Fuck Yeah, Louis C.K.

‘Louie,’ Louie, Louie, Louie.  ‘Louie’ season 3 sets up its third episode of the year, as Louie travels to Miami for work and in the process makes a new friend, leading him to question society’s controversial stance on male bonding in the modern age.

Last week’s ‘Louie’ episode “Telling Jokes / Set Up” saw Louie (surprise!) telling jokes over dinner with his daughters, and later finding himself set up by some friends to have dinner with a woman (Oscar-winner Melissa Leo), with controversial results. So how does “Miami” get things moving?  What more will season 3 of ‘Louie’ bring?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Louie’ season 3 episode 3, “Miami!”

Asleep on a plane, the arrival to Miami awakens our hero Louie, who taxis through the sights of the city to arrive at his hotel, oddly greeted by shirtless models adorning the lobby.  Following a quick nap, Louie performs his set, and hits the beach the following day.  Still, with so many beautiful people around, the poor, schlubby comedian resolves not to remove his shirt, and instead returns to the hotel to eat and sleep it off.

Later, he returns to the beach (when the other, less attractive beach-goers have returned as well), and folds his personal items into a towel before heading in for a dip.  When Louie notices a nearby beach attendant accidentally swooping his belongings in with the clean-up, Louie waves incessantly and tries to signal him from the water.  Instead, he catches the attention of a local lifeguard, who swims out and drags him to shore, in spite of Louie’s protests.

The lifeguard introduces himself as Ramon, and courteously follows along with what he presumes to be Louie denying his drowning.  Intrigued by his job, Ramon checks out Louie’s set at the hotel, and congratulates him afterward on how funny he was.  The two share a drink, as Louie embarrasses himself by assuming that because Ramon came from Cuba as a child, he came on a raft, though the lifeguard quickly forgives him.  In fact, they have something in common, as Louie was born and raised in Mexico for his first seven years!  (Okay, what?  Come on.)

The next morning, following an awkward conversation of Louie’s with a rude girl who ate one of his strawberries without properly asking, Ramon appears to invite the comedian to a party, promising to show him sides of Miami he’s never seen.  The pair bike around the city, taking in the food, the culture and the sights, before heading to the party.  Louie has a wonderful time, exchanging nice words with Ramon’s uncle that “all men are brothers,” before awkwardly trying to flirt with some younger girls.

Just then, as he and Ramon ponder the lonelier people of Miami who waste time on their high-rise balconies, when Louie realizes he still has a show to get to!  Enlisting the help of his friends, Ramon and Louie race back to the hotel, getting Louie there in perfect time for his show.  Being his last night in Miami, Louie thanks Ramon for the time they’ve spent together, and the two part ways.

Or do they?  Louie calls his ex-wife Janet, asking her to keep the kids a few more days as he’s decided to stay in Miami a bit longer, to which she naturally assumes that he’s met someone and wishes to spend more time with them.  Well… she’s not wrong, as the next day Louie visits Ramon at the lifeguard’s chair to let him know he’ll be sticking around, to which things seem noticeably more awkward.  The pair go for a swim and toss the football, before Ramon returns to work.

Later that night, Louie meets with Ramon in the hotel lounge for a drink, but Ramon awkwardly has to question exactly why Louie opted to stay a few days longer.  Neither of the two flatly express their homophobic discomfort with the situation, but Louie does his best to extoll  that it isn’t out of anything over the line, while Ramon insists that people should be who they are no matter what.  Regardless, the two are happy to have met one another, and wouldn’t take anything back.  As his uncle said, all men are brothers.

Back in New York, Louie jokes to the audience at the Comedy Cellar that straight men are the only group preoccupied with being mistaken for any other group, and as such find themselves unable to express certain sentiments.  For instance, no straight man could get away with using the word “wonderful” to describe anything.  The sad lives of straight men.

As the credits roll, we see the real Louis C.K. and his crew attempt to film the initial drowning scene, overcoming the tide as the crew difficultly navigates keeping its equipment through and above water.

Traveling episodes of ‘Louie’ always bring something unique to the table, and it’s an interesting question to explore the way modern men make new friends, even in a homo-erotic pretense.  It’s not the darkest, or even funniest episode of ‘Louie’ to date, but it’s certainly still entertaining and thought-provoking, as it should be.

