<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"We were genuinely peeved in 2012 when Louis CK confirmed that Louie would not return for a fourth season until 2014. Suddenly, 2014 has arrived and we&amp;#039;re finally being treated to some brand new episodes of the FX comedy, which returns to Fox in the UK on Thursday (May 8).  If you&amp;#039;ve not caught any episodes of Louie yet, here are five ways in which Louis CK&amp;#039;s series has changed the sitcom landscape. 1. There&amp;#039;s nothing else like it out there It&amp;#039;s almost silly to describe Louie as a sitcom in the first place. There isn&amp;#039;t really a &amp;#039;sit&amp;#039; in the &amp;#039;com&amp;#039;, as it takes place wherever Louis CK feels fit that week. It is based on his actual life, his comedy career and his two daughters, and sometimes you wonder how close to the bone some scenes are.      Each episode is totally different to the last, blending comedy and drama, and at times it feels close to performance art in nature, but never in a pretentious way. Some episodes feature two completely different halves, while some follow a more linear path. Sometimes it&amp;#039;s hard to believe that he manages to fit everything in to just 23 minutes. 2. It has unexpected guest stars Many of Louis CK&amp;#039;s fellow comics appear throughout the series, and they&amp;#039;re often announced with little fanfare.      Ricky Gervais, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Dane Cook and Sarah Silverman are just some of the stars who have appeared, either as fictional versions of themselves or as original characters. Even David Lynch and Susan Sarandon have made unexpected appearances. Now we just want Gervais back as Louie&amp;#039;s joker doctor. 3. You&amp;#039;ll laugh and cry While the majority of Louie is laugh-out-loud funny, there are plenty of moments of pathos and wistfulness, especially as Louie deals with family, divorce, death and other issues.      One moment you&amp;#039;ll be sniggering at the ridiculousness of Louie attempting to fix a doll for his daughter at Christmas, and then BAM!, a particularly devastating scene will hit you completely out of nowhere. But the series never strays on the side of too dark or too depressing, and it keeps a perfect balance throughout. 4. It&amp;#039;s f*****g filthy Thankfully, Louie airs on basic cable channel FX rather than one of the main networks, meaning he is able to go full pelt when it comes to cursing and tackling risque subjects.      Louie simply wouldn&amp;#039;t work as well if its language or content were restricted, as CK&amp;#039;s alter ego needs to be able to be as believable as the man himself. 5. There&amp;#039;s bonus Louis CK standup In most episodes, scenes are interlaced with Louie heading to the Comedy Cellar to perform a standup routine, which is sometimes linked to the episode&amp;#039;s content, and on other occasions is not.      Louis CK&amp;#039;s standup specials and live tours are hugely sought after on its own, so we&amp;#039;re quite spoiled that he includes brand new content in pretty much every episode. A particular favourite moment has to be when Louie gets into a full-blown war of words with a heckler, leading to a genuinely excruciating showdown. Louie airs on Monday nights on FX in the US, and premieres at 11pm Thursday (May 8) on Fox in the UK. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/feature/a569362/louie-5-ways-louis-ck-has-changed-the-sitcom/>