The 'Louie' premiere: What did everybody else think?
Thoughts on FX's terrific new comedy?
Louis C.K. filming a stand-up bit from "Louie."
Yesterday, I offered up my review of FX's "Louie." Now it's your turn. For those of you who checked out the original two episodes of Louise C.K.'s new one-man opus, what did you think?
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June 30, 2010 at 12:09AM EST Reply to CommentUm.......Do I need a widescreen TV or something. Half the time character would be talking but wouldnt be on screen.
Also, I love the concept, but I think I would ease back on the silliness and go more for awkward/observational. And get rid of the poetry music
Erik S. Had the same problem. And I have a widescreen TV. Very strange.
June 30, 2010 at 12:13AM ESTErik S.
June 30, 2010 at 12:09AM EST Reply to CommentI didn't find it nearly as funny as you made it seem, unfortunately. I was really looking forward to it, but the sketch scenes were very underwhelming. Each had its moment of funny stuff, but i found myself enjoying the stand-up way more than the sitcom.
lab6886
June 30, 2010 at 12:11AM EST Reply to CommentBrilliant, I loved it! funny and sad and uncomfortable.
Zach L
June 30, 2010 at 12:11AM EST Reply to CommentJust posted on the preview, but I'll throw my two cents in here. Enjoyed the episodes, I doubt there is a more self-deprecating person alive than Louis CK. I never saw Lucky Louie, but I guess I should count my blessings for that. Very much enjoyed these four mini stories though. Glad to see some of his comic buddies in the cast as well. Didn't care much for the theme, but that's really no big deal.
June 30, 2010 at 12:14AM EST Reply to CommentI thought it was hilarious. I didn't enjoy the date subplot as much because I thought the girl was far too obnoxious, but I suppose that was part of the point. The best parts of the two episodes were the scenes at the poker table, by far.
I'm definitely in for the long haul.
Chris Agree with you - the best scene by far was the opening scene of episode 2.
June 30, 2010 at 12:21AM ESTI thought the first episode was mediocre at best. The second was much better.
belinda Agreed as well. I like the show all around so far though, but the poker table scenes were definitely my favorite bits of the show. Good chemistry.
July 1, 2010 at 1:50AM ESTAndrew
June 30, 2010 at 12:28AM EST Reply to Commentit was hilarious.
GMan
June 30, 2010 at 1:00AM EST Reply to CommentAs you said in your review Alan, Louis C.K. is working with something new here. So many times stand-ups try to fit their material into the television mold, where here C.K. is creating television that fits the mold of his vision. This felt more like it should have been on IFC, and I say that with a complement. That second show in particular, with the poker skit and the build up to meeting his "couldabeen" were engaging and new.
Really, television is THE home for our culture's most forward thinking writers. Looking to watch more of this.
Scheer_Power
June 30, 2010 at 1:04AM EST Reply to CommentI loved the stand up stuff (who wouldn't love Louis CK's standup?). The 1st, 3rd and 4th parts were fantastic. The date in the 2nd part was weird and too uncomfortable, but it did have one of my two favorite moments. The part where Louis goes in for the kiss and she runs away and jumps on the helicopter. My other favorite scene was the entire poker scene, especially Nick DiPaolo.
karn
June 30, 2010 at 1:07AM EST Reply to Commentvery different and very funny at times. im more of a fun of plot and character based humor, rather than just a string of sketches intermixed with standup, but funny is funny and this shit made me laugh.
Anonymous
June 30, 2010 at 1:11AM EST Reply to CommentShowed promise. Better than I thought it would be, since I'm not a huge fan of his stand-up.
mac35
June 30, 2010 at 1:13AM EST Reply to CommentThe date storyline was wildly uncomfortable but also provided my biggest laugh of the night when she kept looking at him and he kept smiling the exact same way. You might say that each smile was exponentially funnier.
lztouchthedream That was my favorite part as well, mostly because I have a feeling I do the same thing.
June 30, 2010 at 9:07AM EST
June 30, 2010 at 1:24AM EST Reply to CommentThe set up for the show is interesting; unlike anything I've seen on television in quite awhile. Anyone who says that it's similar to Seinfeld clearly hasn't really watched it because, aside from the snippets of stand up, the two shows could not be more different.
