Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'Louie' - 'Late Show (Part 1)': Leading with the chin

A happy accident at 'The Tonight Show' leads to a huge opportunity

By Alan Sepinwall Friday, Aug 31, 2012 10:06 AM

Garry Marshall and Louis C.K. in "Louie."

Credit: FX

Are you a fan of Louie?

Sign up to get the latest updates instantly.

A quick review of last night's "Louie" coming up just as soon as I review a remote control right before murder-suiciding my whole family...

Louis C.K.'s approach to continuity allows him to have his cake and eat it with a storyline like the one set up in the first part of this "Late Show" trilogy. On the one hand, he gets to play off of what we know about the more modest state of TV Louie's career, and he gets to continue one story over multiple episodes. On the other hand, because we know that he can drop an idea at any moment (like becoming guardian to his niece), this story doesn't automatically have to end with Louie blowing it and losing the job to Jerry Seinfeld.

Of course, I assume it's going to end that way. Continuity or not, this is a show this is a show about a guy who never gets what he wants (other than time with his daughters, and even that's not always perfect), so I figure he either blows it or winds up getting the job just as he realizes that he hates it. Either way, in the next episode he'll be back to being a mid-level comic.

As the first part of a trilogy, this episode was largely set up, but it did have one of the better stand-up routines in quite a while with the riff on Amazon product reviews, it had a lot of the walking sight gag that is Louie's underage agent Doug, it had Louie suffering one of my least favorite travel mishaps(*) and it had an absolutely fantastic guest performance by Garry Marshall as the magnetic, Moonves-esque(**) head of CBS, who manages to simultaneously offer Louie his dream job, tear his self-image to shreds, and then build him back up again. Between that speech, all the events backstage at "The Tonight Show," and even the Do Not Disturb incident, this episode was a lot about Louie realizing how little of both his life and his career is in his control. Decisions are being made about him by people who are more powerful, more famous or who simply have a housekeeping schedule to keep, and there's nothing he can do about it.

(*) I've not only been woken from naps with the Do Not Disturb sign, but I've had bellmen knock on the door despite the sign being up because they get paid per delivery. In this day and age, the sign is about as meaningless as the speed limit sign on the highway.

(**) FX's press site lists the character as "Lars Tardigan."

What did everybody else think? Does this seem like good fodder for the series' first three-parter?

Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching

Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com

Related Searches: Louie, Louis CK

PotatoSolution

The whole Tonight Show segment was a bit of a dud, it was all setup and no payoff. I think Louie had an opportunity to do something interesting with Jay Leno (like what he did with Dane Cook), but it just kind of laid there.

The episode was saved by that knockout of a final scene. I didn't think Garry Marshall could top his brilliant performance as the casino manager in "Lost in America", but his monologue here was completely riveting. And agent Doug's reaction shots were hilarious.
August 31, 2012 at 10:25AM EST Reply to Comment
- Lee Harvey Garry Marshall hit a home run for sure. I kept thinking "Las Vegas gambling" until he really got to the meat of his monologue and then I was locked in. This was one of my favorite episodes of the season. Can't wait to see how it all plays out.
  August 31, 2012 at 5:27PM EST
srpad

I'm a sucker for Hollywood "Inside Baseball" stuff (which explains why I suffered through every episode of Entourage) so between that, the fact that I find the underage Agent hilarious, the good Jokes and an amazing turn by Gary Marshall, this was one of my favorite Louies. I can't wait to see where this story goes.
August 31, 2012 at 10:42AM EST Reply to Comment
Eric J.

Really liked the episode- but if Larry Sanders taught us anything, it's that you need a very particular breed of insanity, narcissism, and detachment from reality to be a late-night host, and I think it's the exact opposite of what makes Louie great.
August 31, 2012 at 10:50AM EST Reply to Comment
- keith Craig Ferguson though.
  August 31, 2012 at 10:55PM EST
- Tausif Khan " insanity, narcissism, and detachment from reality to be a late-night host,"
  
  Craig Ferguson is all of these things while trying to deconstruct the form.
  September 2, 2012 at 4:16AM EST
studioplant

I look for the little touches. The fake TV show posters in the reception area were spot on. I also really enjoyed how they tried to a put a jacket on him at the last minute before going on the show.
August 31, 2012 at 11:28AM EST Reply to Comment
Meg

The only continuity issue that's bugging me is that I sort of figured show-Louie was more famous/successful than the Gary Marshall character pegged him as. $80k a year on club dates? I know that's decent money but not in Manhattan it isn't. Plus, he's friends with all these famous comedians...so I always figured show-Louie wasn't that far removed from Louis CK before this show: highly respected, mid-level, famous, definitely successful.

