The fourth season of the American television comedy series Louie premiered on May 5, 2014, and concluded on June 16, 2014. It consists of fourteen episodes, most running approximately 23 minutes in length. FX broadcast the fourth season on Mondays at 10:00 and 10:30 pm in the United States with back-to-back episodes. The season was produced by 3 Arts Entertainment and the executive producers were Louis C.K., Dave Becky and M. Blair Breard. Louie was created, written and directed by Louis C.K., who stars as a fictionalized version of himself, a comedian and newly divorced father raising his two daughters in New York City. The show has a loose format atypical for television comedy series, consisting of largely unconnected storylines and segments that revolve around Louie's life, punctuated by live stand-up performances.
Production
FX announced in July 2012 that it had renewed Louie for a fourth season to consist of 13 episodes, and was later confirmed in October 2012 that the season would be delayed from airing in summer 2013 to May 2014, to give more time for Louie C.K. to develop the season. C.K. said, "I want season four to go somewhere new...I'm looking back to when I did the first season and the time I took to do the show and decide which directions to go in and I want that back again. I want a little breathing room." In March 2014, FX announced the season would premiere on May 5, 2014, moving to Mondays and would air back-to-back episodes for seven consecutive weeks, containing an additional fourteenth episode. C.K. said that after the season's third episode, the fourth season would include a multi-part, connected storyline. C.K. collaborated with comedian Steven Wright on some of the scripts for the fourth season, and Wright is credited as a consulting producer for the season. According to guest star Jeremy Renner, Philip Seymour Hoffman was supposed to appear in an episode this season, however, Hoffman died in February 2014. Episodes 11 and 12, "In the Woods" have an extended run time of an hour and a half.
Cast
Main cast
Louis C.K. as Louie
Recurring cast
Guest stars
Episodes
Reception
Reviews
The fourth season of Louie received universal acclaim from critics, receiving a Metacritic score of 93 out of 100, based on 28 reviews. Robert Llyod of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Each stands on its own as a TV art film, an independent work of short fiction." Andrew Romano of The Daily Beast wrote that "Season 4 is just as brilliant as the seasons that preceded it."
Ratings
The season 4 premiere received 941,000 total viewers, a 19 percent boost over last season's average.
