Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Louie Show: Louie Anderson

The Louie Show ran from January until March 1996 on CBS.

Comedian Louie Anderson starred in this short-lived comedy as a psychotherapist in Duluth, Minnesota, whose honesty with both patients and friends often got him into trouble. Fortunately for him, he was such an endearing guy with a wonderful self-deprecating sense of humor that almost nobody could remain upset with him for long. Louie's best friend Curt ( Bryan Cranston), was a no-nonsense detective on the Duluth Police Department who was having marital problems, and he and his wife , Sandy ( Laura Innes), were getting counseling from Louie. Working with Louie at a local HMO were Helen ( Nancy Becker Kennedy), his upbeat, wheelchair bound assistant; Jake ( Paul Feig), a talented but socially immature physician, and Kimmy ( Kimmy Robertson), a loopy waitress in the HMO's coffee shop. Gretchen ( Kate Hodge), a chatterbox free spirit recently arrived from Los Angeles in search of a simpler life, became his platonic housemate.

A Review from Variety

The Louie Show
By TONY SCOTT

Cast: Louie Anderson, Bryan Cranston, Kate Hodge, Paul Feig, Nancy Becker Kennedy, Laura Innes, Kimmy Robertson, Danny Breen, Joe Flaherty.

Taped in L.A. by Shukovsky English Entertainment. Executive producers, Diane English, Joel Shukovsky, Matt Goldman; co-producer, Don Foster; director, Assaad Kelada; writers-creators, Goldman, Louie Anderson;

Standup comic Louie Anderson bows into the sitcom lineup with a weak, community-theater-style series opener penned by creators Matt Goldman and Anderson. Playing therapist Louie Lundgren and surrounded by supposedly amusing acquaintances, Anderson amply shows why he shouldn't abandon his standup gigs.

Locale is Duluth, Minn., and rotund Lundgren picks loquacious Gretchen (Kate Hodge) as a roommate to help pay for his new roof on his house, but it's not explained why he picks her. Just in from L.A., enjoying giving L.A. knocks, she sets up her own loose house rules about living under Louie's faulty roof.

His best friend, detective Curt (Bryan Cranston), tries getting some sensible advice from Louie about his 14-year marriage to Sandy (Laura Innes), but doesn't pull out much that'll help.

Freshest character is Nancy Becker Kennedy as Louie's disabled assistant, Helen; if the series were going anywhere, she'd be along for more than just the ride. Another eccentric, Louie's associate Dr. Jake (Paul Feig), is taken with Gretchen. It's a clumsy device, but Jake's supposed to be awkward.

Assaad Kelada directed the flat teleplay without distinction. Tom Hiel and Scott Pinkerton have supplied a merry score. Taped before a studio audience, first episode of "The Louie Show" may not be the best sample for the series, but it's a distinct warning.

A Review From The New York Times

TELEVISION REVIEW;The More the Merrier for a Therapist

By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: February 5, 1996

"The Louie Show," on Wednesday night at 8:30 on CBS, stars Louie Anderson as Louie Lundgren, a psychotherapist in Duluth, Minn., working for a health maintenance organization. The outsize Mr. Anderson needs no introduction. Born in Minneapolis, the 10th of 11 children, he has been a stand-up comic since 1978, has appeared in films ("Coming to America") and has written two books, including the autobiographical "Dear Dad," consisting of letters from an "adult child" to his alcoholic father.

Now, under the aegis of Shukovsky English Entertainment ("Murphy Brown"), Mr. Anderson and Matt Goldman, one of the executive producers, have created "The Louie Show" as a vehicle for the performing persona that Mr. Anderson has developed over the years. Louie the therapist is a put-upon bachelor who, keenly aware of his girth, doesn't hesitate to put other people's problems up front where they can no longer be the object of secret snickering. Louie also has a leaking roof and needs a boarder to help cover the repair costs. He gets not one but two very different roommates: Curt (Bryan Cranston), a Duluth detective who is an old friend, and Gretchen (Kate Hodge), a California flake with offbeat takes on life in Minnesota.

This is, in other words, a pretty standard sitcom. But Mr. Anderson's deadpan deliveries have a habit of making the ordinary hilarious. As Curt's wife, Sandy, Laura Innes ("E.R.") gets to strut her comic stuff in a marriage counseling scene where, suddenly deciding that she wants to go dancing, she informs Curt, "Don't wait up, copper." And another episode, about Curt's longtime detective partner, goes from his painfully obvious black hairpiece ("That thing doesn't even reflect light," Louie notes) to his "liberation" and the confession that he has been a cross-dresser for years. A distressed Louie thinks the detective in drag looks like Ethel Merman.

So far, "The Louie Show," which had its premiere last Wednesday, has certainly been pleasant to take. Too pleasant. It fades into the sitcom woodwork. A little more energy, maestro, please.

THE LOUIE SHOW CBS, Wednesday night at 8:30 (Channel 2 in New York)

Diane English, Joel Shukovsky and Matt Goldman, executive producers; co-created by Louie Anderson and Matt Goldman; Don Foster, co-producer; Stephen Nathan, executive consultant; Assaad Kelada, director; written by Matt Goldman and Louie Anderson; edited by Bill Lowe. A production of Shukovsky English Entertainment.

WITH: Louie Anderson (Louie Lundgren), Bryan Cranston (Curt), Kate Hodge (Gretchen), Paul Feig (Jake), Nancy Becker Kennedy (Helen), Laura Innes (Sandy) and Kimmy Robertson (Kimmy).

For Louie Anderson's Official Website go to http://www.louieanderson.com/

For the Official Bryan Cranston website go to http://www.bryancranston.com/

For a website dedicated to Laura Innes go to http://www.geocities.com/laura_innes_online/

For another Laura Innes Website go to http://kerrycarterfan.tripod.com/