“Louie” is part real-life, part nouveau sitcom – allowing Louis CK to ‘play’ a character, who happens to be a recently divorced comedian named Louie. The show doesn’t veer too far from CK’s real life, including his awkward return to dating and his bizarre attempts to make his daughters ‘like’ him and much of the plot comes from his stand-up routine. Think an HBO version of “Seinfeld” but circa 1995, with the stand-up material acting as a bridge to the plot not an introduction. And you can’t forget that this show is about an actual NYC comedian because within the first two episodes, which premiered back to back last night, there have already been cameos from half of the NYC comedian population. Its an evolved version of the stand-up to sitcom premise we are all so familiar with, both in its tone and its settings. The show carefully straddles the line of real-life for Louis CK and has moved beyond the studio settings so popular for sitcoms and uses New York City as its actual backdrop. This show breaks ground as it doesn’t stick to the standard parameters of a TV show, much like a handful of HBO & Showtime programming has, so much at times I actually forgot I was watching a sitcom.

This is not the first TV project for Louis CK – his overtly realistic sitcom “Lucky Louie” ran on HBO for a season back in 2006 before getting canceled due to low ratings. And “Louie” seems like an obvious evolution from “Lucky Louie”, where the jokes allow us to laugh at the uncomfortable aspects of every day life, especially as an adult. CK’s standard themes – aging, curiosity over sexuality, fatherhood and dieting – are still weaved throughout the show, but now we can actually laugh with the comedian as opposed to just feel plain old bad for him. Much like CK’s material, “Louie” sometimes loses its main focus and there were a few very “STELLA” moments, like when his date just left in a helicopter, where the show goes almost too ‘next level’. If you are familiar with CK’s brand of comedy or if you appreciate a comedy that is far from cookie cutter, then you will find this the show more than refreshing. FX continues to bring a new style of comedy to the small screen, like its hit “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, a program where the main characters are so dysfunctional that you have to laugh at them. Check out a promo for “Louie” below and if you enjoy awkward comedies, in the vein of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “IASIF”, make sure to tune in every Tuesday at 11PM on FX.

And I’m not surprised Regis doesn’t get it, responses seen throughout blog comments all over the net really bothered me, especially as a lady with tats. While some of the comments were in support of Ripa and discussing the lack of pain that comes along with wrist tattoos, there were a lot of comments disparaging her, the shop and sadly her marriage. First, the work was done by one of the best in the city and possibly the country when it comes to script (not being biased, being honest). Since they have been married for 14 years and have three kids, I can’t imagine that a name tattoo now would do damage to their marriage and I think its cute they would want to celebrate that way. And yes, name tattoos can be an unconscious curse on marriages, but I don’t that is the case for all of them. But that’s not what really bothered me. The disparaging comments on her as a person, and as a lady, is really what got to me. In 2010, are we still so ass backwards that we think a beautifully executed last name in script on a wrist means dirty, tacky or worse, slutty? I get that tattoos aren’t every one’s thing – I’m not saying that you have to love hers or mine for that matter. But I think you need to be able to respect an adults decision to do what they want with their own body. Tattoos do not make you anything other than who you already are. Most of us use them as a commerative piece, a way to immediately immortalize a time in your life and others just like the way they look with a permanent collection on them. And they do not go hand in hand with bad, naughty or indecent behavior, as some small minded people still seem to think. I wonder if Mark had gotten her name tattooed on him woukd the commentary and the tone of the backlash have been the same. For some reason, I highly doubt that.

O’Brien also brought out long lost pal, the Masturbating Bear, who has not been seen since his move to “The Tonight Show”. Ed Helms and Joel McHale, both technical employees of NBC, came out and played along with tearing down the network and McHale offered his hosting gig at “The Soup” to Conan. Hilarity ensued. O’Brien also poked NBC and their money wasting ways with a segment that lasted nearly 30 seconds and cost about $1.5 Million, just for the heck of it. NBC removed the skit, but luckily Mediaite captured it in all its glory. So you have two more nights to see new “The Tonight Show” episodes with Conan O’Brien hosting. I am glad that this has finally come to a conclusion and we can move on with our lives, go back to hating Jay Leno for just not being funny and not feeling bad for multi-millionaires. On a serious tip though, O’Brien has always been one of my favorites, his wit and humor will be missed and I hope he comes back bigger and better. Because if NBC’s firing track records proves anything, if they don’t want you, like Sandler or Judd Apatow, there are millions of others who do.

The Spielster will cover O’Brien’s final episode this Friday.

