| Lucky Louie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Sitcom Slice of life |
| Created by | Louis C.K. |
| Starring | Louis C.K. Pamela Adlon Kelly Gould Mike Hagerty Jim Norton Laura Kightlinger Rick Shapiro Jerry Minor Kim Hawthorne |
| Composer | Mark Rivers |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (1 unaired)[1] (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Louis C.K. Mike Royce Vic Kaplan Dave Becky |
| Producer | Leo Clarke |
| Cinematography | Bruce L. Finn |
| Editor | Brian Schnuckel |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 21-30 minutes |
| Production companies | Circus King 3 Arts Entertainment Snowpants Productions HBO Entertainment HBO Independent Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | HBO |
| Release | June 11 (2006-06-11) – August 27, 2006 (2006-08-27) |
Lucky Louie is an American television sitcom created by Louis C.K., which aired on HBO in the U.S. for one season in 2006 — and in Canada on Movie Central, The Movie Network, and The Comedy Network. As the show's creator, writer and executive producer, C.K. also starred as the eponymous central character, a part-time mechanic at a muffler shop.
A first for HBO, Lucky Louie was filmed before a live studio audience, in a multiple-camera setup.[2] Inspired by Norman Lear's sitcoms, the show depicts the life of an average working class family while using spartan sets and wardrobe. Dealing with a range of topics including sex and racism, the series uses considerable adult language and featured guest stars best known as stand-up comedians, including Jim Norton, Laura Kightlinger, Nick DiPaolo, Todd Barry and Rick Shapiro.
HBO ordered 12 episodes, which aired during the 2006 summer season, as well as eight scripts for a second season,[3] before canceling the show in September 2006[4] — for numerous reasons ranging from the nature of the show to network economic pressure.[5]
The show follows the life of Louie, a working class part-time mechanic at a muffler shop owned by his best friend Mike; Louie's wife, Kim, a full-time nurse and the family breadwinner (Pamela Adlon); and their four-year-old daughter, Lucy (Kelly Gould).
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Louis C.K. | Louie | Everyman |
| 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 |
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. The animated title sequence was by David Tristman.
Andrew D. Weyman served as the series' main director. Producers on the show were Leo Clarke and Andrew D. Weyman. The associate producer was Ralph Paredes. and the consulting producer was Tracy Katsky.
| No. | Title | Directed by [6] | Written by [6] | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Gary Halvorson | Louis C.K. | June 11, 2006 (2006-06-11) | |
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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 (2006-06-18) | |
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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 (2006-06-25) | |
|
Kim tries to turn the tables on a young mugger, but instead ends up forcing Louie into the role of night watchman.
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| 4 | "Long Weekend" | Andrew D. Weyman | Louis C.K. | July 2, 2006 (2006-07-02) | |
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With the Fourth of July approaching, Louie impulsively spends Kim's picnic money on an expensive Frankenstein's monster doll he bought over the internet.
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| 5 | "Control" | Andrew D. Weyman | Dino Stamatopoulos | July 9, 2006 (2006-07-09) | |
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Concerned about Louie's bad eating habits, Kim puts him on a healthy diet that only aggravates the problem.
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| 6 | "Flowers for Kim" | Andrew D. Weyman | Jon Ross | July 16, 2006 (2006-07-16) | |
|
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.
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| 7 | "Discipline" | Andrew D. Weyman | Story by : Pamela Adlon & Louis C.K. Teleplay by : Louis C.K. | July 23, 2006 (2006-07-23) | |
|
Louie asks for Walter's help in correcting Lucy's rude behavior.
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| 8 | "Get Out" | Andrew D. Weyman | Mike Royce | July 30, 2006 (2006-07-30) | |
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Tina's rebellious daughter Shannon (Emma Stone) walks out of her mother's life and ends up walking into Louie and Kim's.
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| 9 | "Drinking" | Andrew D. Weyman | Kit Boss | August 6, 2006 (2006-08-06) | |
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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.
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| 10 | "Confession" | Andrew D. Weyman | Mary Fitzgerald & Aaron Shure | August 13, 2006 (2006-08-13) | |
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Forced to go to church after pawning Lucy off on Ellen, Louie finds an unexpected ear for his gripes in the confessional booth.
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| 11 | "Louie Quits" | Andrew D. Weyman | Dan Mintz | August 20, 2006 (2006-08-20) | |
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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.
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| 12 | "Kim Moves Out" | Andrew D. Weyman | Louis C.K. | August 27, 2006 (2006-08-27) | |
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Kim realizes that she hates Louie and decides to move out.
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| 13 | "Clowntime Is Over" | Andrew D. Weyman | Jon Ross | Unaired (Unaired) | |
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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.
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Lucky Louie received mixed reviews from critics and holds a Metacritic score of 47 out of 100 based on 19 reviews.[7]
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.
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]
What did HBO tell you when they let the show go? Ratings are not a big thing for them... No they're not. And they have pressure of different kinds. And at the time, we were hearing a lot of things. One of them was that Warner Brothers was sending word out to every company, that you have to make big cuts. And so I knew that Chris Albrecht was up against it trying to renew us to begin with. I knew he was, he had pressure. And he didn't have enough proof that we were definitely going to keep growing. I think that they are really into critics. I mean, on one hand, NY Times, LA Times, and Shales all loved the show. I mean, those were all positive reviews, and there were others.
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