Regardless, I love it, and frankly when Dave retires I would totally love to see Louis take over. That would be amazing.
August 31, 2012 at 11:46AM EST Reply to Comment
- sepinwall Do you really think CK would be interested in doing celebrity interviews? I can't imagine him even vaguely going through the motions on those.
  August 31, 2012 at 12:02PM EST
- Scott Rosenberg Agree with both (see below). I was disoriented by this for most of the episode.
  
  And fair is fair, Alan. We're more likely to see Will McAvoy's groundbreaking debate format than we are to see Louie hosting the Tonight Show. I don't know how you manage to not take issue with it in your review.
  August 31, 2012 at 12:15PM EST
- sepinwall If they don't address this in the next two episodes, sure. But knowing the way the TV business works, I can see an executive being wowed by a funny comedian killing it on Tonight and trying to turn him into a talk show host without thinking through whether he'd be good at the non-monologue portions of the gig.
  August 31, 2012 at 1:06PM EST
- Col Bat Guano Louis wouldn't be interested, but I bet it would be funny watching him interview some fatuous star pimping their latest film. He'd last a week, but it would be glorious.
  September 1, 2012 at 2:19AM EST
- Ben I would just say this: in S2, Louie had one episode where his accountant ruefully told him that he had only $7,000 in the bank, and a few weeks later he was getting almost that much cash for a group screenplay improvement session, and he was able to watch his decent car get totaled and buy an expensive motorcycle without much fuss in this year's premiere only to be described by someone who doesn't seem like a liar as a sub-six figures working comic. This series treats Louie's career as something that is successful or unsuccessful according to the needs of a given story, and beyond the baseline that Louie is at least able to provide food and clothing and shelter for himself and his duaghters, there's no more continuity on this matter than anything else in this brilliant show's continuum.
  September 8, 2012 at 5:59PM EST
Scott Rosenberg

I have no objection to a well-written episode, even one that is all set-up and does not aspire to be funny, but for me there were two issues holding back the episode for me.

We understand Louie to be the one constant in this show, and in this episode he really wasn't. We've been lead to understand that Louie the character's career is about six years behind that of actual Louie. He's not a big star with HBO specials, but he's a known personality that gets network calls from time to time. He's not flush, but he can live comfortably in Manhattan. He still has to grind it out on the road, but he can pack mid-size venues as the headliner...that's Louie.

I found myself spending most of the episode trying to pinpoint exactly where his career was supposed to be in order to make sense of what was happening, and the clearest signs we received were inconsistent with what we already know of Louie. For one, the idea that Leno would baby Louie as he did, as if Louie had never done late night before, seemed extremely disingenuous, and we could safely expect Louie to make almost double the $80,000 figure that was thrown out. For me this really distracted from the episode.

The second, albeit smaller issue is the contrived notion that a network president would offer a comedian as blue, dark, self-directed and out of shape as Louie a network talk show. It's one thing for network wonks to sit down with an up-and-comer about a pilot, as we saw last year. In this instance, the level and direction strains credulity.

That being said, this was more of a cerebral issue, and didn't stop me from enjoying the fantastic scene with Garry Marshall and the terrified look on Louie and Dougs' faces.
August 31, 2012 at 12:12PM EST Reply to Comment
- DC Goodness gracious. Enough complaining about credulity on a show where Louie has two Nordic children with a black woman, and an agent who's 15. Louie could wake up tomorrow and be the biggest comedian in the world, or he could be a panhandler. That's the absolute beauty of the show. It does not move in a straight line. We never know what's coming next. Stop working through the credulity and just relax and enjoy it.
  August 31, 2012 at 2:28PM EST
- Vaughn @DC: Sir, I just have to stand up and applaud you. Wonderfully said.
  August 31, 2012 at 4:23PM EST
- Erika Herzog F that. i agree with the confusion -- and more importantly distraction -- of the slippage between Louie and Louis CK. Well said Scott.
  August 31, 2012 at 9:28PM EST
- Mike I'm with DC here, he could be a completely different person in any given episode for all I care. If the episodes say "Part #" after them, then maybe I'll pay attention to continuity, but the show usually deals with themes more than plot development. I get that it distracted you from what was happening, though. My advice, just try not to worry about it and look at the bigger picture.
  August 31, 2012 at 10:35PM EST
- Scott Rosenberg @DC @MIKE. A few different thoughts here. First, while Louie changes things at will to serve the story he wants to tell, his personality, life, and immediate family are generally constant throughout the series, and but for a lesser career stature, are fairly similar to Louie in real life.
  
