I think there is some satire of the style of newscasts in their insincere chirpiness or seriousness and sometimes mismatching of those tones with respect to the news. Also, the incessant redundant repetition of the same information or non-information by multiple reporters.
While the newscast has been pretty exhaustively discussed, I’d like to throw in my two cents. I’ve always liked Louie because it’s a juxtaposition of absurdity with reality. It’s like the television embodiment of Camus. For me, there is something innately hilarious about a bumbling hero continually being confronted with the most absurd things the universe can throw at him and his mundane approach of reacting. The show reminds me a lot of Don Quixote. Every episode he has a windmill he ia hopelessly charging, totally aware of the absurdity of it and yet charging anyway. The newscast just served to underscore how utterly ridiclous trying is in an absurd universe. And yet try he must. The fact that he reacts nobly to what is, at its core, just the petty whimsy of reality is endearing to me. You guys have never watched a newscast and heard the circus music playing in your head as you wonder, " is this shit real? Are they making this up?" Like you wake up, watch the local news, see a factory ohas exploded and there’s an ungodly attractive anchor is telling you this in an inflection no one ever uses in everyday life an d you are suddenly struck with a feeling of unreality and none of it seems real until you walk outside and see the smoke rising in fhe distance?
Watching the hour and half episode of Louie catching his daughter with pot and then reflecting on his teenage years experimenting with pot was well done. As usual, the show was well written and very well acted. Characters were interesting and engaging. A look into Louies life growing up was revealing.
But two things occured to me while I was watching the show:
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It reminded me of an old PBS after school special.
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When did Louie stop doing comedy? And are we seeing Louis transition from a stand up comedian to a raconteur? If so, I will miss the satire.
I’m not sure Louis’s stand up needs to be a part of this show. That just happens to be his job, and we see enough of it from time to time to remind us. This show is really about, I think, how an average, divorced, working class guy deals with raising two kids and reacting to a world that can be, as pointed out by chinchalinchin above, surreal and often futile. I see it as not overcoming adversity, but how you can survive with grace and maybe a little bit of style.
I really enjoyed this past episode. I think we really did need to see what happened to young Louis, and I think that the cast was outstanding, especially the kid who played young Louis and his science teacher. I hope this episode goes in for Emmy consideration.
I thought this was great. Every character was well drawn and seemed real in a short amount of time. It showed how Pot can effect a family without being sensationalizing or preachy. It was also apparently base don his real life since you can fine on YouTube stand up clips of him telling the story of stealing the scales (focusing on the humor aspect of it of course). Some people keep complaining the show isn’t a comedy. It isn’t a comedy. It hasn’t been from the first season. It is a bunch of short films that are sometimes funny and sometimes not and always has been
I loved this episode. I mean, really loved it, as in, sat staring at the screen for a minute or so after it was over. The final moment between Louie and Lily was so just-right, so “Louie.” It didn’t shoot for a huge emotional payoff, and didn’t try to either reinforce or satirize “just-say-no” TV specials. It was about Louie coming to grips with all the things he can’t do for Lily — he can’t explain the weird way that dope-smoking twisted his life around, how he basically got away with it but still ended up feeling bad about it; he can’t make her understand that he’s been where she is, and how that scares him. All he can do, in his schlubby but sincere way, is love her and be there for her. Wonderful stuff.
Yeah. Great episode.
Interestingly I read that the teacher Mr. Hoffman was supposed to be played by PSH but then he od’d ironically.
The guy that actually played the teacher was awesome. He felt real. Jeremy Renner was really good too. All in all a very good hour or tv. I say hour because there was probably only 60min of content between the credits and massive amount of commercials wedges in there.
I really liked the teacher too. And the principal. And the drug dealer. Fantastic characterizations.
For the life of me I couldn’t understand why Louie would ditch a date with a real girl just on his friend’s say-so. At that age had I known there was a cute girl willing to stand close to me there would be no pulling me away, and my friends would be in tune with that.
