’s depressing, it’s morose.. its a window into his brain. The part of the poker game scene, when he HAS TO obsessively provide details about how that one guy’s mother has so many dicks in her ass that the pressure forms a dick diamond. It’s funny, yes. But more interesting to me is how it shows his obsessive nature, and how he has to take the concept in his brain all the way to the extreme end that his obsession requires him to take it even though nobody at the table is interested in him getting there. he just HAS to do it.
it’s an intense experience to watch him flounder around in his life. he also leads that kind of seedy new york lifestyle that New Yorkers like to pass off as being middle or upper-middle class. It just makes me feel sorry for him and wish that he would move someplace where he could get some fresh air and sunshine.
its a strange thing to feel sorry for the person that you’re laughing at as the deliberately try to make you laugh at their misery. You instinctively find the whole experience repellent, yet you can’t stop watching and laughing the whole time.
You can bet I’ll be watching episode 4