Offbeat ‘Louie’ laughs at, tackles life’s glum truths

ELLEN Burstyn (left) and Louis CK play neighbors in the fourth season of “Louie.”

American comic Louis CK’s brand of comedy, while unapologetic and scathing, usually offers astute dissections of relevant topics. He’d joke about age, religion or sexuality during his stand-up routine, and would pinpoint very specific situations that baffle him—making people think while they laugh.

The writer-producer-comedian still brings that inimitable thoughtfulness to the fourth season of the offbeat sitcom “Louie,” about a struggling, divorced single dad/comic. CK gets to explore life’s patience-testing moments anew after his character’s chance encounter with an elderly neighbor, Evanka (Ellen Burstyn), leads to his meeting with her visiting niece, Amia (Eszter Balint).

Louie’s previous romance ended rather bleakly and abruptly last season—the quirky Liz (Parker Posey), who had a prior cat-and-mouse “chase” with him, suddenly died of illness. That pretty much summed up how arbitrary and random Louie’s life can get—and how dark the show is willing to go, from time to time.

But Season Four is mostly about renewed optimism, first with the appearance of Amia, and later, the return of Louie’s brash close friend Pamela (Pamela Adlon).

He actually gets to connect with a hot model (Yvonne Strahovski) in the second episode, although it ends rather oddly, in typical “Louie” fashion.

Undiluted

CK, apart from penning and acting in the half-hour episodes, directs them as well, so his vision for the show is undiluted, allowing him to consciously veer away from typical narrative structures.

“PROJECT Runway Philippines” host-judge Tweetie de Leon-Gonzalez

The character gets to grow, somewhat, during the season—which is refreshing, mainly because, despite the occasional nasty antagonists, Louie is sometimes resistant to change and can be his own worst enemy.

And while it’s a non-traditional comedy show, again, it gets pretty serious on occasion. The two-parter “In the Woods,” centering on addiction, deeply affects while taking a non-judgmental stance. In the first part, Louie catches his daughter Lilly (Hadley Delany) smoking pot, bringing back memories of his own history with drug use. The episodes are dedicated to actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of an accidental overdose in 2014.

“In the Woods,” despite the tricky and sensitive subject, is excellently translated and executed, losing none of the intended messages. Likewise, the episode “So Did the Fat Lady,” which is about Louie re-assessing his standards of beauty when an overweight woman asks him out, is one of the show’s more thought-provoking stories.

So while it does get glum and it might possess a more “real” tone than most sitcoms, “Louie” doesn’t hold back, bravely treading awkward and delicate comedic territory to make its audience laugh, and more importantly, to make those viewers truly think, long after the giggles.

(The show airs Fridays, 9:40 p.m. on Jack TV.)

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‘Project Runway’

ETC launches the fourth season of “Project Runway Philippines” with 15 new, promising designers from all over the Philippines who hope to become the next global Filipino designer.

OGIE Alcasid (left) and Janno Gibbs are reunited in the variety show “Happy Truck ng Bayan.”

“Project Runway Philippines Season 4” will air Sundays on ETC, 8 p.m., starting June 14.

‘Dare the Younghusbands’

Football stars Phil and James Younghusband take on sports challenges in their weekly TV5 reality show, “Dare the Younghusbands,” which will air tomorrow and on June 27 at 2:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on succeeding Saturdays, on TV5.

Watch the brothers tackle sports that they are not accustomed to, including basketball, volleyball, and jiu jitsu.

‘Happy Truck ng Bayan’

GRANT Bowler in “Amazing Race Australia”

Ogie Alcasid and Janno Gibbs will host TV5’s game and musical variety show, “Happy Truck ng Bayan, ” which features a hydraulic truck that travels to different locations and transforms into a stage.

The show will premiere on June 14 at 11 a.m.

‘Amazing Race Australia’
Eleven teams tackle obstacles and cross four continents, 12 countries and 23 cities in “The Amazing Race Australia Season 2,” airing Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 9 p.m. on Lifetime.