Earlier this year at one of Louis CK’s surprise NYC gigs, I sort of heckled him. And this led to a loud conversation with him where I critiqued his set, mocked the audience and ended up putting down one of my favorite comedians – to his face. At the end of the hazy seven minute “interaction”, we agreed to disagree and I left the Bell House knowing my only communication with one of my favorite comedians was a fight. This disagreement, as I will put it nicely, was over a joke which I deemed a bit offensive, but the rest of the audience loved. In essence, Louis CK thought that if child molestation wasn’t so illegal, then kids wouldn’t be kidnapped or killed. His delivery had humor in it and looking back it was a funny joke – I’m sure if you see him this weekend, you’ll get to hear it in person. But unfortunately, I had just spent way too much time in Tribeca documentary land, as well as I had quite the buzz on, to find any humor in it. So I decided to boo him, yes BOO him. This apparently wasn’t enough for me, cause after I rattled my favorite comedian, who I had been pleasantly surprised by at this show, I decided to go on a personal attack. It was Father’s Day, no time for kiddie porn jokes in my humble opinion, and so I decided to let Louis CK know this. And because apparently being heckled and booed at wouldn’t be enough warning for him, I pulled him aside after his set and began chastising him, in front of the audience and other comedians. At first, it was a conversation between a drunk girl and a comedian, not the first and definitely not the last, but it became a fight between a hurt fan and an angry entertainer. Nothing he could say to me would make me move on and nothing I could say would have him understand where I was coming from, probably because debate is not a drunks’ best friend. After yelling at each other for a few moments, I wished him a Happy Father’s Day and he wished me a safe trip home. My friends were embarrassed, he was shocked and a handful of other comedians quickly ushered him into another room. All in all, it sucked and I was left harboring an odd resentment towards the man. Its been months and I’m sure he hasn’t thought twice about it, but I really want him to make me laugh again. With his recent appearance on “Parks and Recreation”, I was reminded of how freaking hilarious he is and how sometimes, you don’t need to always get the joke.

So here I am Louis CK, publicly apologizing for yelling at you a few months back. Hopefully, we can go back to our successful relationship of entertainer and fan, with no ill feelings. And I promise that the next time I don’t like a joke or simply don’t get it, I will not attack you personally because of it. I will do what normal people do, talk shit about you on the interwebs.

For those of you who want a deeper look into the original, the Morgan Library & Museum is exhibiting drawings by Maurice Sendak, including early drafts of the book, sketches for the cover illustration and other rare goodies through November 1st. And for the kids, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Children’s Museum of Manhattan and Queens Museum will be doing daily readings from the novel, arts and crafts in celebration of the movie and full on creations of Sendak’s “wild” world. Check out nycgo.com/wildthingsweek for a complete schedule of dates and times. You can also listen to Max Records, Catherine Keener and Forrest Whitaker, stars of the film, read the book aloud at The New York Public Library. And don’t miss out on getting your picture taken in the “Where the Wild Things Are” Kodak photo booth.

In the meantime, you can download the iPhone application, which houses video, music and interactive content for the flick, listen to the delightful film’s soundtrack recorded by Karen O and the Kids and view 24 artists interpretations of “Where the Wild Things Are” over at Viceland. While there, view behind the scenes interviews with the art directors for the film or watch Jonze get a haircut. And if this isn’t enough to calm the itch until the 16th, you can always grab the original book or watch the tear inducing trailer over and over again and remind yourself why you are so darn excited about the big screen adaptation.

I remember waking up that day, after the towers were hit and me fearing the worst and hoping we would all find a way out of this. And while the horror of watching the events unfold over and over again on cable news was enough to give anyone some sort of stress disorder, I like to think of that day as the moment that my life took on a deeper meaning. I realized that day, after watching people fear for the lives and thousands of them losing theirs, that the time to be scared to engage in one’s life is over. I became invested in politics and aware of what was going on in my government and wanted to participate in making this place better. I like to think that 9/12 was the day that I got balls in regards to my own life and began going out there and attempting to get what I wannted. And I dont mean that in a selfish or silly way, but honestly that day opened my eyes to the fact that your life can not be planned, the future can not be told and you need to make every day count.

I wanted to discuss the brilliant article Pareene contributed over at Gawker, which called out Glenn Beck and his crew for looking upon 9/12 as some sort of joyous day, where America was harmonious. It wasn’t if you lived in NYC or if you had a family member who worked in the twin towers or the pentagon or within the military. On that day you were scared of what was to come and how you could move on and no amount of sticky American flags on the back of cars and empty promises like “These colors don’t run” could take back those events. We were united, but united due to fear. Politics still reared its ugly head, the media still covered up some things and nearly 4,000 families mourned their missing loved ones. And while I found a courage that day it wasn’t because of some false harmony pumping through NYC. It was because for the first time in my entire life this country was no longer protected, meaning neither was I. It was the day that I became an adult and had to face the harsh realities of the things that surround us in our cities, states and the world. There is nothing that can erase the memory of the feeling I had in my gut that day. And there is nothing that can erase from our collective memories, but hopefully as the years pass, and we as a nation evolve, much like I did that day, we can learn to find a peace with the evils of the world and the inadequacies of our own selves.

Via Blakeley
Opening reception for Store Front show at Clic Gallery on Wednesday, July 15 from 6-9 pm. Clic is located at 255 Centre Street @Broome. There will photos from the book, “STORE FRONT-The Disappearing Face of New York” ranging in size from 16×20 to 42×50.