Louis C.K. Says FX ‘Louie’ Feels ‘Far in the Past’ After ‘Horace and Pete’

Both Louis C.K. and FX have been honest about the fact that Louie’s return will be up to the comedian himself in time, a prospect overshadowed by C.K.’s recent work on the independently-produced Horace and Pete. That series has finally “wrapped” its season, but C.K. isn’t feeling particularly awash in new Louie ideas just yet.

Speaking with HitFix, C.K. offered a less-than-optimistic assessment of his current Louie mentality, last said to be on hold while the comedian recharged himself creatively. The Emmy-winner famously enjoyed a tremendous amount of creative freedom with Louie, but even then, the completely self-produced Horace and Pete may have dampened his interest in returning to FX:

[Horace and Pete] turned out to be, for me, the best thing I ever made. It may be because Louie feels very far in the past. I can’t feel that show anymore. But I am drenched in the feelings that this show and making this show gave me and revealed for me. And the feelings I have for the characters and the fine people who played them and the crew that executed the show for me with such care. I am terribly sad that it’s over and bracing for whatever wild feelings will follow in it’s absence from my daily efforts.

Back in January, the comedian offered of Louie’s return:

I don’t know. I just don’t know. I don’t know. I think about it sometimes and I just don’t know … Louie was going by really fast, it felt like. It did occur to me to let people go back and watch it and let it soak in for a while. I did seven standup specials in seven years and five seasons of TV. That’s a lot of me. It did feel like good farming to let the soil have a couple of winters to freeze and thaw. It will be better for me creatively. I also don’t want people to get sick of me. […]

I just leave it open in my head. I want it to begin with I really want to do it. When you start with the premise that ‘I have another season to write,’ that’s not a great source. To me, now that there is no show essentially, if I have an idea that’s burning and feels right for that, then it will start from the idea. I don’t know when that will happen. It may not. It was such a great job, I’m likely to try it again at some point.

C.K. previously took between 2012 and 2014 to deliver the super-sized Louie Season 4, while a reduced order for Louie Season 5 helped deliver the most recent run.

There’s always the chance the C.K.’s experience making Horace and Pete could itself provide fodder for a new Louie season, but should fans be worried the FX dramedy will stay “very far in the past?”