TV Series: Horace and Pete

Louis C.K. has released so far six episodes of a family drama he wrote & stars in, called "Horace and Pete's." It's about a bar in Brooklyn that he inherited with his brother and sister, and none of them really want to run it. But it's been in the family for 100 years, so they can't just sell it either.

It stars Alan Alda, Steve Buscemi, Jessica Lange, Steven Wright, Edie Falco and some other people.

The show is only available on Louie's website. Episodes cost between $2 and $5.

I just watched the first one. It was intelligent and watchable, although not a comedy by any means. It was serious and sobering.

I just bought the second episode.

Like the first, the second episode was melancholy, and somewhat sad. Everybody in the show has issues.

A girl comes in the bar, and she has Tourettes. Different people in the bar react differently to her outbursts. Most are, if not sympathetic, at least tolerant.

I'm not sure I'll buy any more episodes -- like Louis C.K.s other series, "Louie" this one rides the razor's edge between pathos and empathy. People in the real world tend to be pretty boring, and predictable, and unsurprising. Having a world full of non-boring, unpredictable but frankly unfunny people with unfunny problems... well, it feels like a burden.

Rather than a gift.

I went ahead and purchased the other episodes. Three was one long dialogue, 4-9 were more scenes in the bar, and 10 was just released today.

If you get over the fact that this is not a comedy -- even though it stars a lot of comedians -- what you get is a continuing drama about some people with major issues. It moves rather slowly (Mrs NoCo couldn't finish the first episode), everybody's issues (except Louis's) are pretty debilitating, and the drama has one concession to being sited in a bar... No maybe "concession to" isn't the right term. Despite the fact that (almost) everything takes place in a bar, only one character talks at a time. When one character is talking, everyone else in the bar sits silently, holding their drink. It makes for a very solemn bar.

The twists and turns in the back stories of everybody, as they're slowly revealed, makes for a nuanced and surprisingly moving fabric, even though none of the characters is particularly sympathetic. It's an odd mix of melodrama and acceptance, of tolerance, of forgiveness. It's a very human and humane take on life.

Huh, okay. It looks like Episode Ten is the last one.

Like the other episodes, but more so, #10 was wholly unpredictable. I won't give anything away, except to say that if you've known the grief of losing someone, you will relate.

Wow. What a ride.

Apparently Louis CK put his money where his mouth is.