Epic "Louie" Last Night

Not sure if you caught last night's episode of "Louie," but it was one for the ages. A few hours before the episode aired, Louis C.K. tweeted that the guest stars for it were Maria Bamford, Sarah Silverman, and Marc Maron. "All Jews, except Maria," read the tweet. I was going to watch anyway, but now that Maron and Silverman were going to be on...

I have been listening to Marc Maron's WTF podcast for a year and a half or so. I hate to admit that I am not as cool as everyone else, but I only "discovered" the podcast after Maron appeared on Bill Maher's show. Have been hooked ever since. My love for the podcast prompted to me to do a little "research" on Maron, and I realized that I had seen him many times in the past on Comedy Central, Conan, and elsewhere. I also came upon numerous references to some sort of feud or falling out between Maron and Louis C.K. None of the articles explicitly said what the two were feuding about, so it remained a mystery. I was content to just leave it there, but after last night's Louie, I just had to know more.

Though Louie is a fictional show, writer/director/star Louis C.K. does incorporate elements of his real life into each episode, and often has his comedian friends appear - as themselves - on the show. In last night's episode, Louie is at home watching TV when a young comedians special from the late 80s / early 90s comes on the air. The special features a very young Louie, as well as Sarah Silverman and Marc Maron. Louie calls Silverman to tell her to turn it on, and after a brief trip down memory lane, Maron comes on the screen. Louie is silent while watching his old friend, and then relates to Silverman that he hasn't spoken to him in 10 years. Sarah urges him to call Marc and to get over whatever issue has kept them apart for a decade. That "issue" is not specified.

What transpires next is hilarious, and I won't spoil the whole thing by giving a play by play. Suffice to say, that in this version of events, Marc and Louie's issue is not totally resolved. Forgiveness is offered and accepted, yet somehow, the two are pretty much in the same boat as they were before. 

After the episode was over, I decided that I just couldn't retire for the evening without finding out more of what caused the rift between these two in the first place. I had been told that everything came out into the open on an early episode of WTF. So, I went ahead and bit the bullet and signed up for the premium WTF, which allows access to the entire history of the show. At $1.99 for a month, it hardly breaks the bank.

I scrolled through all the old episodes that I had never heard until I found the two part Louis C.K. episode. Now before you start thinking that this post comes to a great point of resolution, let me disavow you of that notion. I only got through Part One before falling asleep, mildly baked, in my chair in front of the computer. At that point in the show, their "issue" had not been addressed. Most of what I heard was two old friends recalling their early days and reminiscing about the people they used to know. It was great, but where was the confrontation? Where was the controversy? Where was the yelling, the shouting, the crying? 

I guess that's in Part Two. I'll post more later (after I listen to the show). In the meantime, if you haven't seen the episode of Louie yet, go to the FX website, and watch last night's show. My next post on this topic will make more sense then.