• By Robert Bianco, USA TODAY, Jan 15, 2012

If there’s a funnier yet more unlikely sitcom star than Louis C.K., it’s hard to say who it would be. And he became a star pretty much on his own efforts, as creator, producer, writer, director, editor and lead in FX’s Louie. Returning this summer for a third season, Louie broke out in its second to become perhaps FX’s most acclaimed comedy — even garnering an Emmy nomination for its star. Not that he thinks of himself as a “star.”

“I’m not really all that famous when you think about it,” says Louis C.K. “It’s still just a little show on FX, and a huge amount of people don’t even know it exists.” Critics do, of course, as do Emmy-voters, who gave him an acting and a writing nomination this year for the second season (along with two nominations for his stand-up special). He’s grateful, he says, because he thinks the show has improved. “I got better at everything in the second season. I shot more carefully … We worked much harder … So I think that made the show richer.”

And if people don’t think it’s funny enough? “I’ll throw a few more jokes in. I’m here to please. I like people.”His humor is often based on “uncertainty and suffering,” including his belief that this is a “weird time” to be an American. He’s terrified that this season won’t be as good as the last one, worried as a single dad for his children’s future, and convinced his own career decline is inevitable. Yet at the moment, he’s also happy.

“I’m not very different than I was before the show started. I’m really grateful (and) I definitely take a lot of joy in from what I’m getting to do,” he says. “If I were running FX, I would never have given me the freedom they gave me. It was very irresponsible on their part.” ”I am a cheerful person. I like living a difficult life.”

• by Dan Snierson, JAN 15 2012

Comedian Louis C.K. met with TV critics during FX’s press tour event, discussing everything from season 3 of his hit comedy Louie to the failure of his directorial movie debut Pootie Tang. Here are the highlights:

• Louie heads back into production next month. C.K. wasn’t that forthcoming with story lines for season 3, but then again, he hasn’t written much of it yet. (He has four pages of notes.) “I’m terrified of season 3 not being as good as season 2,” he said.  “It keeps me up at night.”  He did note that season 3 would be different than season 2, which explored the world of standup. (And while talking to a group of reporters after the session, he seemed to indicate that the show will continue to deal with issue of mortality when he hinted that “some people will die.” Added C.K.: “I think one reason I like killing people on the show, it’s because when you have a TV show… you have power to change reality within the show. So I get to kill people. I get to decide who lives or dies. I don’t think this is good, I think it’s saying something bad about me.”) 

• Asked his opinion on why the show broke out in its second season, he pointed to the fact that the audiences had to get used to the show’s unconventional style. In addition, “I know I got better at everything. We shot more carefully. We did more far-reaching episodes.”

• He addressed the show’s tendency to do episodes that weren’t laugh-out-loud funny, and mine more dramatic material, as long as the audience is engaged and it works on some level. “If they’re not saying, ‘Hahaha’ they have to be saying ‘Holy shit’ or ‘Oh my god’ or ‘Why’d he do that?’ Some extreme reaction has to come once in a while.” But he did note that if people stop responding, he’ll throw in more jokes. “If I start hearing that people hate that the show’s not funny enough, I’ll throw a few more jokes in. I’m here to please. I like people.”

• C.K. wanted to use the classic hit “Brother Louie” as his theme song, but he couldn’t afford the rights, so he got the publishing rights instead and emailed Stories singer Ian Lloyd to ask him if he’d record a new version. (The Stories covered the original 1973 Hot Chocolate hit.) Lloyd agreed, and the two have become friends.

• Of the many hats that C.K. wears on Louie – exec producer, writer, director, editor, and star – the only one he’d consider delegating to someone else would be the editing gig. (C.K. was nominated for an editing Emmy last year.)

• Ursula Parker, who plays one of C.K.’s young daughters (and also happens to play a mean violin), likes to improv, and when C.K. asks her to stick to the script, she does not always comply because “she knows it’s bothering me.” “I’m burning film trying to raise this kid,” he cracked. He also joked that he didn’t want to sing her praises too much because “I don’t want to giver her any leverage in negotiations.”

• Of the 26 or 27 years he’s been doing standup, he said: “I’ve had two great years,  probably five good years. So I had 20 years of just kind of uncertainty and suffering and ego destruction and poverty. All these things. There’s no way I’m ever going to catch up to the misery years. It’s impossible….If I don’t do anything dumb or I don’t get a disease or something, and then I’ve got to five to eight years I think where it’ll really be great and then it will start to degenerate like uranium, you know?”

