More Shows to Watch in June: Louie and Wilfred

Tonight on FX you can see two odd shows that probably could not appear on the major networks.  Louie, now in its second season, should continue to be fun ride.  Last season was at times insightful, other times disturbing, and always surprising.  In a recent interview with Slate magazine, the single dad of two daughters spoke a little bit about bringing his family stories to the program:

Slate: Are the bits you do about your daughters generally true? Did your daughter actually get bitten by a pony?


Louis C.K.: My daughter really did get bit by a pony, and so that was true, and I felt like a piece of shit, and she really was very positive about it. I do feel a lot of times like I'm out of my league with my kids in terms of what my responsibility is. Those parts are true. As far as when I make them behave badly on stage and in my show, that's all fiction. My kids are really easy. I often worry that they're too easy to deal with. They're really nice people. But that just wouldn't be as entertaining, so I just leave that part out.

The entire series is basically a one-man operation, from writing to filming.  And what he produces on his own is so much better than what a troop of writers can put together.  It's raw yet impressive, and worth tuning in.

As far as Wilfred, this is Elijah Wood's first attempt to cross over into TV from film using this Australian hit as his vehicle.  The idea of Wood's suicide-prone character Ryan dealing with a man in a dog suit, who everyone else sees as an actual dog, is admittedly a fresh idea for a television series. However, talking animals (and puppets) have not always made for good TV.  As I noted earlier, it this is Alf again it is toast.  But should it become a fresh look at a struggling man coming to terms with his inner turmoil, it could be both a funny and edgy program.

Update:  Having watched the first four episodes of each program, I recommend both to viewers.  Louis C.K. maintains its strange freshness, from the very dark episode of a homeless man's bizarre death to his sister's odd stomach pains to his one night stand with Jone Rivers.  Trying to predict the direction of this show is an impossible task.  Wilfred is a odd yet endearing show.  It is a perfect role for Elijah Wood, who plays the geeky lovelorn neighbor.  And his canine friend Wilfred is a conniving, drug-addled "best friend" who can quickly slip into the most lovable and familiar behavior, from chasing his tail to pursuing a laser light.  The content and language is not family safe by any stretch of the imagination, but it makes for fun nighttime viewing.