10 Bad Seasons Of Otherwise Great TV Shows

Louie has always been one of the most unique things on television, combining hilarious standup with weird, absurdist fantasy sequences and some of the darkest comedy you'll ever see. And occasionally, the show just kind of abandons the comedy to tell real, human stories.

But Season 4 went way too far in that direction, essentially completely forgetting the fact that this is even a comedy series at all. It's not a funny season, but that's not even really because it tries and fails to be funny. There are just rarely any jokes. Instead you get long, drawn out dramatic arcs like an episode called Elevator which is told in six parts, focusing on Louie's relationship with a woman named Amia which isn't nearly as cute or interesting as the show thinks it is.

There are some interesting social issues discussed in the season, like in the episode So Did the Fat Lady, but they aren't presented through comedy anymore. It's okay to abandon the comedy if the dramatic stuff is effective, like in the season's highlight, In the Woods, an episode focusing on Louie as a kid. But with this exception, most of the dramatic points of Season 4 are just flat and uninteresting, and you just find yourself trying to recall what it's like to laugh while watching this show. Luckily, Season 5 brought that all back.