ONE SEASON WONDERS: The Louie Show

On Wednesdays, I look at shows that lasted on season or less. Today I am looking at 1990s flop The Louie Show!

THE LOUIE SHOW

Programming Details:
January 31, 1996 - March 6, 1996
5 episodes
CBS

Starring: Louie Anderson, Bryan Cranston, Paul Feig, Kate Hodge, Laura Innes, Nancy Becker Kennedy
Created by: Matt Goldman & Louie Anderson

Plot: Dr. Louie Lundgren (Anderson) is a psychotherapist in Duluth, Minnesota. A little curmudgeonly, he deals with his those around him including best friend Curt (Cranston), colleagues Jake (Feig) and Helen (Kennedy) and potential roommate Gretchen (Hodge). Also in the main cast is Curt's wife, Sandy (Innes).

Brief Pilot Review:
In the 1990s, almost every stand-up comic that had any success at all ended up with a sitcom. This was Louie Anderson's turn. The comic started things off in Seinfeld fashion with him doing a little bit with the audience before the filming of the sitcom. This show had a tremendous cast with many who have gone on to have lots of success. The cast makes this show a little stronger than a generic short-lived sitcom. Bryan Cranston, Paul Feig and Laura Innes all have good moments in the pilot. However, this show rises and falls with Anderson and he is uneven at best. The show starts with a very poorly delivered line to a guy outside Louie's place doing a roofing estimate and that gets it off to a rough start. 

Louie was best when he was interacting with his patients. It had a little bit of a Bob Newhart Show feel but Anderson is not as much of a natural straight man as Newhart. He's a little bit odd throughout the pilot because sometimes I feel like he goes too big with a line but other times he seems to underplay things too much. He just didn't have the rhythm necessary to carry a multi-camera sitcom but I do think this ensemble could have been special if they had been given time. On a negative note, the show probably could have reduced the number of fat jokes. On a positive note, the show does a nice job of making the show feel very much in its unique setting of Duluth, Minnesota.

What Went Wrong:

The Louie Show premiered less than a year after Life With Louie, which was a critically acclaimed and successful Saturday morning cartoon led by Louie Anderson. Between that and a fair number of success stories of stand-up comics leaping to sitcoms, expectations had to be at least reasonably high that The Louie Show could be a successful midseason replacement after a dreadful fall for CBS. It aired on Wednesday nights after Dave's World, replacing another vehicle for a stand up comedian (Bless This House starring the controversial Andrew Dice Clay).

It wasn't meant to be though as it made it just five episodes before being yanked off the air. Part of it was CBS just didn't have many cornerstones to launch new comedies (ABC and NBC were far more successful in that department at that time) and part of it was the show just didn't catch on. It received pretty negative reviews as Variety called it "weak and community theatre style" and the Baltimore Sun called it a Bob Newhart Show wannabe. Anderson went on to success as host of Family Feud from 1999-2002 and then an Emmy-winning turn in FX's Baskets. And of course I shouldn't have to tell you what happened to Bryan Cranston and Paul Feig.

Tomorrow: A recap of Rhoda!

Next Wednesday: A look at 2000s flop Jack & Bobby!