Louie

[WorkingMike]

I finally got around to watching last weeks "Louie" on the DVR and it may be the darkest piece of comedy I've ever seen. I can't decide if it was brilliant or crassly inappropriate. I'm leaning toward brilliant.

[EngineNo9]

I'll tell you in 6 months once it comes to Netflix.    But, knowing Louis CK, I'd guess it probably falls right between those two. 

[YellowKing]

Louis CK is the only person who has ever made me laugh until I was crying with a pedophilia joke. The guy's humor is super dark, but I think the best comedy comes out of dark places. I love his stuff even more now that I have a kid and can better relate to his views on parenting. 

[hepcat]

I tried watching the sitcom he had on showtime or hbo or whatever and just did not find it all that funny.  It was like every other sitcom on television about an overweight schlub with a hot wife and a blue collar life.  I'll give the comedy central show a try though. Hopefully it's not "According to Jim" with a slightly better writer like the other show seemed to be.

[EngineNo9]

Yeah, I watched that other HBO show (Lucky Louie) as well, and the format and amount of TV sitcom cliches really did hurt it.  From watching the first season on DVD, I like the new show Louie quite a bit more.

[th'FOOL]

I tried watching the sitcom he had on showtime or hbo or whatever and just did not find it all that funny.  It was like every other sitcom on television about an overweight schlub with a hot wife and a blue collar life.  I'll give the comedy central show a try though. Hopefully it's not "According to Jim" with a slightly better writer like the other show seemed to be.

It's on FX I believe, and it's WAAAAAAAY better. He actually plays himself and it incorporates his stand-up and it's awesome.

[hepcat]

ah, thanks.  I believe it's on Netflix, so I'll try it out.

[Bullwinkle]

I tried watching the sitcom he had on showtime or hbo or whatever and just did not find it all that funny.  It was like every other sitcom on television about an overweight schlub with a hot wife and a blue collar life.  I'll give the comedy central show a try though. Hopefully it's not "According to Jim" with a slightly better writer like the other show seemed to be.

It's on FX I believe, and it's WAAAAAAAY better. He actually plays himself and it incorporates his stand-up and it's awesome.

This (it is FX, not Comedy Central).

The difference is night and day.  Louie is exceptionally good television.  Lucky Louie was shit.

[Roguetad]

Hey, do you want have sex?  I haven't had sex in a long time...it will be uncomplicated.  Just look me up in the parent directory if you're intersted.

Later...

Did you bring condoms?  Oh I can't use these, too many irritants. Can you run out and get condoms without spermacide or lube?  Also while you're out, could you pick up some lube?  And I need some vaginex.

Hey listen, if you want to do this another time...

No, it's not a big deal, my vagina is a little irritated.  Oh and please pick up some blueberries while you're out too.



And it keeps getting better after that.  The lead in story just prior to that scene was hilarious too.    

[hepcat]

Hey, do you want have sex?  I haven't had sex in a long time...it will be uncomplicated.  Just look me up in the parent directory if you're intersted.

Later...

Did you bring condoms?  Oh I can't use these, too many irritants. Can you run out and get condoms without spermacide or lube?  Also while you're out, could you pick up some lube?  And I need some vaginex.

Hey listen, if you want to do this another time...

No, it's not a big deal, my vagina is a little irritated.  Oh and please pick up some blueberries while you're out too.



And it keeps getting better after that.  The lead in story just prior to that scene was hilarious too.    

Is that from the Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman comedy?  Or the Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis one with the same theme coming out this summer?

[Gryndyl]

Is that from the Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman comedy?  Or the Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis one with the same theme coming out this summer?

Can't be the first as Natalie can't have an irritated vagina. It has rainbows in it.

[Roguetad]

Is that from the Ashton Kutcher, Natalie Portman comedy?  Or the Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis one with the same theme coming out this summer?

Can't be the first as Natalie can't have an irritated vagina. It has rainbows in it.

