Louis CK Headshot - H 2014
AP Images/InvisionLouis C.K. isn’t worried by talk that Louie was too serious last season.
“I like telling these stories,” C.K. said Sunday at the Television Critics Association press tour. “My favorite work that I see in TV and movies have both [comedy and drama]. … Things like Raging Bull and Goodfellas — they’re hilarious movies. They’re dramas, but they make me laugh.”
He did promise that his upcoming fifth season of his FX series will focus more on the laughs than its previous outing, which earned major buzz for its dramatic scenes.
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“This season is more laugh-centric and funny than season four,” C.K. said. “The feeling I was having when I wrote the season … was a goofy and playful feeling.”
C.K. also tackled a controversial scene from last season in which his character forced a kiss with Pamela Adlon (Pam). The scene caused criticism in some corners, but C.K. said he didn’t intend it to be seen as a commentary on rape.
“It was meant to be funny. To me, she wasn’t scared in the scene. She was annoyed,” C.K. explained. “To me, she was never under my control in the scene. She was never in danger.”
C.K. also addressed one of Louie’s most talked about episodes ever, “So Did the Fat Lady,” which was alternately hailed an important moment in TV for women and criticized for presuming to speak for women. The episode centered on Louie reluctantly going on a date with a woman (Sarah Baker) who was funny and charming but also happened to be overweight.
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“I’ve had times in my life where I’ve been heavy or felt outside of the circle having a good, attractive time in life,” C.K. noted. “And so part of me was talking about how it feels for me sometimes — or has. It’s something I wrote in a flow. It came out in one big long spray. And she [Baker] delivered it so beautifully.”
C.K. addressed speculation that he might be thinking about his film future. He said he was putting everything he could into Louie, likening the idea of saving things for a film as being like an athlete saving good plays for next season when he was on a different team.
“You don’t save your home runs for another team. My best ideas — I’m doing them now,” C.K. said.
FX continues to deepen its relationship with C.K. It picked up to pilot Better Things, created by and starring Adlon and directed by C.K. It will also televise C.K.’s next stand-up comedy special, after it debuts on his website.
The eight-episode season five of Louie is slated to premiere on Thursday, April 9, at 10:30 p.m.
Email: Aaron.Couch@THR.com
Twitter: @AaronCouch
