Horace and Pete

It seems to me that one of Louis CK's strengths is the authentic nature of the dialogue. Given the quality of the actors in this thing, it makes for some captivating viewing.

I found the bar-discussion about politics, etc, to be very entertaining and well-paced. It was almost a little Aaron- Sorkinesque and I loved it. Also amazing to see how up-to-date it is?! Talk about fresh material. I thought the accountant-bit was funny.

The main plot about the family was engaging and managed to pull me in. It was depressing and dark, but still somehow not exhausting to watch. I am not actually a big fan of Louie's darker episodes, I don't have the patience or the inclination to spend my time being challenged and depressed. I want it to be funny and entertaining. But even so, I watch and value the darker Louie episodes, and I watched and enjoyed this. As I said, there is this theater-like presentation and at the same time feels so authentic! When Buscemi says "and you give our whiskey to this stranger" (or something), I get the feeling that the characters have had their own thoughts and feelings while our attention was diverted.

It's fun to see Louis use these very typical, almost cliché transitions (walking down the stairs to change scenes, etc) and making it work? It's very well made. I loved the diegetic music, watching Alda establish his presence by reacting to it.

There is no laughter-track or audience referencing at all. You are totally left to your own devices as a viewer, to laugh or dislike at your own discretion. It's kind of artistic, in that it challenges you to like it or shove off?

While I wasn't enjoying watching it, as it was sad and not my typical kind of thing, I am glad that I did. It's great watching something this well made.

Horace and Pete is an outstanding art experiment. And - as cheap as it may sound - it stands out just because the main goal here is to portray life.

Let me explain. We are all so used to the genre-tagging way productions are put together, that few producers are bold enough to question this absurd system. Usually there will be a "comic relief" to a drama, or a dramatic turn in a comedy. So we can relate more to the story. It's just not enough.

"What is it? A comedy? Musical? Drama?". On the way Louie leads this project, the question "what is it?" shouldn't be automatically answered with a tag. Are you looking for a comedy? Don't watch it. But if you're looking for a drama, don't watch it either! In real life, mood is Gaussian. Most of the time it will be neutral: there will be that core gratefulness and anxiety mixed together. That's routine. Sadness and happiness will eventually alternate. Funniness doesn't come up like in a writers room. There's no 24/7 quote-boom-punchline-quote-boom-punchline. Also, no musical background will come up unless someone's actually playing it or hitting a button.

Obviously there's more into it, otherwise there would be no point on watching this; you could just kick back on a bar and see what happens. Here we have the guarantee we'll watch very interesting characters dealing with their daily struggle, exposing absurd features of social conventions and human behavior.

Louis C.K. is masterfully writing, directing and performing in this. We also have great performances from Alan Alda, Steve Buscemi, Edie Falco and others. That should be enough to just go and give it a try.

This is not our usual hacky Fordist sitcom. This is pure handcrafted art (and worths every penny).

Starts out kind of slow and awkward in the first episode. Strange facial expressions and very little action or dialogue. By fifteen minutes in, many interesting characters have entered into the bar and it starts to become interesting. At a half hour I was becoming charmed by the stimulating dialogue and very impressed by the casting which includes many stand up comedy greats doing some serious drama. By 45 minutes I became completely sold and hooked after Steve Buscemi's pivotal performance that just blew me away. Louis CK has done some impressive writing here and it goes a long way to compensate for his acting ability which can be a bit uneven. However unlike his show "Louie," here he is only one member of a very impressive ensemble. I was expecting a comedy but what I got was something I've never seen before on a TV show. This reminded me of "the Iceman Cometh." For a pilot, this was really intriguing. I have high hopes that it continues to develop and doesn't let me down.

I have watched a lot of Louis CK's stand up comedy and it seemed to me that his amazing humour came from him extracting the absurdity of life and him talking about it on stage in a way that was both very funny, honest, and engaging, which is not easy feat I think (the feat being presenting the absurdity and confusing nature of life in way that both the presenter and audience can laugh together at it, as opposed to be terrified/confused/annoyed by the confusing universe). Even though the episodes of Horace and Pete feel formatted more in the way of a play, to me it is still fantastic in the same way. Family and life can be infuriating because as we grow up we see that the more we know about family/life/universe the more we realize that we don't know (that whole Socrates thing), but that doesn't mean we give up hope ... instead we can find it absurdly funny and laugh in the face of absurdity, and try and learn from it, and move forward in a better way, especially when there is a master funny man like Louis CK to extract amazing funny thought lines from the absurdity. In this way it is an honest reaction to the confusing nature of life instead of simply trying to create a sanitized narrative to our lives that might make us feel less fear, but doesn't really address the reality. Anyways, that is more my emotional mumbo jumbo response to why I think this is a really good show, but in more specific terms I find the dialogue really great, the acting great, and the jokes great, and therefore I find it ... very great! Thanks Louis CK!

I love what Louis is trying to do here. And I think this is one of the few instances when that sentence can still be taken as a huge compliment. Because once out of Louis' hands and into the content devouring public, it really is up to the individual what they take from this. Whether you watch it with an open heart or mind or dismiss it as slow moving nonsense. I believe his aim with this is truly altruistic and comes from the same place as his comedy, a place of compassion, disbelief at the clucked up nature of humanity and the world, and an almost hopeless sense of wanting to change this and make a difference. I notice this same thing in Hicks and Carlin, I guess Louis doesn't get quite as angry.

I think it's beautiful, autobiographical in parts and thought provoking with the thought going towards reconciliation in most cases. Characters in there that we'd all recognize from our own lives, how to deal with them is ultimately up to us I guess?

Thank you Louis. Genuinely. I love this, appreciate you making it (you didn't have to after all) and agree whole heartily that it is a work of art. (and that's not pretentious because it £$%&ing well is)

*Edited to add - If you enjoyed the show check out his conversion recently on Marc Marons podcast. So interesting to get an insight to how it all happened. Heartwarming and the stories from the show and the characters are incredible.