Good news and bad(-dish) news from FX at the Television Critics Association press tour.
Good news: In addition to making the Fargo Season 2 announcement official, FX has also announced that Louie will return for a fifth season in Spring 2015.
Bad news: Buuuuuuuut that season has only been picked up for seven episodes, as opposed to the first four seasons, which were each ordered for 13. (And this latest season actually had 14, because Louis C.K. delivered an extra one.)
From Hitfix:
“Louie’s fourth season was once again groundbreaking. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking – always thought provoking,” states FX CEO John Landgraf. “The show went to narrative and cinematic places no comedy has gone before and we look forward to seeing what Louis comes up with next.”
The obvious downside here is that 7 < 13 and less of something good is usually a bad thing. (Math.) But the nice part is that a shorter season probably means a quicker turnaround, especially considering Louis C.K.'s increasingly busy schedule and the fact that he took a full year off between Seasons 3 and 4. And who knows, maybe the seven-episode season will free him up to tinker with the form even more, after a season filled with various multi-episode arcs and stories. It could end up being a good thing. To paraphrase Dr. Bigelow…
"How many episodes will the fifth season of Louie have?”
“Seven.”
“The answer is it will have plenty of episodes.”