  Second, if Louie wanted to be different characters in different episodes that's perfectly fine, provided the story begins with appropriate exposition. If an episode kicks off with Louie waking up in a four-poster bed and an English butler walks in and says, "you have overslept, Master Szekely. Shall I take Lily for her morning recreation?" we understand the premise has changed. That's not what happened here. We were treated to the same Louie we get every week, only things started happening that didn't quite add up to what we know about the character.
  
  Third, I've never had a problem with the incongruities, sight gags, and non-sequiturs that populate the series; in fact I think they add to the humor and charm. The only condition is that if the artistic license affects the plot, it has to be in service of a thematic, artistic, or editorial point. That was never a problem in the past, but for me there have been a progression of stories this season - "Never," "Ikea," "Looking for Liz," and to a small extent "Daddy's Girlfriend, Part 2" - where Louie is paired with a cartoonish person bearing no basis in reality, in a situation that is supposed to be real, just to see that cartoonish person.
  
  There are certainly people who just think the show is weird and dismiss it out of hand, but that's not me. My objection arises when the show is a different, more superficial and uninspired form of weird as usual, not because weird is bad, but because this brand of weird doesn't work.
  September 1, 2012 at 1:25AM EST
- Jim At this point on the show can he "fill mid-size" rooms?
  
  Anybody notice that he was playing on a Monday night at the Improv and the list of other spare comedians that were scheduled for the better nights of the week?
  September 1, 2012 at 6:20PM EST
- Jonah @Scott But yet in the first season, smoking pot with his neighbor was Louis being paired with a cartoonish person who had a serious basis in reality?
  
  There is an elasticity to Louie. That elasticity is at the heart of its genius; it can be whatever Louis wants the show to be. Even elements of the character (Louie has a brother, Louie only has sisters, Louie's mother is played in one episode by an actress who appeared in another episode as another character in season 1, his uncle by F. Murray Abraham who also appeared as another character earlier, and his wife this season has been an African-American actress while an earlier episode had his wife portrayed by a Caucasian woman) are subject to this elasticity. To call out a part of the show as being somehow sacrosanct and separate from this very core element of the premise is arbitrary and, personally, I feel sorry that you have this hangup.
  September 1, 2012 at 6:23PM EST
- Scott Rosenberg @JIM Yes. On the show, when he's home in NYC, he'll play Caroline's or other well known little venues to try out new material and stay fresh, which I suspect he does IRL. I think the venues we've seen on the road, like in "Miami," or in doing promo calls to a radio station, that he gets talks about sitcom pilots from the networks, etc, are a good indication of his stature.
  September 1, 2012 at 8:10PM EST
- Scott Rosenberg @JONAH It's not arbitrary, it's reality. As I said, I have no problem if Louis wants to make Louie different every week, but he doesn't. Louie has been the same guy in every episode, and I don't think Louis was intending to present him at a different point in life than we're used to when he wrote this episode. Which means either my impression of the character was off, or Louis screwed up.
  September 1, 2012 at 8:23PM EST
- youngjt80 It must have blown Scott's mind when he hopped on the motorcycle and rode the boat into Boston Harbor in the last episode.
  September 4, 2012 at 12:25PM EST
- Mike HAHA yeah I haven't bothered replying, but I have to disagree that only a couple of scenarios this season have presented cartoonish people for the sake of them being cartoonish. (And for the record, I still think these "cartoonish" people are good representations of people or at least very noticeable and relatable elements of people in reality.) I think this kind of thing has happened no differently in previous seasons, which is why it doesn't bother me when he's riding the impulse-buy-motorcycle 3 episodes after he crashed it and wound up in the hospital, because who cares? It's not that important.
  September 4, 2012 at 12:37PM EST
- Scott Rosenberg @YOUNGJT80 - Displaying as exaggerated reality the way events make Louie feel is a well the show dips into often, and is one of the show's best qualities. "Dad" wasn't a great episode, but that didn't bother me, nor did the city worker destroying his Infinity in the premier, nor did the myriad other examples in the first to seasons. When the show is surreal/metaphoric, or a quirky version of real, or Louie getting karmically dumped on as a result of the character's convoluted moral-social worldview, it works awesomelly. The "cartoonishness" at isolated times this season is something different. It's neither realistic nor an unreal symbol for something real, it just doesn't track. Moreover, it's an issue having nothing to do with this episode.
  September 4, 2012 at 5:37PM EST
- Scott Rosenberg @MIKE if you use the word broadly I suppose the majority of the show could be considered "cartoonish." For me, most of the time the series is unreal or exaggerated, it is telling a broader story, or highlighting how a situation makes Louie/people feel. You can call it symbolic, metaphoric, hyperbolic, whatever, but there's a thematic point. Louie's car chase isn't literal, it's an expression of his discomfort at the prospects of seeing his father. On some level, even if not an actual/literal level, it expresses truth. A woman taking him on a wild goose chase, masturbating in a coffee shop, then fleeing isn't that. It doesn't say anything about her, or Louie, or Louie's love for Liz. It's not funny in how it expresses truth, it's funny because it's so ridiculous, only it's not. That's what I mean when I say cartoonish. It's a very limited complaint in a weaker season of an excellent show.
  September 4, 2012 at 5:49PM EST
- jack_is_laughing I only read the comments here because PT2 of this still hasn't aired and I was needing a Louie fix of some sort. Anyway, in response to your comment: Conan O'Brien. When NBC offered Late Night to him, no one knew who he was. His only credential was being a writer on the Simpsons, which while wildly successful has nothing to do with Late Night.
  
