Film & TV

Louie: like Seinfeld, but with swearing

Tim Arbabzadah tries to not look like a hipster as he reviews a slightly obscure show

Louie: like Seinfeld, but with swearing

Louie is directed, written, edited by, and starring Louis C.K. The show is basically him; in fact, I’ve heard an interview that says he helps with the cinematography as well. I’m not exactly sure how to describe the look of the show, but I’ll give it a go. It’s shot as a single camera show in the same way as The Thick of It is. That should give you an idea of the sort of visual style to expect, hopefully.

Louie centres around a fictionalised version of Louis C.K (don’t ask about the discrepancy in name spelling, as I have no idea either). Louis C.K is, in real life, a comedian’s comedian, who is very well respected in the comedy world. He’s also got a style that is very funny and accessible. It’s not all pretentious ‘clever’ humour of deconstructing the joke style comedy. I say that because I fear the other sentence made it sound like he was, like, so underground and non-mainstream, man. He really does have jokes that many people will appreciate. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m trying hard to not sound a bit douchey. I’m probably failing. Anyway, in the show, Louie is a comedian who is well respected and doing okay, but not exactly thriving. He has two daughters and is divorced. It’s difficult to say what the overall plot of the show is, as there isn’t one in the traditional sense. One of the reasons for this lack of a central theme is that Louie is basically the only main character. All other characters make appearances every now and then, but couldn’t really be described as main characters. There is a woman that he likes that doesn’t like him back, but it’s not your traditional sitcom will-they won’t-they although they-obviously-will-eventually vibe. It’s a bit more tragic as he tries a couple of times to go for it and gets batted away each time.

If you can pretend that this is a seamless segue; I want to point out that way too many shows have a fairly predictable basic premise and central plot line: the main character has feelings that are not reciprocated. That’s fine, it’s a common life occurrence that is relatable and can be used to derive humour or drama from. My problem is that most shows play that ultimate they-get-together card too early. The guy gets the girl, then, the show thinks “oh, fuck, hang on, that was our main plot and we’ve been renewed and need to stretch this out into another season. Right, let’s now have something happen and it goes badly, then we can get them back together later on. Oh, here’s a good idea, she gets back together with her jerk, jock boyfriend”. If the guy has got the girl once, the whole ‘she’s so out of his league and is his dream girl’ aspect is like David Cameron’s social conscience: lost.

Every episode of Louie is split into two parts, each being fairly self-contained (absolutely seamless segue back into review mode, right? No, yeah, fair point). This is interspersed with scenes of him doing stand-up in a comedy club (think Seinfeld, but with swearing). Actually, Seinfeld isn’t too bad a comparison, it’s ‘mundane’ in the fact that it’s just about a guy’s life and ‘stuff’ happening. It differs in that it’s occasionally a bit odd. At times it can be bleak, but sometimes the show is, surprisingly, heart-warming. There was an episode where he goes to perform to troops and that has a very uplifting ending. I don’t want to give it away, but it really did make you feel good afterwards.

Louie is also littered with guest stars. Considering the low budget, the quality of guest stars is amazing. I think this shows just how popular Louis C.K is with comedians. Everyone from Amir of Jake and Amir fame to Chris Rock, Dane Cook and Joan Rivers has made an appearance. These guests are always used well, and aren’t just there to show off that he knows famous people.

Basically, Louie is funny, well written, and worth a watch. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think the stand-up routines are something that we can all enjoy, even if you don’t like the rest of the show.