Lucky Louie
| Lucky Louie | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Louis C.K. |
| Directed by | Gary Halvorson (pilot) Andrew D. Weyman |
| Starring | Louis C.K. Pamela Adlon Kelly Gould Mike Hagerty Jim Norton Laura Kightlinger Rick Shapiro Jerry Minor Kim Hawthorne |
| Theme music composer | Mark Rivers |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (1 unaired)[1] (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Louis C.K. Mike Royce Vic Kaplan Dave Becky |
| Producer(s) | Leo Clarke |
| Editor(s) | Brian Schnuckel |
| Cinematography | Bruce L. Finn |
| Camera setup | Multiple-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | HBO |
| Original run | June 11, 2006 – August 27, 2006 |
Lucky Louie is an American television sitcom created by Louis C.K., which aired on HBO for one season in 2006. In addition to being the creator, writer and executive producer of the series, C.K. starred as the eponymous Louie, a part-time mechanic. The show revolves around the life of Louie, who lives with his wife, Kim, who is a full-time nurse (played by Pamela Adlon), and their four-year-old daughter, Lucy (Kelly Gould). A first for HBO, Lucky Louie was filmed before a live studio audience, in a multiple-camera setup.[2]
HBO ordered 12 episodes of the series which aired during the 2006 summer season. In addition, eight scripts for a second season were ordered.[3] In September 2006, however, HBO announced that the show had been canceled.[4]
Creator Louis C.K. has claimed that the show's swift cancellation was not primarily attributed to ratings, and that the show rated higher than Deadwood.[5] In Canada, Lucky Louie was shown on Movie Central, The Movie Network, and on The Comedy Network.
Lucky Louie is, at first glance, a classic-style situation comedy inspired by Norman Lear's classic shows. It features a three-camera shoot in front of a live audience with no artificial laugh track, much like the classic sitcoms of the 1970s such as All in the Family. In premise, Lucky Louie is similar to other classic sitcoms like All in the Family or Roseanne, telling the story of an unsophisticated working-class family. In interviews, Louis C.K. criticized other sitcoms for making the settings too elaborate and decided to have his show's sets look simple, shallow, and spartan. The show deals with serious mature topics like sex and racism, uses adult language, and displays nudity.
The cast of Lucky Louie is notable for including performers better known for stand-up comedy than acting, including Jim Norton, Laura Kightlinger, Nick DiPaolo, Todd Barry and Rick Shapiro.
Contents
Plot[edit]
The series revolves around Louie who lives with his wife, Kim, and their four-year-old daughter, Lucy. Louie works part-time at the local muffler shop owned by his friend Mike. Kim is a full-time registered nurse at a hospital and is the family's breadwinner.
Cast[edit]
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Louis C.K. | Louie | Protagonist |
| Pamela Adlon | Kim | Louie's wife |
| Kelly Gould | Lucy | Louie's & Kim's daughter |
| Michael G. Hagerty | Mike | Louie's employer and friend |
| Laura Kightlinger | Tina | Mike's wife |
| Jerry Minor | Walter | Louie's & Kim's neighbor |
| Kim Hawthorne | Ellen | Walter's wife |
| Rick Shapiro | Jerry | Kim's brother |
| Jim Norton | Rich | Louie's friend |
Crew[edit]
Louis C.K. served as creator, star, head writer and executive producer. Mike Royce served as showrunner and executive producer. Other executive producers included Dave Becky and Vic Kaplan. Writers included C.K. and Royce, Kit Boss (Co-Executive Producer), Patricia Breen (Executive Story Editor), Jon Ross (Executive Story Editor), Mary Fitzgerald (Staff Writer), Greg Fitzsimmons (Staff Writer), Dan Mintz (Staff Writer), Dino Stamatopoulos (writer), and Aaron Shure (Consulting Producer), formerly of Everybody Loves Raymond.
The theme, entitled "Lucky Louie Theme", was composed by Mark Rivers. Animated title sequence by David Tristman
Andrew D. Weyman served as the series' main director. Producers on the show were Leo Clarke and Andrew D. Weyman. Associate producer was Ralph Paredes. Consulting producer was Tracy Katsky.
