Louis C.K. on His New Show: "It's Like Being a Dictator"
Louie - Louis C.K.
For funnyman Louis C.K., having the final say in the production of his new FX comedy series, Louie, is key.
"When you have a writing staff, you have a community of people you have to convince of everything," C.K. says. "It's like being a dictator."
Check out Louie clips
The single- camera comedy, premiering Tuesday at 11/10c, features a combination of stand-up routines and random sketches starring the 42-year-old comedian. The show, which C.K. also executive produces, writes and directs, is loosely based on his life as a stand-up comedian and newly single father of two little girls.
"It's kind of like an autobiographical fiction. It's like I'm playing myself, but none of these things have happened to me," says C.K., whose last name comes from the phonetic pronunciation of his birth surname, Szekely. "Like I have a brother on the show, but I don't in reality. I just thought it would be interesting to have a one for a little while."
Just like C.K.'s stand-up, the show's storylines certainly aren't suitable for the kiddies. In the pilot, for example, C.K. is flashed by a nutty elderly woman while waiting for a date — a situation that later becomes painfully awkward when Louie discusses his daughter's infected vagina with the young woman he is trying to woo.
"Some of the storylines get pretty weird," says C.K. "There's one where I'm on a date with a girl, and a high school bully intimidates me. He picks a fight, and I back down. So, she leaves because it's a turn off for her. So, I follow the bully home, tell his parents what he did, and the parents beat him up."
The comedy will also feature such familiar faces as Bobby Cannavale, Pamela Adlon (who played C.K.'s wife in his 2006 HBO comedy Lucky Louie) and the C.K.'s Invention of Lying co-star, Ricky Gervais, as a doctor with an extremely crass sense of humor.
Watch a clip of Gervais in Louie
"Ricky is on the third episode and he comes back again later in the season," says C.K. "It's hilarious."