These episodes were crazy good. Loved all of the casting. I was in full belief that his dad was a Mexican Hungarian-Spanish Jewish person! 
Also, never seen Renner as anything but Hawkeye so it was nice to see him acting different.
There was way too much dating and fucking drama this season. It was nice to get away from that and just explore something else. The show to me is more about a feeling than some sort of story or arc. He can explore anything, any time.
Mostly agree, except with regards to the acting. But, before I explain, let me explain…
I like Louie. A lot. I’ve seen his live stand-up act twice, once in a different city. I’ve been a fan since his days on HBO.
So, I hate that I find some of the acting in the show abysmal. Just awful. Not all of it, but some. One scene that stuck out to me was the first time in the principals office, when young Louie was being accused. The principal and teacher’s lines were delivered as if they were being read. Read poorly. I even paused to comment on it. There were a few other times that I was removed from the show’s reality by the bad acting.
Which brings me to Louie’s acting. Now, many have said that Jerry Seinfeld didn’t “act”, he just “acted like himself”. In this case, I think that sometimes Louie tries to “overact”. Sometimes, I don’t find his reactions or delivery realistic in any way. After he dragged his daughter away from the party, his exclamations of “God! Oh, God!” seemed fake, to me.
And that’s key - “to me”. YMMV, but I wonder if anyone else feels the same?
Anyway, even though the show has (drastically) changed direction, I’m still enjoying the ride.
Edited to add - as bad as I think the acting can be, some scenes are exactly opposite. Like the last scene, when Louie hugged his daughter…it choked me up. And the first intro to the teacher was fantastic. I felt like I was watching an actual teacher and not an actor. So, it really seems the acting is all over the board for me.
I think the halted dialogue is meant to be more realistic because when people say something important they usually think their way through it.
I’m 99% sure it’s on purpose and not bad acting. You can see the teacher or Jeremy Renner acting in other roles where they’re reading his lines at normal TV speed.
This really hit me. I hadn’t come across that before. When I read the dedication at the end of the episode, it really hit me hard.
In part, because it was pretty damned deep and hit a nerve I think in pretty much anyone with some empathy and awareness of the situation.
But also, in part, because as I was watching the episode, I remember thinking about the teacher, “You know who would’ve been really fantastic in that role?” So, if what you say is true… damn.
I can now add Louie’s ass to the list of things I never wanted to see and can now never unsee. :eek:
When the title card said the episode contained nudity I was hoping it was going to be Lizzy Caplan.
I’m with you on the Louie butt, xizor. I was hoping it would be one of the ladies.
So it looks like next season is going to be about Louie, with Pamela’s support, landing himself a TV show. (“Go get yourself a TV show.”) And baths.
I couldn’t help thinking of the water damage to the floor (when Louie got in the tub). Seems like an odd configuration for a bathtub, up on that platform, but maybe it’s a NYC thing. (Or maybe it’s a 'we don’t want to have to shoot down, and we don’t want to have to crouch, so let’s put the tub on a six-inch platform!’ thing.)
But, yeah: I think you’re right about the ‘get a TV show’ theme for the next season. The question is, how long will we have to wait?!?!? 
Now I don’t feel so bad for thinking the same thing about the tub 
I like that Louie just seems to write the episodes like he wants - and shoves them in wherever he feels like. I think the show is a good example of how following one person with a vision is (sometimes) better than a project designed by consensus.
This is such an excellent point.
I would guess that network execs will have the example of this show brought up to them for decades to come, as a response to attempts to meddle.
You’re making the assumption that those types of critters have the capacity to learn. From everything I’ve read, the ones that are able to just present the artist’s project without meddling are few and far between. Almost mythical in their rarity.
I kept waffling between whether they were good for each other or terrible. I am still not sure.
And I agree I have seen enough of Louis CK’s ass for a lifetime.