  That said, your observation that Louie's comedy doesn't jive with late night broadcast TV is correct, but the network exec specifically states the offer is nothing more than a game he's playing with his real target, Seinfeld. He specifically says he doesn't even expect Louie to succeed. He also implies that he's doing this based entirely on the response to Louie's appearance on the Tonight Show, and not because he actually knows Louie's act or credentials well at all.
  
  As Alan said, broadcast execs can be very unpredictable when playing contractual games and that's what this is. It really has very little to do with Louie and everything to do with his flavor-of-the-week fame in this moment in time.
  September 7, 2012 at 2:35PM EST
- Scott Rosenberg @Jack - With respect to Conan, he was also a writer on SNL, and Lorne Michaels, being VERY familiar with his writing style and personality, put him up for the job thinking he would be a good fit with the younger audience awake at that time of night; it wasn't quite out of nowhere. Also, he was on a week-to-week contract for the first year or so.
  
  As for Lars Tardigan's pitch, I think you misstate it. He said if Louie, in a long shot, was good, he'd take Louie and save the money, not that he was using to drive Seinfeld down. I also don't think he said that it was based only on the hit YouTube clip from Leno, but don't quote me on that.
  September 9, 2012 at 10:26PM EST
- jack_is_laughing You're splitting hairs on O'Brien. Being Lorne Michaels' favorite pupil and having written on two shows doesn't qualify one to host an hour of TV five nights a week anymore than being a semi-successful standup. And by the way, the career of Louie is much closer to Letterman when he originated the gig than Conan. Conan was a massive left field shot, mainly because he was cheap and the network thought something zany might work to replace Letterman. And they were right.
  
  Tardigan's pitch is all about them wanting Seinfeld. He says it flat out to Louie and he notes that they're negotiating with Seinfeld. He tells Louie that he is an "option," and then pitches him on this road to success that requires Louie to not only be incredibly lucky but to rise well above himself.
  
  You can read it however you want, but it's clear that they want Seinfeld. He's pitching Louie as a set-up to use him as a negotiating tactic. He wouldn't pitch Louie "You're a nobody and I'm giving you this chance on a whim just because you'd be cheap" as a real pitch. Do you seriously think they really intend to replace Letterman with someone they have so little stock in?
  
  I bet this whole thing ends with Louie taking the bait and going to bat, only to be shot down when they close the deal with Seinfeld.
  
