Horace and Pete

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!

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).

I expected Horace & Pete to be like Louis CK Part II – short, crisp, mostly hilarious episodes about some middle-aged guys. So, in the beginning I was slightly disappointed to see that the first episodes of H&P turned out to be like full feature movies, however, without, almost any action, fast-forwards or exciting flashbacks, unexpected twists etc. The episodes sometimes seemed to be long, protracted and in some moments – honestly, a bit boring, and even more often so – painfully embarrassing, even sad. Yet, somehow, I kept watching... Because, as I understand now, it made me truly believe that these people are real, like me or most of the people I know, and I actually felt for them. Take Steve Buscemi, for example, – you know, it's Steve Buscemi, the guy from Fargo, Tarantino movies, you name it. But in H&P you believe – that is Pete, and you kind of root for him. The same goes for Louis CK - although you can still see it's Louis CK, and he is very much the same guy he was in the Louis series (well, without the excessive masturbatory habits anyway...), you can't help but empathize with him. I guess there lies the brilliance of H&P – what it depicts is the closest thing to a normal, regular, average life, with all the lowly daily drudgery, failures, and the brief glimpses of tenderness that come when you least expect them and tear your battered, cold heart open. Like today, I was watching S01E09 in the background while putting on my makeup, and, out of the blue, Tom, the old guy with the beret, said this random thing, a few lines about love and I completely lost it – it turned me into a sobbing mess in the middle of the day, just like that. I guess that's the beauty of H&P – you can actually believe that the characters are like you, like real, average people, who have been through the same embarrassing, tender, painful and for some fleeting moments - happy experiences that life throws at you. So, to wind it up - this is definitely a show for grown-ups, preferably - slightly weathered ones. So, take your time and take it slowly.

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.

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.