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Louis C.K. On <em>Horace & Pete</em> Episode 2: "This Show Is Not A 'Comedy'...I Dunno What It Is"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 6, 2016
Modified Feb 6, 2016
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 6, 2016
Modified Feb 6, 2016
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Just as promised, the second episode of Louis C.K.'s strange, melancholy, stagey new web series, Horace and Pete, was put online this morning. It's a little bit shorter than the premiere (51 minutes as opposed to the 67-minute pilot), and features much of the same cast as the first episode—this time out, there's a lot more Jessica Lange, and also a couple new bar regulars, including one played by Maria Dizzia, who C.K. fans might recognize as Delores, the blueberry-obsessed woman whom C.K. went to Ikea with on Louie. Go here to buy it (for just $2).
In an email Thursday, C.K. explained the process behind the show ("Part of the idea behind launching it on the site was to create a show in a new way and to provide it to you directly and immediately") as well as his desire to give fans the experience of discovery with it, not offering any outside input on what kind of show it would be, nor what it's even about.
As we put it last week, it comes across like C.K.'s unique take on Cheers (plus a dash of Death Of A Salesman), with an emphasis on the depressing realities of life for barflies and bartending lifers. Thanks to the work of Alan Alda and the other amazing members of the cast (Steve Buscemi, Aidy Bryant, Edie Falco), it can be funny at times, in a very absurd, Louie-circa-season 3 way.
And in his latest charming email about the project, C.K. offered a few of his own thoughts about what the show is (or rather, isn't):
Hi there people and dogs who watch tv.
Horace and Pete episode 2 is available for download.
This episode is $2.
Warning: this show is not a "comedy". I dunno what it is. It can be funny. And also not. Both. I believe that "funny" works best in its natural habitat. Right in the jungle along with "awful", "sad", "confusing" and "nothing".
I just think it's fair this one time to warn you since you have every right to expect a comedy from a comedian. I will not warn you again. Anyway it's 2 dollars this week. Take a shot.
...
Go to your mothers house if you want to see a smile. No matter who you are, you don't go see her enough.
Have a great weekend.
Louis C.K.
Tagged
comedy
horace and pete
louis c.k.
web series
original
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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