I loved the second episode but wasn't very into the first. It definitely set up the character and tone, but the date vignette was so painful to watch. Bits of humor had the life sucked out of them almost instaneously. I'm all for awkward situational comedy, but give us minute to take it in first.
Despite the uneveness, I'm intrigued enough to continue watching next week. If they can keep bringing scenes like that poker night on a consistent basis, then we are in for a good season of television.
Did anyone notice the music was created by Reggie Watts? His agent needs a raise, he has been everywhere in the last month.
Reed
June 30, 2010 at 1:30AM EST Reply to CommentIt seemed like the split-episode format hindered the show at times, because I felt that each of the subplots could have been expanded into a whole episode, especially the poker subplot. That being said, I thought it was great, and I can't wait to see more.
Kensington
June 30, 2010 at 1:49AM EST Reply to CommentVery promising. The poker scene was downright mesmerizing.
I do wish that Pamela Adlon was going to be a regular cast member, though, because I loved their relationship on "Lucky Louie."
Kensington I also loved the diner conversation about how Louis's death would occur. That's dark, dark stuff, and it takes real skill to keep it from being depressing.
June 30, 2010 at 1:53AM ESTAdam
June 30, 2010 at 1:57AM EST Reply to CommentI'll be honest, I was kinda underwhelmed after the positive reviews I read. Sure I'll watch, but that may just be more of a product of me not having anything to watch in the summer than it being a great show.
Parts were funny, but other parts were disappointing.
Also, I might have missed something, but can someone give some kind of idea what the deal was with the endings to the split stories in the 1st episode that were super unrealistic? Louis is riding along in the bus and suddenly he calls a fleet of limos? His date runs into a chopper and flies away?
That didn't seem to fit in at all with the rest of the show...I don't know. Maybe I didn't get the comedy and that is why I didn't think the show was as great as others seem to think.
lztouchthedream It's just a bit of surrealism, taking the joke one step further than it needs to go, there wasn't really anything to 'get', one of those things you're either on board with or not. I personally was, but I can understand why that would feel odd to a lot of people.
June 30, 2010 at 9:11AM ESTsepinwall Yeah, the first date sketch is structured very much like a silent movie (with dialogue), and the helicopter seemed the sort of touch you might get as the capper to a Buster Keaton short.
June 30, 2010 at 9:34AM ESTDan Jardine Buster Keaton, or Woody Allen in Buster Keaton mode.
July 4, 2010 at 11:17AM ESTSavvy Veteran
June 30, 2010 at 3:29AM EST Reply to CommentI thought it was great. The standup bits were excellent, as always (and, as someone who saw "Hilarious" at Sundance, I'm glad to see that the standup in the show is—so far, at least—entirely new stuff), and the "short films" in between were very funny, subtle, and kind of poignant. Great stuff.
I'm normally a big Louis C.K. fan anyway, but I think that—even if I *didn't* happen to be an adorer—I would still feel exactly like I do at the moment: wishing that I could watch the entire series RIGHT NOW, in one sitting.
I think this show reflects his sensibilities far better than Lucky Louie did, and I'm excited to see what else it has in store for us.
BigTed
June 30, 2010 at 4:14AM EST Reply to CommentI thought it was brilliant, and proves that there's increasingly little difference between a basic cable channel like FX and HBO. Yes, it was as uncomfortable as it was funny, but that was the idea. (It was as if he had mixed the structure of "Seinfeld" with the hard edge of "Curb Your Enthusiasm.")
But while this show was far better than "Lucky Louie," it's interesting that that show made him into a lower-middle-class guy with severe financial problems. Seeing him as a professionally successful guy (even if that's what he is in reality) makes it harder to buy him as a loser in other aspects of his life.
Nombre What did you mean by "severe financial problems"? I was wondering how they were going to deal with his real life success and the image of him as a loser but the only indication I saw of his financial status was when he bought all the limos for the kids after the bus broke down.
June 30, 2010 at 4:19AM ESTBigTed Nombre: I meant that his character in "Lucky Louie" had financial problems, while his character in this show clearly doesn't.
