Louie (season 1)

The series is loosely based on Louis C.K.'s life, showing him as a comic onstage, and depicting his life offstage as a newly divorced father of two girls. Each episode features either two stories that may or may not connect thematically, or a longer full-episode story (often consisting of numerous connected shorter pieces), all of which revolve around Louie. The pieces are interspersed with segments of C.K.'s stand-up comedy, usually performed in small New York comedy clubs, mainly the Comedy Cellar and Carolines in Manhattan. The stand-up in the show consists of original material recorded for the series, and is usually shot from the stage rather than from the more traditional audience perspective. Sometimes these comedy segments are integrated into the stories themselves, other times they simply serve to bookend them with a loosely connected topic. In Season 1, short awkward conversations between Louie and his therapist are also shown occasionally.

Episodes in the series have standalone plots, although some recurring roles (Louie's playdate friend Pamela, portrayed by Pamela Adlon, his co-star from Lucky Louie) occasionally provide story arc continuity between episodes. Continuity is not enforced; there were two very different characters and actresses that served as Louie's mother in separate episodes. Episode 7, "Double Date/Mom" portrays a very unpleasant woman as Louie's mother, played by Mary Louise Wilson. By contrast, in episode 10, "God", a flashback to Louie's childhood shows the young Louie's mother as a very different woman with a nice personality, played by Amy Landecker. Landecker portrayed present-day Louie's date earlier in the season, in episode 9, "Bully". As C.K. explained, "Every episode has its own goal, and if it messes up the goal of another episode, [...] I just don't care."[3] Some stories also take place outside of the series timeline, such as "God", which depicts Louie's childhood, and "Oh Louie", which shows the comedian 9 years earlier in his career.

The pilot episode includes segments on a school field trip and an awkward first date, with subsequent episodes covering a diverse range of material including divorce, sex, depression, sexual orientation, and Catholic guilt.

The stage of the Comedy Cellar often shown on the series.

C.K. accepted the modest offer of $200,000 (covering his own fee as well as production costs) to do a pilot with FX over prospective production deals with larger networks because they allowed him full executive control of the show. The show is shot on a Red camera setup, and C.K. edits many of the episodes on his personal laptop.[4][5] In addition to starring, C.K. serves as the series' sole writer and director, an unusual distinction in television production.

"I went [to Hollywood] and I had other networks offering me a lot of money to do a pilot, and I got this call from FX and they said 'Well, we can't offer you a lot of money, but if you do the show for us, you can have a lot of fun.' He was offering me $200,000 as the budget for the whole pilot and I was like 'So, what do I get paid?' and he was like 'No, that's the whole thing, $200,000...' I said 'Look, the only way I'm doing this is if you give me the $200,000 -- wire it to me in New York -- and I'll give you a show. But I'm not pitching it, and I'm not writing a script and sending it to you first.'"

Production began in November 2009. Louis C.K. said of his show, "It's very vignette-y. It's very vérité. All those French words. I use 'em all."[6] C.K.'s Lucky Louie co-star Pamela Adlon serves as consulting producer of the series.[7]

• Louie at IMDb