Louis C.K.’s ‘Louie’ set to return to FX in May

TV’s popular curmudgeon is baaaaaack. “Louie,” centered on the self-loathing semi-alter ego of comedian Louis C.K., will at long last return to FX with new episodes in May.

After a 19-month hiatus, the cable comedy will return to the small screen with a 14-episode fourth season that kicks off Monday, May 5 -- but will he have returned from China, where he baptized his new self at the end of Season 3?

And wait -- there’s a special roll out after all that waiting. FX will air two all-new episodes back to back in the 10 p.m. hour for what will result in a seven-week run that culminates on June 16.

You can thank the multi-hyphenate headliner for a slightly bigger serving of crank. FX had originally ordered 13 episodes for the season, but creator-executive-producer-writer-star-director-editor Louis C.K. offered up a bonus 14th episode.

BEST TV OF 2013 Lloyd | McNamara

A holder of so many titles would undoubtedly need some time to recuperate between seasons. During a conference call in October 2012, John Landgraf, chief executive of FX Networks and FX Productions, told reporters that Louis C.K had requested an extended hiatus between the third season and fourth cycle. The move delayed the fourth season roll out from summer 2013 to spring 2014.

“I want Season 4 to go somewhere new,” Louis C.K told repoters then, “I’m looking back to when I did the first season and the time I took to do the show and decide which directions to go in and I want that back again,” Louis C.K. told reporters then. “I want a little breathing room.”

With Thursday’s announcement, Landgraf indicated it was well worth the wait.

“Louis said he needed extra time between Seasons 3 and 4 of his show because – even though ‘Louie’ was the most critically acclaimed television comedy series in America – he needed to make it even better,” Landgraf said in his statement. “Based on the first three episodes we’ve seen, remarkably, he accomplished his goal.”

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