Louie (Thursdays, 10:30/9:30 Central) (FX)

Louie (Thursdays, 10:30/9:30 Central)

FX

Jun 23, 2011 By Kyle Lemmon Web Exclusive

Louis C.K. (or simply Louie) may look like an ordinary, even boorish New York schlub, but his first season of Louie turned heads. He's now one of America's most important standup comedians and naturally he's being honored this summer as "Comedy Person of the Year" at the Just For Laughs Festival. (Romantic comedy juggernaut Judd Apatow took home the prize in 2010.) FX's first season of Louie was a welcome shot in the arm for a stagnant climate of TV comedy. It also naturally built off C.K.'s fine 2006 HBO sitcom, Lucky Louie. The major networks may have a few succulent comedic entrees, but the cable networks serve up more mature and variegated dishes. Louie is such a dish. It's still produced, written, directed, and edited by C.K., in the spirit of another trailblazing FX dark horse, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

And the show is all the better for it. The scripts are sharp and taut, but loose enough for ad-libbing, and C.K.'s single-camera direction has the air of a laidback indie drama. (Note: Louis wrote, produced, and directed the independent film, Tomorrow Night, and he penned and lensed the cult classic Blaxploitation spoof, Pootie Tang.) Louis' acting skills are still a little suspect, but he surrounds himself with great talents. A still-hilarious Joan Rivers pops by to give Louie advice on "Joan" and Californication's Pamela Adlon is excellent throughout as Louie's friend, Pamela. Chinks in the armor during when the first four episodes of this season when Louis tries to teach us life lessons through his comedy instead of simply painting his mundane world with a deviously pitch-black brush.

There are moments in "Bummer/Blueberries" when the laughs come extra slow and the uncomfortably dark elements pool up around your heart so much that the laughs are more nervous chortles than belly-quaking guffaws. (A similarly didactic road block happened with the "God" episode from season one.) Louis is to be applauded for being so adventurous, though. His ability to balance melodrama and comedy is a rare sight, especially on television.

The other episodes on the preview disc FX sent me fare much better. A visit from one of Louie's sisters in "Pregnant" builds to a unforgettable ending. A search for a new home in "Moving" is filled with classically uncomfrtable Louie antics. Co-star Adlon snags some choice lines, too. Both episodes also showcase how earnest and sympathetic the character/real man can be. Per usual, all the stand-up segments shine. Louis' delivery is on-point when he's dismantling parental woes and everyday occurrences on planes, city streets, and kitchens with toilets in them. If you've watched Louis C.K.: Hilarious or Louis C.K.: Chewed Up, you know the kind of comedic territory you'll be dealing with this season. Louie is still wry and smart, but this time his show's misadventures spotlight a respected and contemplative misanthrope instead of a revolutionary firebrand. I'll still tune in because Louie's journey is the journey of the everyman. (www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/louie)

Author rating: 6/10

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Average reader rating: 9/10