Wow, that first episode was amazing. Better to go into this blind but based on the quality of the premiere, this show is shaping up to be one of the best of 2016.

The self-release is innovative too, you can only download it for $5 on his website: https://louisck.net/show/horace-and-pete

So many aspects of episode 1 were impressive, and the ensemble cast is stellar.

Don't sleep on this one PTP. I'll add the disclaimer that it's not a comedy, but rather a very well done family drama with plenty to breakdown and discuss.

Not sure how many more episodes there will be and there's little information out there about this show. I'll wager 2 more.

Slow, unsettling, depressing, but really good

Giant chunks of it feel like they were filmed in one enormous take. All but about 5 of the 70 minutes take place on one set, with probably 80% of the shots from one master camera that doesn't really move. Even when it cuts to a different angle, it's just because there are a few different cameras running at the same time. Strong performances all around, made even stronger by the feeling that it's basically being done "live."

I'm not sure C.K. succeeds *entirely* at what he was trying to do, but I always give a lot of points for ambition. Watching it, I really felt like he was trying something outside of his comfort zone and coming close to pulling it off. He essentially tried his hand as a playwright, creating a short piece that kind of contemplates the decay of contemporary America. The fact that he even attempted this is pretty exciting. (Although, with that said, *really* taking a risk would have been producing this on the stage somewhere. The stakes aren't nearly as high when he's just self-distributing on his website for $5.)

Either way, I'm really curious to see where he goes with this. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a long time before we see any future "episodes" or installments, if we ever see any at all.

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>(Although, with that said, *really* taking a risk
>would have been producing this on the stage somewhere. The
>stakes aren't nearly as high when he's just self-distributing
>on his website for $5.)

I'd say it's more ambitious than a Broadway play. With his name and the all-star cast, he could have easily taken it to the stage and it would've been very successful. The exciting part about this project is that people don't really know what to call it. It's not a movie, tv show, mini-series, or play. He's essentially created a new form of media and sold it directly to his fans.

Sadly, there's no press for it, no hype, and the format is one that the average viewer would have a hard time enjoying. It's basically going to "flop", but I think he knew that and it's part of the reason he chose to release it in the way he did. I wouldn't call myself a Louis CK fan, but to me this is the best work he's done and should be celebrated for its execution, format, and release.

Hello friend guy lady or other,

Some of you are aware that, last Saturday, I launched a new series on my site louisck.net called “Horace and Pete”. I’m writing now to tell you some stuff about it….

Horace and Pete is a new show that I am producing, directing, writing, distributing and financing on my own. I have an amazing cast: Steve Buscemi, Edie Falco, Alan Alda, Jessica Lange, Aidy Bryant, Steven Wright, Kurt Metzger and other guest stars. Also Paul Simon wrote and performed the theme song which is beautiful.

The response to episode one has been great so far and there are more coming. We are making them now and having a lot of fun doing it.

Part of the idea behind launching it on the site was to create a show in a new way and to provide it to you directly and immediately, without the usual promotion, banner ads, billboards and clips that tell you what the show feels and looks like before you get to see it for yourself. As a writer, there’s always a weird feeing that as you unfold the story and reveal the characters and the tone, you always know that the audience will never get the benefit of seeing it the way you wrote it because they always know so much before they watch it. And as a TV watcher I’m always delighted when I can see a thing without knowing anything about it because of the promotion. So making this show and just posting it out of the blue gave me the rare opportunity to give you that experience of discovery.


Also because we are shooting this show in a multi-camera format with an emphasis on a live feeling, we are able to post it very soon after each episode is shot. So I’m making this show as you’re watching it.

Okay so let’s talk for a minute about the five dollars of it all. If you’re on this email list then you’re probably aware that I always make an effort to make the work I do on my own as cheap as possible and as painless as possible to get. That’s why my specials are five dollars and that’s why I sold tickets to my last big tour here on the site, with our own ticketing service at a flat price with no ticket charges and we have worked hard to keep my tickets out of the hands of scalpers.

So why the dirty fuckballs did I charge you five dollars for Horace and Pete, where most TV shows you buy online are 3 dollars or less? Well, the dirty unmovable fact is that this show is fucking expensive.

The standup specials are much more containable. It’s one guy on a stage in a theater and in most cases, the cost of the tickets that the live audience paid, was enough to finance the filming.

But Horace and Pete is a full on TV production with four broadcast cameras, two beautiful sets and a state of the art control room and a very talented and skilled crew and a hall-of-fame cast. Every second the cameras are rolling, money is shooting out of my asshole like your mother’s worst diarrhea. (Yes there are less upsetting metaphors I could be using but I just think that one is the sharpest and most concise). Basically this is a hand-made, one guy paid for it version of a thing that is usually made by a giant corporation.

Now, I’m not complaining about this at all. I’m just telling you the facts. I charged five dollars because I need to recoup some of the cost in order for us to stay in production.

Also, it’s interesting. The value of any set amount of money is mercurial (I’m showing off because i just learned that word. It means it changes and shifts a lot). Some people say “Five dollars is a cup of coffee”. Some people say “Hey! Five dollars?? What the fuck!” Some people say “What are you guys talking about?” Some people say “Nothing. don’t enter a conversation in the middle”.

Anyway, I’m leaving the first episode at 5 dollars. I'm lowering the next episode to 2 dollars and the rest will be 3 dollars after that. I hope you feel that’s fair. If you don’t, please tell everyone in the world. Meanwhile, we’re going to keep making Horace and Pete. We’re going to keep telling you the story.

I sincerely hope that you enjoy it. I’ll write you again later and tell you more about it. It’s fun to talk about. But for now I want to shut up and not ruin the experience of you just watching the show.