  You're welcome to dislike it, but you've only seen half the story. Maybe you should wait to see both parts before you judge the whole.
  September 10, 2012 at 10:11PM EST
Roark

The Marshall monologue was mesmerizing. Really outstanding. Didn't realize this was the first episode of a trilogy - thought the abrupt ending was kind of brilliant as the end to a one off, though it obviously makes much more sense now.
August 31, 2012 at 1:10PM EST Reply to Comment
Ernie

Gary Marshall was amazing. Especially since he normally plays some kind of dopey guy similar to his normal personality. Wonderful to see.

I agree there is no way Louie would ever accept this kind of job. Interviewing actors with no personality but movies coming out over and over again would kill him.
August 31, 2012 at 1:10PM EST Reply to Comment
- svetlana I loved Garry marshall as well. He seems like such a great guy in real life so to hear him deliver a speech like that was fantastic. I'm curious if something like this has actually happened to Louie? Most comedy is based in truth so maybe he actually did have an offer like that. My prediction is that the Marshall character will get fired right before/after actually offering louie the job so he gets screwed as usual. Louie will be crushed and grateful at the same time. I'm sure I'm wrong but that's the thought I had while watching.
  August 31, 2012 at 6:21PM EST
BigTed

The link to Jerry Seinfeld was interesting. Of course, "Seinfeld" was also a show that riffed on the star's real life and comedy career, and which featured a story arc about him trying to get a show on a network. The only way it could get any more meta is if Garry Shandling showed up to advise Louie about hosting a talk show -- or if Louie got into some kind of conflict with Conan O'Brien about taking over Letterman's show.
August 31, 2012 at 1:14PM EST Reply to Comment
- zzk I immediately thought about Conan when Leno showed up. I hope, hope, hope he shows up in the next two episodes.
  August 31, 2012 at 2:01PM EST
Dsl

In Canada, US broadcasts are essentially hijacked by Canadian networks. They take over and insert their promos, ads, etc. I have, to put it kindly, very little faith in their ability to correctly time all of these cuts. To be frank, I doubt they even have humans looking after any part of it. If they do, then I'd be shocked. I've missed lots of parts of these broadcasts because of timing miscues, hijack switches (citytv hijacks the global tv hijack of the NBC broadcast on Thursday nights - i havent seen the clip after the credits on the office in years) and other things like that.

I say all of this because that's all I could think of when I was watching this episode. Citytv had the hijack rights on FX Canada and I was sort of wondering if they cut at the wrong times. Now, I assume that the Leno show appearance and Louie's decision were intentionally left out...
August 31, 2012 at 1:25PM EST Reply to Comment
- lztouchthedream Correct, the US airings didn't have the decision or the Leno interview either.
  
  All the Community clips I see on youtube are CityTV, do they do the same kind of roughshod editing on that too?
  August 31, 2012 at 8:28PM EST
Jeff Carroll

I prefer imagining that what we are watching are possible variations on Louie's actual life--what could have happened had Louie made different choices, if events had been slightly different--and each show is not necessarily from the same reality. These are different universes, but Louie remains the same.

In the reality of this last show, Louie didn't take on a new show with FX, but with this offer he experiences the same fear of failure, the same knowledge that, if he fails, he will be solely to blame, and if he succeeds, it will save him from that slow, decaying orbit. What Garry says out loud in that reality, Louie likely said to himself in this one.

But who cares why? If he keeps putting words like those in the mouths of Garry Marshall and F. Murray Abrahams and Robin Williams and Parker Posey, he can live out whatever reality he wants.
August 31, 2012 at 1:35PM EST Reply to Comment
- RK Wouldn't it be interesting if the three episodes were the offer made at three different times in Louis' life...not only screw continuity but hello parallel universes...cool
  
  As far as the $80k thing, I imagine Louis on the show makes more, but that number the exec references is the "fear" number in his head -- it's an insult, but something not so far from the truth that Louis is actually offended by it. Instead, he's scared by it -- as equally as he he scared by both the opportunity gained AND lost.
  
  Cool
  August 31, 2012 at 2:27PM EST
- chairthrower Louis probably makes about $80k a year just from playing the clubs. He also has other sources of income though.
  September 3, 2012 at 9:06AM EST
MBM9

I thought this show was supposed to be a comedy. So far I've liked the previous seasons much better. And I agree with a previous poster, the Leno bit was all build-up and no payoff.

