The original post: /r/television by /u/widmerpool_nz on 2025-05-03 09:47:02.
Louis C.K. created, wrote and starred in this drama that he also distributed originally via his own website rather than through the traditional TV studio or streaming model and it is still available to buy now. The cast includes:
- Alan Alda
- Steve Buscemi
- Edie Falco
- Jessica Lange
And such good actors do show that Louis C.K. is not on the same level as they are. He has this stilted speech and unmoving arms that show he’s not a natural.
It’s set in a Brooklyn(?) bar named Horace and Pete as there has been one Horace and one Pete working there since it opened. The area is gentrifying and some interested parties want to sell and others don’t. There’s a steady stream of strange older regulars and also the younger crowd venture in occasionally.
The one character I didn’t like was Alan Alda’s. Don’t get me wrong, I know the character was written that way and Alda is the greatest of actors but the character he plays is just so one dimensional. There’s just no nuance there. My favourite actor in the show is stand-up comic Steven Wright, who plays that drunken philosopher that all dive bars seem to have.
It feels much more like a stage play with its limited scenery and its long duologues and monologues: the 8 minute opening speech to episode 3 by Laurie Metcalf is really good.
I’m glad I rewatched it and I am distancing the art from the artist as this came out in 2016 before the allegations about him in 2017 but here I am rewatching it in 2025. He’s not getting any more money from me after I paid before and it’s good that I could download it and have it to watch any time I like unlike streaming services that can take shows away at will. I applaud him for trying something quite different and it’s worth a watch.