Here’s the link for the website. https://louisck.net/show/horace-and-pete Enjoy episode 2 of Horace and Pete. We’re shooting it now. You’ll get it on Saturday morning.

This person,

Louis C.K.

>Every second the cameras are rolling,
>money is shooting out of my asshole like your mother’s worst
>diarrhea.


LMAO!!

louis ck is awesome! this show is really good!

I loved this series.

(((((Spoiler below))))))













Steve Buscemi in the end. Man....I'm not easy to get emotionally effected by a show, but that hit me. That was heart wrenching, and he played it perfectly. Haven't been able to get that image of him out of my head. I don't know if they can get any awards for a series released like this, but he definitely deserves one.

Superb acting from a talented cast, interesting characters and storylines, and a unique approach, both stylistically and in terms of its release, to modern television.

My only gripe is that it was so damn depressing. As if Louis CK tried to fit everything bad that could happen in the world into ten episodes with one family. Spoilers: depression, suicide, cancer, mental illness, child abuse, adultery, betrayal, etc. It just seemed like every episode, the worst thing that could have happened, happened. It was so endlessly heavy to the point where, though I would still look forward to watching a new episode, each week was more draining than the last. Almost to the point of self-parody, and I kept thinking how hilarious it would be to see SNL or old school MAD TV parody this show.

I'll still give it credit for addressing these issues and portraying them in a nuanced and honest way. It's not often that television shows are able to handle all of that so well.

I do wonder about the release strategy now that it's all over. While it's groundbreaking and a great idea, I'm not sure it worked. People clearly slept on this show and it's not getting the recognition it deserves in large part because of its release. Perhaps a normal release through FX or HBO would have been a better idea but it's admirable that Louis CK did it this way.

As I said after the first episode, Horace and Pete will be in my Top 5 TV shows list for 2016. If you slept, now's a good time to check it out since the series is over.

>My only gripe is that it was so damn depressing. As if Louis
>CK tried to fit everything bad that could happen in the world
>into ten episodes with one family. Spoilers: depression,
>suicide, cancer, mental illness, child abuse, adultery,
>betrayal, etc. It just seemed like every episode, the worst
>thing that could have happened, happened. It was so endlessly
>heavy to the point where, though I would still look forward to
>watching a new episode, each week was more draining than the
>last. Almost to the point of self-parody, and I kept thinking
>how hilarious it would be to see SNL or old school MAD TV
>parody this show.

Yeah I feel you on this. I actually felt like I couldn't recommend the show to some of my friends because it'd be too depressing for them. I even watched them in the morning because I felt it'd be too emotionally draining to watch at night lol.

>
>I do wonder about the release strategy now that it's all over.
>While it's groundbreaking and a great idea, I'm not sure it
>worked. People clearly slept on this show and it's not getting
>the recognition it deserves in large part because of its
>release. Perhaps a normal release through FX or HBO would have
>been a better idea but it's admirable that Louis CK did it
>this way.
>

Very interesting strategy, having the profits of each episode pay for it's production. Like Louis CK's ticket selling process, it's a great idea, but probably wouldn't work for someone without an established fanbase already. I have a lot of respect for him always exploring how to do things differently in his own way.

loved it, and was wowed by buscemi's final performance, and am still a little haunted by it

i hope more people see it, i wanna talk about it

but yeah, i think the whole project was kinda stunning. there were some acting low points (buscemi's short-lived girlfriend, louis' daughter), but the acting highs were just unreal (alda was unsurprisingly exceptional, louis' ex-wife, shit even louis on occasion)

__

fairweather

fire

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fairweather

>loved it, and was wowed by buscemi's final performance, and
>am still a little haunted by it

that whole last episode was outstanding. the origin throwback. Uncle Pete telling the same exact pant pissing story about Horace. Pete starting off as the more "winner" type kid, and seeing his mental illness take shape. The fam just leaving him there, the glimmer of happiness from Horace after that crazy waitress interview... But damn.. Pete's face when he came back. Felt too real.

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/apr/13/louis-ck-is-in-millions-of-dollars-of-debt-horace-and-pete?CMP=fb_gu

He didn't sound concerned about it at all. On the Stern show he said that he thinks within a few months the show will break even (because he's starting to promote it now, and he'll eventually sell it to someone like Netflix or Hulu or HBO to release) and even if it doesn't, he can just do one or two standup tours and make all the money back.

Btw...I thought the Stern interview was fascinating. He said he got the idea for the look and feel of Horace & Pete when he saw an old TV-version of a filmed play written by Mike Leigh in the 70s. Makes total sense...

----

that almost all shows are in deficit when they go to air, that the initial advertising dollars don't cover their cost. That networks, and the shows, ultimately make their money on all the follow up deals - later airings, international play, syndication, netflix, dvds, whatever.

his point being that horace + pete being in deficit is actually par the course for TV show making, it just so happens to be his deficit

i don't know how correct or true that is, but it was interesting to hear about

__

fairweather

he digs himself a big hole, works like hell to get back to break-even, just in time for another creative project to inspire him to dig again.

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"This (and every, actually) conversation needs more Chesterton and less Mike Francesa." - Walleye

he was on Simmons' podcast last week and said straight up they've paid back more than half of the debt taken out on the show and will be entirely out of the hole by August. It isn't his money, everyone who produces shows takes money out, and they're ahead of schedule on paying it back anyway.

http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-700-pt-1-2-julia-louis-dreyfus-louis-ck

I'm only about halfway through the interview at this point, because they started approaching what might be spoilers.

I loved the first episode of Horace and Pete but for whatever reason didn't continue with it at the time. Now I am. Episode 3 was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, in any dramatic medium. Probably gonna binge watch all the rest of them tomorrow.

I'm on episode 6. I don't even know what to compare it to but i really like it

really good so far.

_________________________________________
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