Louis CK

I spent the last two days watching first and only season of Louis CKs short lived “Life of Louie” on ShowTime. I will not harass you with the heady theoretical reasons for the failure of this poignantly dark comedy (whose only “failure” was to jump, feet first, into a discussion of class and the realities of love, in a “Roseanne” final seasons way.) It seems, however you can’t go to wrong with Louis CK, a comedian whose second a stage for three years. So Louie CK is willing to try and fail and then, try again, that is the most fertile ground for any artist.

In this FX transplant we have again, Louis CK, trying to cope with family complexities. However in this version, we basically pick up where we left off with the Showtime series; instead of a couple trying to stay together with the strains of an unruly child and a lower socio-economic status Louis CK  and his fantastic counterpart Pamela Aldon have recently split and now Louis must contend with aging, health concerns, being single, and part-time parenthood. Don’t be dissuaded by the dense content “Lucky Louie” is still as funny, but different.  Where Lucky Louie may have been too “well-lit” on the purposefully middle-class stage; this is opposed to the dark observations audiences are willing to laugh at in the alcohol-soaked dark. So this time around it’s all a little more commercial. The first thing you notice is the aesthetics are much different. It’s very bright shiny and takes advantage of the inexpensive choice of all digital shooting.  The show’s aesthetic seems a little webisode-ish for me and this can be a brilliant approach.  Maybe a purposeful choice by FX, since viral-abiliy is the best advertising. There also seems to be less emphasis on the characters and the story  development while we lean a little more-than-gently on the natural “funny-man” ability of  Louis and other various characters.  Take for instance Ricky Gervais of The British “Office” makes a guest appearance as Louie’s propriety blind doctor, and though good for giggles, let’s not shirk content.  And content, above all else, I know Louis can deliver.   Once popularity has been established it is necessary to take the creative leap and be brave enough to touch on the more difficult aspects of Louis’ subject matter. This  is where Louis shines and stands out most. What we don’t want is to risk  alienating audiences by becoming a trite major network compromise a la “Modern Family“.  As long as their very funny medium is available to make these truths and often hilarious observations palpable to an audience looking for escapism. The deliver may have been so accurate that the painful realities on Lucky Louie hit a little too close to home for the (as the characters on “Its Always Sunny” would call them) “New Poor.”  And you know the New Poor, the overly sensitive, angry, college-educated kids who thought 60 grand in debt was the key to success. Maybe Louis can help usher in a less serious time, and take a minute to chuckle at it all.

Perhaps we’ll start looking seriously at he ridiculous things we do to create this so called life.

Thanks the quirky quick witted folks at FX for giving this great series another shot.

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