Sam Woolf’s Top 10 TV Shows Of 2014

6) Louie

Considering he’s been responsible for writing, directing, starring and (once more) editing the entire show, the big question about Louis C.K.’s Louie was always, “which will happen first: will C.K. run out of ideas, or die of exhaustion?” After taking 2013 off, the recharged, but not necessarily refreshed C.K. delivered more short films disguised as episodes in 2014. Whether it was due to rust or an absence of new material, the early episodes of Season 4 seemed a bit off, with the standout “So Did the Fat Lady” being the cream of early endeavours that felt like rehashes of old stories, or one-note gags.

Then came the “Elevator” saga, a six-episode story that showed C.K. hadn’t lost his touch, and was in fact pushing himself further than he ever had before. The surreal elasticity of Louie that had made it so charming years previous was toned down, and replaced with a stricter thematic and narrative focus. Rather than limiting the show, Louie delivered its most complete season yet, one focused on how communication is more than just a matter of speaking the same language. With the help of some fantastic supporting turns from Charles Grodin, Sarah Baker and Jeremy Renner (to name a few), Season 4 marked a major step forward for C.K. as a creator, even proving that Soderbergh doesn’t have a monopoly on TV’s best long takes.