Since the debut of Louie in 2010, writer-director Louis CK has been determined to break from the conventions of screen comedy. It seems that every move he makes inspires a change in the ever-evolving medium of television sitcoms. Just as his recent work in Horace And Pete felt unique while still speaking to a familiar multi-camera sitcom form, the innovative comedy of Louie has always felt surprisingly classic.
Charlie Chaplin once said, “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot,” and that matches the sensibility of Louie, a show that is capable of re-contextualizing the big-picture silliness of the silent era. To take the parallel a step further, we gave CK the Chaplin treatment, recasting scenes from CK’s show with an early 20th century look. The comedy holds up so well that it’s clear Louis CK would have been brilliant in any era.