Why "Louie" May be the Best Show I See This Year

Last Thursday, the original FX comedy Louie had it's finale for it's second season. Indeed, it's been one hell of a season for Louis C.K.'s journey through the life of a divorced father and comedian. Not only has season 1 garnered him an Emmy for Best Actor, but this season may have just placed it alongside It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as the reason to show FX some respect when it comes to comedy.


True, Louie is not the funniest show on TV. Then what makes it great?

I have constantly made comparisons between Louie and Woody Allen's Annie Hall. In truth, if Allen was cynical and divorced, then maybe the structural plot would work,but that's not the main argument to look at. The parallels between both are simply in the aesthetic. The reason both are so highly praised is because it shows an artist making something with their unique voice. Annie Hall featured animation, cutaways, and stand-up routines. Louie did much of the same while maintaining the voice of Louis C.K..
However, much like Annie Hall, it's not the funniest thing they've created (Allen's funniest? Take the Money and Run, Bananas, or Sleeper), but it surpasses them in the general public simply because of the effort. When you see Louie, you hear C.K. in every frame deciding what should be necessary and what is just run-of-the-mill. He's an authentic voice on TV in a time where collaborators eventually get interfered by the executives.
With that in mind, it's easy to see why this show maintains authenticity. However, unlike most shows, it also lacks a narrative through-line episode-to-episode, which depending on your skills, is a death sentence. However, with C.K. being a seasoned performer with work such as Lucky Louie, he knows the tricks of the trade and can write segments that go from 5 minutes to the whole 22 minute run time. There's no specific requirement on this show, and for someone as seasoned as this guy, it's refreshing.

The notable reason I think I will remember this show is simply because of it's authenticity. True, Futurama returned this season in top form (check out "Reincarnation"), but for a weekly guarantee of something memorable, Louie has the calling card. No matter how many promos you see for the upcoming Louie, you will never know what to expect, whether shocking twists in the story, or just actual stories.
To me, that has what made Louie the essential viewing. While I felt it started off with an episode wrapped around an elaborate fart joke ("Pregnant"), it disarmed me for what was to come:

-Watching a homeless man get decapitated ("Bummer/Blueberries")
-Joan Rivers cussing out Louis C.K. ("Joan")
-A homeless man bathing while a violinist plays in a subway station ("Oh Louie/Tickets")
-Another parody on sitcoms ("Come on God/Eddie")
-A conversation with Dane Cook
-A dramatic performance by Chris Rock ("New Jersey/Airport")

This hardly sounds like it could all come from the same show, but it did. While it wasn't all necessarily funny, it was C.K. managing to push the limits of comedy into dark, weird locations that borderline this show into drama. While majority of the episodes lack a poignant message or follow-through, it's still very entertaining and hard to predict.
My personal favorite of these episodes was "Country Drive." Up to that point, I accepted the show as being really good. However, after he managed to take the road trip concept and make it fresh with stand-up routines to bookend and rocking out to the Who's "Who Are You" (almost in entirety) before visiting a racist grandma that plops dead, I was on board, and wanting to see that third act. Sure enough, it was a relevant stand-up routine. It destroyed my expectations for the rest of the season.

Another favorite was the finale "New Jersey/Airport," which I felt had one of the few episodes with a refreshing follow-through. After a performance, C.K. hops into a car and is transported to New Jersey because a woman claims to show him her pussy. It's a trap for a three-way with an unruly husband. Choosing to avoid it, he walks away and calls Chris Rock, who spends the next five minutes doing a great dramatic performance, convincing C.K. to grow up and be a father.
The final act of this episode sees C.K. and Pamela Adlon at the airport saying goodbye, presumably for good. Adlon is trying to convince him to grow up. It ends with a miscommunication of Adlon saying "Wave to me" and C.K. hearing "Wait for me." To me, that is beautiful, and even if this seems like an irrelevant plot point to the rest of the series, it's still so well done that I cannot help but cry.

My least favorite? Besides "Pregnant," I will be alone on this one. I didn't like "Duckling," in which CK goes overseas to perform for the troops, while a pair of baby ducks get stuck in his suitcase. It is not a terrible episode, in fact probably it's most ambitious, but at an hour's run time, I kind of got bored with it. However, it contains one of the few series' message stories about loneliness.


Overall, that is what's bringing me back every week. The fact that I can watch this show and not know what to expect. Most of my favorite shows fall into a formula (the only other to slightly exceed this is Community), relying heavily on performance and jokes. C.K. doesn't. He can be unfunny for a whole episode, and I'll watch this comedy next week. It's insightful and memorable, and I'd love if this show at least maintained enough creativity to last for five seasons.
But what do I know? Maybe next season will be it's last. Maybe it will fall into formula and make me a liar. That's the beauty of it. I don't know what to expect.

Comments