Forget Mad Men... is Louie TV's best show?

If you like it; you love it.  And if you love it, you probably agree.  The Week:

Best Opinion: Entertainment Weekly, Newsday, Slate

"[Watching] the first season of Louie on FX was like landing on a foreign planet," says Tim Goodman at The Hollywood Reporter, who found the show unlike any other. Written, directed by, and starring subversive stand-up comedian Louis C.K., the Emmy-nominated show evokes Seinfeld in that it's about "nothing" more than a typically uncomfortable day in the comic's life, but it's more unsettlingly frank than Seinfeld ever was. The show's season three premiere on FX Thursday, which finds Louie fumbling through a breakup, has already-enthusiastic critics going out on a new limb — declaring it the best show on TV. Does a dark comedy about a New York stand-up comedian really eclipse Mad Men, Homeland, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones?
It's certainly the best comedy: A brief snippet of Louis C.K.'s character Louie performing a stand-up routine about nearsightedness "is funnier than most sitcoms are in an entire season," says Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly. That's a credit to Louis C.K.'s remarkable, distinct, and confident creative voice — he writes, directs, and stars in each episode. And the character he's created is truly one of a kind: A "stubborn, lovable, scabrous, frustrating, inspired, weaselly genius." Season three is better than the show's ever been.


"Louie"
And probably TV's best drama, too: Louie belongs in the list of TV's best shows, comedy or drama, because it "often succeeds as both," says Verne Gay at Newsday. It's the rare show that "can't make up its mind whether life's a comedy or tragedy, and so usually just settles for a tie — life is both." Long stretches of "ferociously vulgar" humor (think masturbation jokes) are balanced by story lines, like one involving Parker Posey as a new love interest, which play "like some long art-house meditation." Even when there's no obvious punch line, Louie is extremely effective, grade-A viewing.


"Louie: Funny life for C.K. Louis"


It may not be for everybody: There's a spot-on moment in the new season when Louie has an awkward run-in with a hotel lifeguard who discovers that Louie does stand-up and asks, "Are you funny?" says Troy Patterson at Slate. The thing is: "Louis is, but Louie isn't." The show is admittedly "risky and rewarding," walking a fine line between explicit comedy and moral seriousness. But even a blatantly funny moment — like an "aggressively bawdy" sex scene with Oscar-winner Melissa Leo — "is shot through with melancholy." It's funny like Samuel Beckett is funny, exploring a tonal range that those who prefer to watch Anger Management may not enjoy.


"That's not funny"

Consensus: Few shows on TV take as many risks with tone and pacing that Louie does. Still, the prickly humor may not sit well with everyone.


Even with an avalanche of hype, Louis CK will never achieve any kind of mainstream success past Louie.  This, of course, does not mean he won't be successful.  He will.  This does not mean his talent will fade or mutate or become irrelevant.  It won't.  It does not mean he will sell out for a bigger piece of the pie.  He won't. 

The really funny and terribly awkward and achingly vulnerable facets of his personality are all out on display, for all to see.  What makes him genuine and amazing also are what limits his mainstream appeal.  Having full creative control over every moment of Louie, I'm guessing Louis CK doesn't give a fuck about superstar status, but he would like his vison seen by appreciative eyes, whatever that number turns out to be.

I am very much in awe of Louis CK and his brilliant television program.

Two From Television

And two from The Onion, too!


Fewer people watched Community last night, but it's still doing better than it was  Excerpts:


After such a strong return, Community’s ratings experienced a probably inevitable correction last night, dropping by about 20 percent from around 5 million viewers to around 3.9 million, with a 1.7 ratings share among adults 18 to 49.
Yet:
These are slightly higher numbers than the show was pulling in the fall, and in fact, Community was the overall ratings winner on NBC’s Thursday night, outscoring both 30 Rock and Up All Night (to say nothing of the increasingly spiraling Awake). Combining that small yet significant audience bump with that small yet significant victory, as well as Comedy Central’s recent move to put Community into syndication—and of course, all of those animated GIFs you’ve been making—we’d say it all bodes well for the show’s chances ..