Episodes[edit]
Season 1: 2006[edit]
| # | Title | Directed by[6] | Written by[6] | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Gary Halvorson | Louis C.K. | June 11, 2006 |
| Kim's offer of a week full of sex arouses Louie's suspicions of her motives; Louie tries to befriend his neighbor, Walter. | ||||
| 2 | "Kim's O" | Andrew D. Weyman | Dan Mintz & Aaron Shure | June 18, 2006 |
| Having led Kim into uncharted sexual terrain, Louie is asked to rekindle the magic—or face the consequences. | ||||
| 3 | "A Mugging Story" | Andrew D. Weyman | Patricia Breen | June 25, 2006 |
| Kim tries to turn the tables on a young mugger, but instead ends up forcing Louie into the role of night watchman. | ||||
| 4 | "Long Weekend" | Andrew D. Weyman | Louis C.K. | July 2, 2006 |
| With the Fourth of July approaching, Louie impulsively spends Kim's picnic money on an expensive Frankenstein doll he bought over the internet. | ||||
| 5 | "Control" | Andrew D. Weyman | Dino Stamatopoulos | July 9, 2006 |
| Concerned about Louie's bad eating habits, Kim puts him on a healthy diet that only aggravates the problem. | ||||
| 6 | "Flowers for Kim" | Andrew D. Weyman | Jon Ross | July 16, 2006 |
| After an argument with Kim, Louie calls his wife a cunt, leading to an abrupt end to what was supposed to be a sex-filled weekend. | ||||
| 7 | "Discipline" | Andrew D. Weyman | Story: Pamela Adlon & Louis C.K. Teleplay: Louis C.K. |
July 23, 2006 |
| Louie and Kim ask for Walter's help in correcting Lucy's rude behavior. | ||||
| 8 | "Get Out" | Andrew D. Weyman | Mike Royce | July 30, 2006 |
| Tina's rebellious daughter Shannon walks out of her mother's life and ends up walking into Louie and Kim's. | ||||
| 9 | "Drinking" | Andrew D. Weyman | Kit Boss | August 6, 2006 |
| After Louie decides to attend a basketball game with Mike and Rich instead of taking care of his sick daughter, he is arrested for DUI. | ||||
| 10 | "Confession" | Andrew D. Weyman | Mary Fitzgerald & Aaron Shure | August 13, 2006 |
| Forced to go to church after pawning Lucy off on Ellen, Louie finds an unexpected ear for his gripes in the confessional booth. | ||||
| 11 | "Louie Quits" | Andrew D. Weyman | Dan Mintz | August 20, 2006 |
| After discovering that the only reason he got a raise in his job (and got hired to begin with) was due to the "charity" of his wife and friends, Louie quits and looks for new work. | ||||
| 12 | "Kim Moves Out" | Andrew D. Weyman | Louis C.K. | August 27, 2006 |
| Kim realizes that she hates Louie and decides to move out. | ||||
| 13 | "Clowntime Is Over" | Andrew D. Weyman | Jon Ross | Unaired |
| Series finale. After Bingo the clown doesn't turn up to Lucy's party, Louie is forced to become "Mr. Pizza Box Man" to the enjoyment of all the children. Other families start contracting his services. | ||||
Critical Reception[edit]
Lucky Louie received mixed reviews from critics and retains a Metacritic score of 48 out of 100 based on 19 reviews. [7]
DVD release[edit]
HBO released the entire series of Lucky Louie on January 30, 2007.[8] It includes an unaired episode "Clowntime is Over". The DVD also includes four commentaries and a look at the taping of an episode.
Controversy[edit]
Catholic League[edit]
In August 2006, during the show's run, Bill Donohue, president of the American organization Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, issued a news release about Lucky Louie, calling the series "barbaric".[9] The release provides a bulleted list of content from the show that the organization finds obscene, from the ten episodes that had been broadcast at that time. In January 2007, Louis C.K. was a guest in studio on the Opie & Anthony radio show (co-hosted by Jim Norton, who plays Rich on Lucky Louie). Donohue appeared on the show as a phone-in guest that day, and C.K. started a conversation with him about his comments on Lucky Louie. C.K. challenged Donohue's news release and accused him of misrepresenting the show by taking things out of context. Donohue admitted that even though the press release bears his name, he had never seen an episode of the show.[10][11]
References[edit]
- ^ "Lucky Louie - The Complete First Season". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ "About the Show". Lucky Louie website. HBO. 2006. Archived from the original on 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
- ^ retrieved December 10, 2006
- ^ retrieved June 18, 2007
- ^ "Louis C.K. on the Words You Can't Say on FX (NSFW)". Tvsquad.com. 2010-06-26. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
- ^ a b DVD insert
- ^ "Lucky Louie - Season 1 Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. 2006-06-11. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
- ^ retrieved December 10, 2006
- ^ "HBO's "Lucky Louie" is Barbaric". Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. August 14, 2006. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
- ^ Hosts: Hughes, Gregg; Cumia, Anthony; Norton, Jim (January 24, 2007). "Show of January 24, 2007". The Opie & Anthony Show. Textual recap of the show: User "Struff" (September 1, 2008). "1.24.07 SHOW RECAP: Louis CK In Studio, Bill Donohue On Phone". Retrieved February 7, 2011.
- ^ C.K., Louis (January 24, 2007). "catholiclouie". Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
External links[edit]
- Lucky Louie at the Internet Movie Database
- Lucky Louie at TV.com
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