‘Louie’ Star Louis CK Wants To Do More ‘Louie,’ Has Been Busy With ‘Baskets’

Comedian Louis CK has had five seasons of his FX series Louie and still plans to do more in the future. The problem is, the comedian has been busy and distracted with another series he’s involved with, Baskets, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

“You have to be able to put other things completely aside when you’re not thinking about them,” Louis told reporters Saturday at a panel for FX’s upcoming comedy Baskets. “So I’ll have a Baskets day and I’m not thinking about these other things.”

Louis CK serves as an executive producer for FX’s Baskets, which is set to debut on January 21, 2016. The premise centers around the character of Chip Baskets, played by Zach Galifianakis, who is following his dream of being a professional clown in Bakersfield, California. While attending a very prestigious clown school in Paris, he fails to get a degree and ends up working at a local rodeo instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKK-bBKzNSg

Louis CK’s production company, Pig Newton, inked a deal with the FX network to create future shows with their various networks, and Baskets happens to be one of them. In January of 2014, a pilot for the series was ordered, with CK and Galifianakis co-writing the pilot, also starring Galifianakis. In August of the same year, Baskets was picked up for its first season, with 10 episodes. The show is also executive produced by Blair Breard, Dave Becky, Marc Gurvitz, and Andrea Pett-Joseph.

Zach Galifianakis has been friends with Louis CK for a couple decades and the Baskets project was one that organically came together. The actor says that drama is a genre that is easier to tackle than comedy. “In comedy, you can maybe run out of tricks a little bit,” he said.

“When you start with the premise ‘I have another season to write,’ that’s not a great creative source,” Louis CK said. “So to me now that there’s no show, essentially, if I have an idea that’s burning that feels right for that, then it will start from the idea. I don’t know when that will happen. It may not. It was such a great job, I’m likely to try it again.”

But Louis is also busy with other projects, one being Tig Notaro’s One Mississippi which will air on Amazon, and an upcoming animated series with Albert Brooks as the executive producer. FX seems to be very flexible in terms of their scheduling, Louis may be able to take his time before he decides to begin working on the sixth season.

Landgraf: No plans for more #Louie atm but often talks w/ Louis CK about it. Might even be a show that has "15 seasons over 40 years" #TCA16

— Sandra Gonzalez (@TheSandraG) January 16, 2016

“If I get a boner for doing it, that’s all I’m waiting for,” CK says. “It may be that once we’re past production on Pamela’s show and this summer there’s a clearing; I may think about it then.”

Louis CK, within the last few years, has landed roles in some very award-worthy films. Most recently he had a role in Trumbo, as Arlen Hird. Breaking Bad‘s Bryan Cranston is up for a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Dalton Trumbo, a Hollywood screenwriter who was blacklisted for his communist/political beliefs. In 2013, he had a small role in David O. Russell’s Oscar-nominated film American Hustle. The stars of the film, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence received nominations for their performances.

But Louis CK is a very big fan of his friend Zach Galifianakis and his style of comedy, so he seems very happy to take time away from his own project to help bring Baskets to life.

“I think in a lot of ways I prefer Zach’s show just in terms of just the comedy of it,” Louis CK said, adding that “nobody makes me laugh like him.”

[Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Scleroderma Research Foundation]