Singular in its completely unfettered, direct process from development to screen, “Louie” has quickly emerged as the natural extension to Louis C.K.'s unique voice, and in the middle of its strongest season to date, FX has announced plans for the obvious while AMC look to the future beyond “Breaking Bad” with a new show of their own.
This past weekend, at The Television Critics Association shindig, FX announced plans for a fourth season of “Louie,” as network president John Landgraf continues possibly the best creator-network relationship around with his support. If you haven't been following our weekly recaps, the show recently wrapped up an incredible two-part story thread involving Parker Posey, and Louie's constant conflict between expectation and reality in their relationship. The entire arc was deftly handled and, along with the Miami episode this season, really showcased Louis C.K.'s confidence to let laughs give way to more emotional material, bringing a nice cohesion that makes us all the more excited for what's to come.
Speaking of anticipation, viewers are growing increasingly restless for the last batch of “Breaking Bad” episodes before the series concludes, and to match that, AMC are growing just as nervous in their journey to fill its slot. They seem to have found their hopeful, however, as the network recently closed a deal to develop “Area 51,” a new show based on Anne Jacobsen's book of the same name. Jacobson will co-produce the show along with executive producer Gale Anne Hurd (“The Walking Dead”), while Todd E. Kessler (“The Unit,” “The Good Wife”)” will handle writing duties. Before critical eyebrows are raised, it appears the 50s/60s-set show will tackle the quotidian duties of the Nevada security staff on base, and will partially focus on the relationship between alien conspiracy theories and the Cold War paranoia that existed alongside it. “Gale brought us the book and loved the way it presented an oral history of the place,” said Joel Stillerman, head of AMC, “She has this whole technology/futuristic thing going on.”
“Area 51” joins two other AMC pilots currently in production, "Low Winter Sun,” a murder mystery starring James Ransone and Mark Strong, and an as-yet-untitled legal thriller, but out of all of them, it certainly feels the most risky. Such a subject could easily turn into the sort of meandering mystery that “The Killing” and “Rubicon” audiences found lacking, but as “Breaking Bad” winds down, let's hope AMC finds a way to further their admittedly intriguing first steps. [The Wrap/NY Post]