• He is not interested in hosting an awards show, unless it was an awards show about movies from the ‘70s. Besides, he said, he doesn’t keep current on Hollywood and celebrity culture like he did in the days when he wrote for Conan O’Brien, David Letterman, and Chris Rock, which would mean “I would have to go see everything and pretend I give a shit and I don’t,” he quipped. (He did note that he reads EW, and occasionally Us Weekly.)

• When a reporter referenced Pootie Tang, the infamous Chris Rock big-screen comedy that he wrote and directed, C.K. talked freely and entertainingly about getting fired from the project. “I was sucking at making the movie, and they rightfully fired me, and then it came out with my name on it,” he shared. “But it was a great learning experience. That was a good example of being in a very bad place and enjoying it. I was sitting in a chair much like this one in [then-Paramount chief] John Goldwyn’s office in Paramount. He was screaming at me, his face was really red, and I was sitting there going, ‘Wow, now I’m really a movie guy.’ Getting yelled at by a studio head, it was a thrill.” While he acknowledged that he still had “a little scar tissue” from that experience, he took away lessons that help him today: “Failing at Pootie Tang is why this show is good. “

• Speaking about the creative freedom he enjoys these days, he noted: “If they don’t let me do it the way it should be done, I just won’t do it. And one thing that enables me to do that is that I can go on the road and do comedy. I can just go do standup. I don’t need this shit. I really don’t… This is the greatest thing that ever happened to me but I don’t need it. And I’m eternally grateful to [FX] for letting me do it this way. I don’t know why they gave me this much freedom. If I was running FX, I would have never given me what they’ve given me. It was irresponsible.”

• Posted on November 30 by Leah Kayajanian

Watching certain episodes of the sitcom ”Louie” might leave you wondering, “Wait a minute, is this supposed to be funny or terribly sad?”  Louis CK is one of the best comedians out there because of his ability to produce and hone in on what makes for tons of good material, his honesty, and because of the quality of his work; but tuning in to his show might lead viewers looking for a quick laugh to reassess whether or not they want to make a go of life or end it all.  “Louie”, which plays on FX (and instant streams on Hulu and Netflix) doesn’t always leave you laughing.  Despite Louis CK’s recent success explosion (and yes, that’s a thing), his title character is depressing, a modern take on the old “sad clown” archetype, and so his show becomes a depiction of a character who tries to be a good person amidst a world filled with harsh truths.  In layman’s terms, it gets real.  So if you like your dick jokes mixed in with a hint of terrible sadness, watch the following three episodes of “Louie” and then feel inspired to write the loveliest of suicide note farewells. 

“Bully” (Season 1, Episode 9)

In this show, Louie, while on a date, asks a group of teenagers to quiet down so he can continue conversing with his lady-friend.  Moments later, one of the teenagers threatens to kick Louie’s ass and forces him to ask him nicely not to do it, a scene so humiliating and demasculating, all men who watch the episode actually lose a quarter-inch off their penis length. 

“God” (Season 1, Episode 11)

If this show weren’t sandwiched in between two pretty solid bits of CK stand-up, you might think you had tuned in to an indie short film rather than an episodic…er, comedy?  This show delves into the question of religion through the eyes of a young Louie, who attempts to grapple with the infamous Catholic guilt he learns at school.  While making poignant and interesting observations about religious views in relation to the innocence of children, this episode doesn’t try to be funny.  At all.  Mr. CK seems to be cashing in a little early on his comedian-turned-serious-actor-with-serious-stuff-to-say card (cards available at your local Walgreens). 

“Eddie” (Season 2, Episode 9)  

Okay, seriously, is this supposed to be funny?  The title character in this episode, Eddie, played by a near-death and disturbingly jaundiced looking Doug Stanhope, is an alcoholic road comedian who has nothing left.  If you’re a regular person, and you’re watching this, you may find solace in the fact that the comedian’s life seems romantic, but at a safe distance away.  If you’re a comedian, and you’re watching this, try not watch it with a loaded gun in your hand or while teetering on the edge of a tall building.  Why?  Because Stanhope’s praiseworthy performance as Eddie reeks of the future without love or laughs or anything to smile about. So f*ck you for watching a comedian’s show and expecting it to just make you laugh.  Louis CK makes you laugh, yes, but he also makes you think.  About death.  Constantly.