It's still interesting but hasn't been very funny this season, especially this ep.
August 31, 2012 at 4:56PM EST Reply to Comment
Desmund Hume

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

This was an amazing appearance though
August 31, 2012 at 5:54PM EST Reply to Comment
- Jim That was a great one. Thanks for that.
  September 1, 2012 at 6:29PM EST
troopermsu

Marshall's part was written exceptionally well; some of the best writing on this show to date.
September 1, 2012 at 3:07AM EST Reply to Comment
Mike Hunt

Wow, Garry Marshall looks old.

Also, this is his second time playing the president of CBS.
September 1, 2012 at 11:13AM EST Reply to Comment
MOZ

I kept having a hard time trying to figure out why tv Louie had such a perfectly faded black t-shirt. I know that real Louis can afford fresh black shirts but prefers for them to be slightly faded but tv Louie would be forced to wear them longer being that he is less successful and thus his black t-shirt should be far more faded than it was in the episode.
September 1, 2012 at 5:34PM EST Reply to Comment
- Patrick i'm sorry, but I think you are way over-thinking here. I doubt that Louis CK spent much time debating how faded his black shirt should be and I think it would have been a poor use of his time if he did
  September 2, 2012 at 1:09PM EST
- slob jones I also found Louie's illogically faded black T-shirt to be a distraction and felt it ruined the entire episode, if not the entire season.
  September 3, 2012 at 12:10AM EST
ryanw

i loved the speech at the end "you are a circulating failure in a rapidly decaying orbit...." wrote the entire thing down
September 3, 2012 at 12:00AM EST Reply to Comment
ryanw

louis ck made over 500,000 in a day just selling tickets online, but he did go through all of this
September 3, 2012 at 12:01AM EST Reply to Comment

News From Our Partners

Follow HitFix:

Follow @HitFix

Get Instant Alerts on What's Alan Watching

Latest Posts

HitFix First Look: 'Hannibal' is worried about Will Graham

Will's gift takes an increasing toll; can the bad Dr. Lecter help him?

Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Series finale review: 'The Big C: Hereafter'

Cathy and her family prepare for the end as the Showtime dramedy concludes on a strong note

Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Season finale review: 'Rectify' - 'Jacob's Ladder'

Daniel ponders a trip out of town as the terrific first season comes to a close

Monday, May 20, 2013
Review: FOX's 'The Goodwin Games' has potential it won't get to realize

Some interesting pieces in a new sitcom from the 'HIMYM' guys, but it's a dead show walking

Monday, May 20, 2013

Cannes Film Festival 2013

Inside Television with Alan Sepinwall

Review: 'Louie' - 'Late Show (Part 1)': Leading with the chin

Are you a fan of Louie?

Sign up to get the latest updates instantly.

Never miss a post - sign up now to get an e-mail alert whenever Louie is updated

Send to your friends

Direct link: http://tinyurl.com/94smycd

Review: 'Louie' - 'Late Show (Part 1)'

Share this Post on ...

Direct link: http://tinyurl.com/94smycd

Review: 'Louie' - 'Late Show (Part 1)'

Comments

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Lee Harvey Garry Marshall hit a home run for sure. I kept thinking "Las Vegas gambling" until he really got to the meat of his monologue and then I was locked in. This was one of my favorite episodes of the season. Can't wait to see how it all plays out.

Eric J. Really liked the episode- but if Larry Sanders taught us anything, it's that you need a very particular breed of insanity, narcissism, and detachment from reality to be a late-night host, and I think it's the exact opposite of what makes Louie great.

keith Craig Ferguson though.

Tausif Khan " insanity, narcissism, and detachment from reality to be a late-night host,"Craig Ferguson is all of these things while trying to deconstruct the form.

studioplant I look for the little touches. The fake TV show posters in the reception area were spot on. I also really enjoyed how they tried to a put a jacket on him at the last minute before going on the show.

sepinwall Do you really think CK would be interested in doing celebrity interviews? I can't imagine him even vaguely going through the motions on those.

Col Bat Guano Louis wouldn't be interested, but I bet it would be funny watching him interview some fatuous star pimping their latest film. He'd last a week, but it would be glorious.

Vaughn @DC: Sir, I just have to stand up and applaud you. Wonderfully said.