Best comedy on Network/Basic Cable television among several funny comedies.  Not only "Best," but "Funny" too.  Six seasons and a movie.  Yes, please!


Speaking of Awake..  “Kate Is Enough”   The AV Club (The Onion).  Excerpts:


We don’t really know which world is real and which is the fantasy; we don’t even know if this is the right question to be asking. One of the smartest creative choices Awake has made so far is the show’s willingness not to dig too deeply into its premise. 
..
As genre protagonists go, Michael is of the stoic variety. At first glance, he appears calm, patient, and mildly befuddled by life, like someone’s just told a joke he doesn’t quite get. It’s easy to overlook the effectiveness of Jason Isaacs' performance, because he isn’t doing a lot of obvious heavy-lifting. Why should he? Hannah and Rex are the ones who are suffering; they’re the ones who lost someone. For Michael, life is pretty much the same as it’s always been. Things are just a little more complicated.



Except that isn’t true, and the more you watch Isaacs, and get to know Michael, the more you realize he knows it. Awake benefits from not poking its premise too hard, and this single-mindedness stems directly from the show’s leading man. He’s a sleepwalker, moving from scene to scene with his eyes half-open, because his only objective is to sustain this new reality for as long as he can. Other genre shows introduce a strange premise and then provide a hero whose central goal is to solve the mystery; here, we have someone who would sacrifice all he has just to make sure that mystery stays in place. Usually, that’s the antagonist’s job, which sets up the potential for an interesting dynamic down the line, but for right now, it’s enough that Michael’s objective is to make whatever is happening to him work for as long as he possibly can, and to do that, he needs to balance the demands of two worlds, maintain his composure, and do his job in both, while at the same time avoiding any substantial divergence or change. And once again, I am impressed by the perfection of this as a metaphor for grief: a hero who spends his every waking minute trying to stand still.
And:
At some point, the show will most likely come to some sort of conclusion about what’s “real” and what isn’t, but for right now, we’re in a nebulous place where nothing is exactly real, but everything matters anyway. Because of this, the episode at times is less like a cop drama, and more like watching a man’s internal struggles played out in real time.


Awake is unfolding beautifully.  It'll be a shame when NBC cancels it.  If I made the programming decisions(keeping the same shows minus The Office swapped for Up All Night/all times Central..)?  Awake 7-8. Up All Night at  8.  Parks and Recreation at 8:30.  30 Rock at 9.  Community at 9:30.  Awake is no longer up against  The Mentalist, and now up against Big Bang.  The big difference is there's now a genre choice between. NBC and CBS the entire night!  Just by taking Community away from Big Bang's dominant 7p.m. slot, NBC could grow Community pretty quickly.  Let's face it, if The Mentalist sucks that night, or it's a re-run, that's a ton of people right there!  NBC should really consider some long term growth in aspects of their programming.  CBS owns the ratings every Thursday.  But I think NBC has better shows.  They just need the opportunity to grow until more people find out about them.  NBC has the programming.  In order to beat CBS on Thursdays, NBC needs patience.


The type of people who love The Mentalist would also love Awake.  Now they don't compete!  Person of Interest is a clear choice from Up All Night and Parks and Recreation.  If it were me, I'd definitely give the people who love 30 Rock and Community the chance to get home late and still see two of their favorite shows before The News.  Research indicates Community fans are more urban and get home later in the evening.  It seems like a perfect fit for both shows.  Note:  As 30 Rock is in its sixth season, it is not new, but has never connected, even initially, with a larger core audience in its single slot.  Now that both WGN and Comedy Central have picked it up, people are starting to Get It.  People's awareness of 30 Rock is just now where it should have been all along.  That is the premise to build upon..

Patience, successful-despite-yourself corporate-lunkheads; Patience..