|
|
|
Louie started airing back in 2010 of FX network. It is a television series that falls into the American 'comedy-drama' category. Louis C.K., a stand-up comedian, is the show's creator. He also writes, directs, edits, and plays a fictionalized role of himself in the series.
It is set around the life of a newly divorced father who is left with the task of raising two young daughters in the big city of New York. The loose format is typical of modern-day TV comedy series, full of lots of unconnected storylines and various segments (extended vignettes) revolving around Louie's life and accentuated by some of Louie's stand-up performances.
The main reason Louie is so unique is due to the way the style and vision is executed. It throws a 'cinematic' light on the profession of stand-up comedy. The ability to pull this off is a skill set that you just don't see in any of the sitcoms that came before. It has certainly not been done on this scale with this level of control and confidence. None of this could have come to be without Louis C.K. himself who has proved himself to be as accomplished a film-maker as an exquisite comedian.
The show found much critical acclaim and was placed among various 2010 top-10 lists. Louie himself received several Emmy Award nominations for the writing, directing, and acting. He won the award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series at the 64th showing of the Primetime Emmy Awards.
Each individual season of Louie consists of 13 episodes. They have been broadcasted beginning with the very first season back in 2010. It has since been renewed again for the fourth season and will premiere again early in 2014.
The series is based loosely around Louis C.K.'s life. It shows him on-stage as a comic and interjects a depiction of his off-stage life as a divorced single father of two. Every episode is made up of two stories that could or could not thematically connect, or sometimes a more fuller story version that consists of various shorter pieces that all connect.
All these pieces are intertwined with short segments of the comedian's stand-up routine which is mostly performed in some of the smaller New York comedy clubs. The main clubs are 'Caroline’s' and 'the Comedy Cellar' located in Manhattan. The stand-up routines contain original material that was recorded specifically for the series. It is generally shot from Louie's on-stage perspective rather than the more traditional perspective of the audience.
Whenever the comedy segments are not integrated into the story-lines themselves they are simply used as bookends to them, tying the topics together through comedic routine. In the first season there were brief awkward conversations being held between Louie and his much-needed therapist. When the third season began some of the episodes totally left out any stand-up routines or opening credit sequences.
The plots and storylines for each episode were standalone plots. There were however some recurring roles. Pamela Adlon (his co-star in Lucky Louie) portrayed Louie's friend 'Pamela', and would occasionally appear to give some continuity to the episodes.
Louie's accomplishment as a writer, director, editor, and star is translating the creativity of stand-up and injecting it into a visual medium. The scripted portions of the show are merely extensions of the stand-up.
| |