June 30, 2010 at 4:45AM ESTSavvy Veteran I'm not really buying into any of the Seinfeld comparisons, even if it's only to its "structure," rather than its content. Seinfeld almost always juggled A, B, and C (and, once season 9 rolled around, occasionally D!) stories, and—sometimes more successfully than others—these plot threads all dovetailed just before the pre-credits freeze frame. Standup is included in both shows, obviously, but other than that, the storytelling of the two shows seems hardly capable of being any more dissimilar to me. Each short film segment in Louie hardly seemed all that concerned with what came before it. (I also loved it, by the way. I've just noticed a lot of people positing this.)
June 30, 2010 at 8:23AM ESTsepinwall Savvy Veteran, the "Seinfeld" comparison is specifically in the way that the stand-up bits inform the sketches that follow, in the same way that, at least in the early days of "Seinfeld," the episodes were structured so that you could see how Jerry's misadventures with George, Elaine and Kramer would lead him to come up with the stand-up routine that opened and closed the episode.
June 30, 2010 at 9:33AM ESTTonally and stylistically, they're very different, but the idea of the comedian's worldview being expressed through his act and then through his life experiences is the common denominator.
Savvy Veteran Ah yes—thanks for the clarification. In that way, the comparison, obviously, is dead-on. I suppose I half-winced at the mentioning because—on a few other sites I've been visiting—some people seem to be using the similarities as something of a slight against the originality of "Louie" (you and BigTed didn't feel that way, though), and I definitely felt very strongly the other way.
June 30, 2010 at 6:44PM ESTSavvy Veteran Ah yes—thanks for the clarification. In that way, the comparison, obviously, is dead-on. I suppose I half-winced at the mentioning because—on a few other sites I've been visiting—some people seem to be using the similarities as something of a slight against the originality of "Louie" (you and BigTed didn't feel that way, though), and I definitely felt very strongly the other way.
June 30, 2010 at 6:44PM ESTbgporter
June 30, 2010 at 9:13AM EST Reply to CommentLoved it -- was only planning to watch the first one, but got suckered into the whole hour. Really looking forward to seeing where he takes this. I especially like that it's not room-written, it's just Louis C.K being given money and cameras.
Rinaldo
June 30, 2010 at 9:37AM EST Reply to CommentMy thanks to Alan for pointing me toward a show I probably wouldn't have noticed (or if I had, might have given a miss).
Unlike him, though, and apparently like several other readers, I found the "date" story the weakest of the lot. Partly, I suppose, because the "comedy of discomfort" just isn't my thing (I've never been an "Office" fan either). But I also thought that one missed its target a bit: dating, at a point in life where you'd thought you would never have to do that again, is certainly a fine and widely relatable basis for comic insights, but in this one instance I thought he went too broad, and even approached sitcom rhythms and predictability.
Otherwise, very different and enjoyable. Particularly the poker scenes.
JoeR
June 30, 2010 at 11:03AM EST Reply to CommentI thought the show was pretty amazing. I had read in an interview that FX basically cuts him a check for $300,000 and then he does whatever he wants. I'm always dubious about people saying that sort of thing, but in this case, it looked to be 100% true. I loved the surreal endings to the first couple segments. The poker segment was just incredible, and unlike anything on TV right now.
I got through the full first two episodes before I remembered that Ricky Gervais was going to be on sometime later with the hilarious part in the commercials.
Nick
June 30, 2010 at 11:45AM EST Reply to CommentThis truly was pretty darn unique and, other than the bus driver segment, incredibly hilarious too. The one with his brother at the diner was my favorite. Really hoping it did well ratings wise.
I loved that his brother was eating a sandwich; yet Louie is eating cheesecake.
June 30, 2010 at 12:12PM ESTOwen
June 30, 2010 at 1:06PM EST Reply to CommentI loved it. For me it's a "Flight of the Conchords" replacement. That sounds strange, since it's so dark, but somehow the structure (stand-up = songs) and the day-to-day seriousness mixed with casual surrealism, make me feel the FotC vibes in a very good way.
