goodfellas30 — 13 years ago(August 23, 2012 11:18 AM)

Don't get me wrong I love Louis CK and the show Louie but I can't help to feel that everything he's done on TV has been done before.
First is Lucky Louie, which came out in 2005. The whole point was to deconstruct the sit-com structure and bring a edgy attitude towards it. Sounds like a good idea only if it hadn't been done 4 years earlier by Matt Stone and Trey Parker with That's My Bush. It was a total riff on the cheesy sit-com structure and broke it down with controversial issues like abortion and gun control.
Both are the same concept executed differently. And, to be honest, That's My Bush is better.
Now we have Louie on FX. The concept is how daily life finds its way into his stand-up routine. Hence, we have the short stand-up bits before/after each episode. This is the exact same concept as Seinfeld. Of course, Seinfeld eventually abandoned that original concept but we still have the same stand-up bits during the tag and teaser of early episodes.
The only thing differentiating the two shows is that Louie has some absurdist elements and cringe humor. People also praise the structure of Louie which is often told in two vignettes. Is that really innovative? Is he really changing anything? Turn on any Saturday morning cartoon and you can see the same structure at work.
Like I said, he is a tremendous comedian. In my opinion, he's one of the all time best. Yet, everything he's done on television has been done before. While the shows are still great, I don't know why people are claiming he's innovating TV.
It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.