There were basically only three shows I was watching this Summer. Looking back, I maybe should have gotten through more catchup stuff, but hey, it was a busy summer. Anyway, the three shows were Louie, Wilfred, and Futurama.
There were some real stand outs in this summer season of Futurama. A look a the Robot Mafia character Clamps in "The Silence of the Clamps." A look back in history in "Möbius Dick" and "The Tip of the Zoidberg." Especially Zoidberg, I love that pathetic lobster. "All the Presidents Heads" was a fun twist on time travel by licking a presidential head jar to travel back to their time. The best of the bunch, though, was the finale called "Reincarnation." This episode was three mini-stories, each told in a different animation style, old-time Disney, 8-bit, and 80's anime. The old time one started things off great with the black and white images and everything, and I mean everything, constantly bouncing in rhythm. It was also fun having the old time dialogue said by characters who are flying around in a spaceship. My personal favorite was the 8-bit second story. Being an avid gamer growing up, I caught the the in jokes to old video games that were everywhere. The Professor having a sadness meter, the crew going back to work by digging tunnels Dig Dug style, and moving from room to room by having the characters stay still while the background changes. Something about 8-bit just tickles me (see also Scott Pilgrim). The third story goes totally off the rails, but being modeled after anime that was entirely intentional. The sheer craziness of the whole thing was a wonder to behold and is probably better if just seen. I will say comet worshiping aliens attack in banana ships, but the world is saved by dancing. If Futurama can give me at least one episode this great per year, I'll be a happy man.
Wilfred was a new show on FX this summer that is based on an Australian show of the same name and starring the same guy in a dog suit playing Wilfred. It's the story of the friendship between Ryan and Wilfred, the dog he sees as a person. In the beginning the best jokes were centered around Wilfred explaining in a human way dog traits or seeing a man in a dog suit act like a dog. Things such as Wilfred chasing after a motorcycle in the middle of conversation or extolling the virtues of ass smelling. As the season went on, things began to get darker and the relationship of the two main characters became more complex. This also signified the show getting better as it went along. None were as dark as the finale. "Identity" gave us a look into Ryan's past as Wilfred finally pushed him down the slippery slope that he was trying to leave behind in the pilot, "Happiness," by committing suicide, and that he had left behind, thanks to Wilfred, up until now. As Ryan delved deeper and deeper into his schemes he became a worse and worse person, and he set up bubble distractions for Wilfred so he couldn't be talked out of it. The ending leaves Ryan in a very bad place with everyone. Jenna is getting back with Drew, Kristen is getting divorced because of him and now hates him, Wilfred doesn't remember him, and worst of all, the basement doesn't exist which may mean he was imagining Wilfred all along.
(Quick aside for the next section, Louis with an 'S' is the real person Louis C.K. while Louie with an 'E' is the character he plays on his show Louie)
And now on to the show that stands above all summer shows, Louie. This show is downright amazing. Louis C.K. is an auteur and it's a glorious thing that FX gives him free reign to do anything he wants for 13 episodes a year. Every week Louis has something different he wants to say and he does it without ever going for the cheap joke or sometimes without any jokes at all (outside of the stand-up bits). In "Come On, God," Louie goes against a Christian anti-masturbator. In the beginning it's easy to see Louie as right and this Christian girl as crazy. Louie then spends some time with her and in the end you may not agree with her, but you can understand why she chooses to live that way. Louie then punctuates it with a hilarious joke. A lesser show would go for the chick is crazy and leave it as that, but Louis always delves deeper. A quick list of other stand outs include "Country Drive" where Louie takes his two girls to see a racist great aunt, "Eddie" where Louie hangs out with an old comic buddy who is suicidal, and "Duckling" where Louie goes on a USO tour of Afghanistan.
The finale of Louie, "New Jersey / Airport," was everything a Louie episode can be. Funny, surreal, weird, thoughtful, and heartbreaking. In the first section, Steven Wright tells Louie he needs to get laid so he hops into a car with a stranger that ends up taking him to New Jersey for a threesome with her husband. This, of course, freaks Louie out, but that offends the husband, hilariously played by Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham. With Louie stranded in New Jersey he has to call up Chris Rock to save him, and then Chris goes on to chew him out about the irresponsibility of the whole thing. It's a combination of the weird situations Louie tends to get himself into that was prevalent last season and the introspection of where he's going in life now that's been prevalent this season. The second half dealt with Louie's crush, Pamela, leaving to go to Paris to try to work it out with her son's dad. Louie wants to believe so badly that something could happen between them, while Pamela constantly shoots him down. Their final goodbyes, where Pamela is yelling, "Wave to me!" when Louie hears, "Wait for me!" is heartbreaking, and yet somehow funny. When Louie exits the airport with his head held high, confident that Pamela will return and they'll be together, you feel horrible for him and still can't help laughing at him at the same time. It's line that Louie walks, and I don't know how Louis pulls it off ever, yet he does it every week.
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