Kendra I mentioned that it gave me a FotC vibe too somewhere ele.
June 30, 2010 at 3:28PM ESTWhich seems strange considering they don't have much in common on a basic level.
kendynamo
June 30, 2010 at 3:19PM EST Reply to CommentCITY JERKS BABY
ninjaw
June 30, 2010 at 5:26PM EST Reply to Commentthe stand up routine was a bit funny, but all the rest of the episode was, weird, awkward and not funny, i'm not gona watch this show
Schmye Bubbula
June 30, 2010 at 6:04PM EST Reply to CommentI promptly added a Season Pass to my TiVo sight unseen when I saw that Louis C.K. wrote & directed the brilliant "Pootie Tang"!
Pootie Tang is too cool for words in Sine Your Pitty on the Runny Kine.
Sine your pitty on the runny kine.
You'd better wapatah to the bammies
'Cause the camietowns a biddie
on the Pannie Stai!
Cigarettes and fast food are bad like netatai!
Don't bang the dillies.
Say "Sa da tay" and feel OK!
Wa-da-tah.
Sepatown.
I'm a pone toni.
Got my dillies on a peppatain.
Kapa-Chow
You a baddy daddy lamatai tebby chai.
That's a canapan, all the way down.
Doing business on his tippi tai.
I'm a tine cappy, my damie.
There's a sine tippi in a classi-ti.
She's a cole toni.
Ranacan.
That's a canapan to the semachai.
See, my damie, Pootie Tang don't wa-da-tah to the shama cow...'cause that's a cama cama leepa-chaiii, dig?
Tippi tai on my capa-town.
Biggie Shorty.
Pootie gotta flittie tai, Biggie Shorty.
That deri-teri was all the dinie, huh?
Dillie on my damie.
You ain't come one, but many tine tanies.
What's the dabble, di?
Sepatown, tipi tais.
Now, clap it up, my hammies.
Rinatine, my America.
Coola may, my capa-town.
I gots to say na nay-no, my brother.
Pootie Tang, it's been biddie having you by.
Bob, I dabe ba samie, my brother.
Cole me down on the pannie stai.
That's my pannie, di.
I'm gonna sine your kitty on the sepatime.
Hwood96
June 30, 2010 at 6:24PM EST Reply to CommentThe 4:3 formatting was terribly frustrating. In this day and age of widescreen format I didn't understand why this looked like a pan and scan. It was REALLY frustrating in that manner. But I enjoyed the material between the stand-up. Though I didn't quite understand how a guy who appears to be living a middle-class life could afford a fleet of limos, perhaps that's a small point.
Truck I'm pretty sure the point of that was that he knew somebody that owned or was working for a limo company, since he went into that part about how nice it is to be white and not starving directly afterwards.
July 1, 2010 at 4:30PM ESTBuster
June 30, 2010 at 8:32PM EST Reply to CommentUnbelievably amazing show. It feels game-changing, not just for American television, but American culture as a whole. I realize how overstated that sounds, but somehow I don't think it is. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, and afterwards, I just paced around my house thinking about it. So good, so timely and so different, in exactly the right way.
Otto Man
June 30, 2010 at 10:14PM EST Reply to CommentGreat show, and so much better than "Lucky Louie."
June 30, 2010 at 11:04PM EST Reply to CommentLoved the show. Has everyone seen the NSFW Promo?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jPZpptlABM&feature=player_embedded
Tyroc
July 1, 2010 at 12:57AM EST Reply to CommentThe poker sketch was amazing (if not actually factual at all when it came to the origin of the slur in question.) But the overall point -- that a slur can be used in comedy but only carefully and with intelligence behind it and not simply for an easy laugh -- was a great one and explained with wit, compassion, and lots of humor. Loved it.
The other sketches didn't work nearly as well for me. Much more odd than funny. And he seems to have trouble with endings of sketches (a problem for SNL and Monty Python as well. Although Python avoided it by cutting away "and now for something completely different.") But the shoe is definitely DIFFERENT. And that will keep me watching for at least a little while.
Tyroc The show is definitely DIFFERENT. Not the shoe.
July 1, 2010 at 12:58AM EST- 1
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