Do either of those movies include the lead character doing an amateur Steven Segal move on a rampaging crazy bum, resulting in said bum impacting with a truck and having his head pop off and roll down the street? 

[Bullwinkle]

Trust me when I say that the Louie scenario paraphrased there will not in any way be in either of those movies.

[WorkingMike]

My wife still can't get over the second bit. She kept saying "oh my god" and wondering why that was funny, which made it even better honestly.

In other news, Wilfred is quite good as well.

[hepcat]

I got through about half of the first episode of Wilfred on OnDemand last night.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't laugh out loud funny either.  I was tired so I didn't stick with it.  Maybe it gets better, though.  I'll give it another go this weekend.

[Bullwinkle]

I just watched the hour-long "Duckling" episode from a couple of weeks ago.  Stunning, fantastic episode.  Possibly the best thing I've seen on television this year.

The episode is about Louie going on a USO tour in Afghanistan.  It's also about his kids having to bring the classroom ducklings home.  It's also about war.  And kids putting their lives on the line.  All of that could be very heavy stuff, and painfully heavy-handed.  But this episode put all that together in an incredible way.

There is subtle work going on here that is just astounding.  You can see the restraint in the writing and the performing, or, rather, you can't see it, as it comes off as wholly natural.

If you haven't seen this episode yet, go hunt it down.  I'll be astounded if there isn't some kind of Emmy awarded.

[kratz]

Yeah, Louie is amazing TV.

Wilfred is also quite great... we were just discussing in IRC how suddenly in the last couple years people have started making TV that is just incredibly awesome... these shows, Mad Men, Breaking Bad... good lord.

[hepcat]

I've sat through the first two episodes of Louie and other than a pretty funny (and sobering) roundtable disccusion on the origin of the insult Faggot, I've been left decided unimpressed.  He just comes across as a less manic Larry David most of the time.  Maybe it hits its stride later in the series?  I'll have to give it a go.  There are more than a few comedians that start off on rocky footing only to become hilarious to me.  Wilfred became funnier the more I got into the mindset it requires, so who knows.

[kratz]

I think Louie gets better and better... and more fucked up.  Some episodes are hardly comedy at all...

[Bullwinkle]

I think Louie gets better and better... and more fucked up.  Some episodes are hardly comedy at all...

You can't go in thinking of it like a comedy, though there will be laughs.  Sometimes there isn't even a plot.  It kind of has its own energy.  Salon.com called it "rough magic" and that seems about right.  It's not always happy, either.  I'm thinking of recent episodes where he took the kids to see his ancient aunt or the one where an old comedian friend came to say goodbye (he was heading off to kill himself).  The second one especially didn't really have what most would call a full resolution, but it got to where it needed to be for an ending. 

What makes this show amazing though are the times where they just let moments happen.  In the Afghanistan ep, there's a moment where Louie first arrives.  Everyone heads into a tent, and he's alone on screen looking around.  I would say the moment of him taking it all in (and we only see him, there are no cuts to what he might be seeing) lasts almost half a minute.  Finally, Louie just mutters, "Fuck" and walks into the tent.  There's an amazing moment when he's driving his kids to the aunt and "Who Are You" comes on the radio.  He sings along to the whole song while his kids sit disinterested in the back.  There's no comment at the end or anything.  It doesn't come up later in the episode.  It's just something that happens.  It feels very real, and it's not something you would expect to see on television.

Honestly, they are trying incredible things with this show.  It doesn't always work.  It can be off-putting.  But it's remarkable that it's on TV.

[hepcat]

Hmmm...that's actually a really eloquent way of convincing me to give it another go.  Not that I thought it was your job to convince me of that, but it was nice that you took the time to give me some ideal on how to approach the show.

Thanks bull!  

[Bullwinkle]

 

I hope you enjoy it.

[Z-Corn]

Hmmm...that's actually a really eloquent way of convincing me to give it another go.

You know how much you love Gus?  That's pretty much how I feel about Louis C.K.