Erika Herzog F that. i agree with the confusion -- and more importantly distraction -- of the slippage between Louie and Louis CK. Well said Scott.

Jim At this point on the show can he "fill mid-size" rooms? Anybody notice that he was playing on a Monday night at the Improv and the list of other spare comedians that were scheduled for the better nights of the week?

youngjt80 It must have blown Scott's mind when he hopped on the motorcycle and rode the boat into Boston Harbor in the last episode.

Roark The Marshall monologue was mesmerizing. Really outstanding. Didn't realize this was the first episode of a trilogy - thought the abrupt ending was kind of brilliant as the end to a one off, though it obviously makes much more sense now.

zzk I immediately thought about Conan when Leno showed up. I hope, hope, hope he shows up in the next two episodes.

lztouchthedream Correct, the US airings didn't have the decision or the Leno interview either. All the Community clips I see on youtube are CityTV, do they do the same kind of roughshod editing on that too?

chairthrower Louis probably makes about $80k a year just from playing the clubs. He also has other sources of income though.

MBM9 I thought this show was supposed to be a comedy. So far I've liked the previous seasons much better. And I agree with a previous poster, the Leno bit was all build-up and no payoff.It's still interesting but hasn't been very funny this season, especially this ep.

Desmund Hume http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-GkThis was an amazing appearance though

Jim That was a great one. Thanks for that.

troopermsu Marshall's part was written exceptionally well; some of the best writing on this show to date.

Mike Hunt Wow, Garry Marshall looks old. Also, this is his second time playing the president of CBS.

Patrick i'm sorry, but I think you are way over-thinking here. I doubt that Louis CK spent much time debating how faded his black shirt should be and I think it would have been a poor use of his time if he did

slob jones I also found Louie's illogically faded black T-shirt to be a distraction and felt it ruined the entire episode, if not the entire season.

ryanw i loved the speech at the end "you are a circulating failure in a rapidly decaying orbit...." wrote the entire thing down

ryanw louis ck made over 500,000 in a day just selling tickets online, but he did go through all of this

News From Our Partners

Never miss a post - sign up now to get an e-mail alert whenever What's Alan Watching is updated

Latest Posts

Recent Activity on Facebook

Most Popular on Facebook

About HitFix

Advertise on HitFix

Subscribe to HitFix

Popular Topics

Never miss a post - sign up now to get an e-mail alert whenever
Louie is updated

Eric J.

Really liked the episode- but if Larry Sanders taught us anything, it's that you need a very particular breed of insanity, narcissism, and detachment from reality to be a late-night host, and I think it's the exact opposite of what makes Louie great.

Tausif Khan " insanity, narcissism, and detachment from reality to be a late-night host,"

Craig Ferguson is all of these things while trying to deconstruct the form.

studioplant

I look for the little touches. The fake TV show posters in the reception area were spot on. I also really enjoyed how they tried to a put a jacket on him at the last minute before going on the show.

Jim At this point on the show can he "fill mid-size" rooms?

Anybody notice that he was playing on a Monday night at the Improv and the list of other spare comedians that were scheduled for the better nights of the week?

Roark

The Marshall monologue was mesmerizing. Really outstanding. Didn't realize this was the first episode of a trilogy - thought the abrupt ending was kind of brilliant as the end to a one off, though it obviously makes much more sense now.

lztouchthedream Correct, the US airings didn't have the decision or the Leno interview either.

All the Community clips I see on youtube are CityTV, do they do the same kind of roughshod editing on that too?

MBM9

I thought this show was supposed to be a comedy. So far I've liked the previous seasons much better. And I agree with a previous poster, the Leno bit was all build-up and no payoff.

It's still interesting but hasn't been very funny this season, especially this ep.

Desmund Hume

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r1CZTLk-Gk

This was an amazing appearance though

troopermsu

Marshall's part was written exceptionally well; some of the best writing on this show to date.

Mike Hunt

Wow, Garry Marshall looks old.

Also, this is his second time playing the president of CBS.

ryanw

i loved the speech at the end "you are a circulating failure in a rapidly decaying orbit...." wrote the entire thing down

ryanw

louis ck made over 500,000 in a day just selling tickets online, but he did go through all of this

Never miss a post - sign up now to get an e-mail alert whenever
What's Alan Watching is updated