• Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Jun 11, 2006
  • Season #: 1
Metascore
48 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 19
  2. Negative: 7 out of 19
  1. 75
    "Lucky Louie" is a true original -- a pleasantly twisted variation on "The Honeymooners" or "Roseanne" for the 21st Century.
  2. The comedy is nifty, light and kind, even as it tries to be real, slitting open the stand-up themes of marital sex, masturbation and dope smoking until it's dirty enough to convince you that you're not being condescended to, but smart enough not to be grim. That's a huge feat.
  3. There's no shortage of laughs.
  4. 70
    If your family game nights tended to end with someone upturning the Monopoly board, then running to their room in tears, and your family trips hit their low point at a national monument in the middle of nowhere when someone abruptly got out of the car and refused to get back in, you're likely to find "Lucky Louie" fairly entertaining.
  5. Deep it's not, but funny it often is.
  6. It feels as if you've happened across a British sitcom or a rerun of "MADtv."
  7. 60
    "Lucky Louie" is not a runaway smash right out of the gate, but neither does it stumble or implode.
  8. Reviewed by: Dan Snierson
    58
    His underdog charm is often overshadowed by flat jokes and foul one-liners that are all shock and no guffaw. [23 Jun 2006, p.63]
  9. Often funny when it tackles taboo topics head on, the show walks a fine line between honesty and unnecessary crudeness, and it often goes a step too far.
  10. 38
    Like "Roseanne," it can mine poverty for working-class laughs. It isn't executing that well, yet.
  11. 38
    It's like a David Mamet parody of Roseanne. [19 Jun 2006, p.37]
  12. Reviewed by: Diane Werts
    30
    There's certainly comedy to be found in these basic situations, but not in "Lucky Louie's" confounding approach or stilted presentation.
  13. It doesn't work, largely because there's not enough wit from creator and star Louis C.K. to make the vulgarity anything more than an exercise in blue.
  14. 20
    It's one of HBO's more fascinating series -- but not because it's good, or funny.
  15. This is comedian Louis C.K.'s attempt to lampoon the classic half-hour sitcom, if by lampoon you mean drown it in toxic failure.
  16. 0
    A show so vile, it makes you think the company's arrogant It's Not TV -- It's HBO slogan isn't a brag -- it's a threat.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 136 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 74 out of 97
  2. Negative: 17 out of 97
  1. MelodyH.
    10
    This was one of the best shows on HBO. I think it was a mistake to cancel it.
  2. amyc
    9
    my husband and I watched it for the first time on5/7/07 we thinks its the best went out looking for dvd's
  3. LanceB
    10
    Funniest sitcom ever