Life with Louie

infobox television
show_name = Life with Louis (Louie)


caption = "Life with Louie" Title screen
format = Animated television series/Comedy
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = Matthew O'Callaghan
voices = Louie Anderson Debi Derryberry
Edie McClurg Miko Hughes Justin Shenkarow Mary Wickes
country = USA
network = Fox Network
first_aired = December 24, 1994
last_aired = March 3, 1998
num_episodes = 39
tv_com_id = 4067
imdb_id=0112047|

"Life with Louie" is an American TV series based on stand up material from Louie Anderson and his stories of being a kid, growing up in Wisconsin with several brothers and sisters.

Characters

*Louis 'Louie' Anderson - Main character; overweight eight-year-old child living in Wisconsin.
*Mike Grunewald and Jeannie Harper - Louie's friends. Jeanie often defends Louie when he's being harassed. Louie had a crush on Jeanie and once referred to her as his "knight in shining armor".
*Andrew 'Andy' Anderson - Louie's neurotic father. He says that he is a veteran from World War II but in episode 28, "Military Reunion", it's turning out that Andy was only a cook.(Nicknamed "Keister") Much of the humor regarding Andy involved Andy's comic superiority complex and equally comical unawareness of his own limitations. Though he often appeared out of touch with reality, Andy was secretly a very gifted chess player, a skill Louie briefly displayed possessing, but he hid his gift during the latter half of his life because of the way he was supposedly mistreated for his gift in his youth (he even went so far as to disguise himself at chess tournaments so he wouldn't be recognized). His catchphrase was, "For crying out loud!". Despite his appearance, he is a very caring person, however this side of him is rarely shown.
*Ora Anderson - Louie's heavy set, sweet natured mother. A very good cook. Often has to cool down Andy when he loses his temper.
*Tommy Anderson - Louie's youngest brother.
*Glen Glenn - Boy who is bullying Louie.
*Henrietta Shermann - Louie's grandmother, mother of Ora. She dies in one of the episodes.
*Pepper - Louie's obese pet goldfish.
*Sid Anderson, John Anderson, Danny Anderson, Peter Anderson - Louie's older brothers.
*Mr. Jensen, Earl Grunewald, Gus Williams - Louie's neighbours
* Laura Anderson, Carol Anderson, Julie Anderson - Louie's older sisters.

Episode list

# A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman
# Dad Gets Canned
# Lake Winnibigoshish
# Raindrops Keep Falling on My Bed
# A Fish Called Pepper
# Behind Every Good Coach
# Pains, Grains, and Allergy Shots
# The Fourth Thursday in November
# Tracks of My Deers
# When Cedar Knoll Freezes Over
# A Fair to Remember
# Born a Rambler Man
# Caddy on a Hot Tin Roof
# Summer of My Discontent
# Anderson Ski Weekend
# Roofless People
# How to Succeed in Washington Without Really Trying
# Mr. Anderson's Opus
# An Anderson Dozen
# Buzz Stop
# For Pete's Sake
# The Masked Chess Boy
# The Good, the Bad, & the Glenns
# Kazoo's Coming to Dinner
# The Thank You Note
# Louie's Gate
# The Making of a President
# Military Reunion
# Go Packers
# The Undergraduate
# Louie's Harrowing Halloween
# Mr. Louie's Wild Ride
# Close Encounters of the Louie Kind
# The Kiss is the Thing
# Family Portrait
# Blinded By Love
# Do it or Donut
# Project: Mother's Day
# Alive! Miracle in Cedar Knoll, Wisconsin

Intro and lyrics

The shows intro involved the main character running toward the TV set, turning one of the set's dials, and showing a live-action video of Louie Anderson as an adult saying, "Let me tell you about my family." Then after that showing clips of the show from Andy Anderson being pulled by sled dogs, Louie sticking chopsticks in his nose, to Louie jumping off a diving board at a swimming pool nearly wasting all the water and getting most of the other participants wet due to the fact of him being overweight, then the show's logo (in Pink) appears on the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, while the main character (wearing sunglasses) eats a dot while sitting on a raft while watching TV on a tire. The intro was used from season 2 to the last season. Season 1 episodes used a live-action intro by Louie Anderson talking to the audience about his childhood, then dissolving into the show.

The show's lyrics are:

"Hey, here we go now! It's that time again! "

"Let's take a look and see what's happening!"

"Rollercoaster riding, it's no Suprise! It's 'Life With Louie', Louie, Louie, Louie!"

"It's 'Life With Louie', Louie, Louie!"

"It's Life with like-able, love-able, cuddly, be-hugable...."

"It's 'Life With Louie'!!!!!!!!!"

Merchandise

Based on the popularity of the show, various merchandise was released including videos of various episodes and a book series for children. The book series was based on the various episodes of the show and contained 6 books in total.

Awards

The series won two Daytime Emmy Awards. It also won the Humanitas Prize three times, which is more than for any other animated series.

DVD

In early January 2006, TVShowsOnDVD.com [cite news
url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=4808
title=Life with Louie - Louie says Louie is coming
date=2006-01-01
accessdate=2008-03-15
publisher=www.tvshowsondvd.com
last=Lacey
first=Gord] posted a news story that Life with Louie was going to be released on DVD. The information comes from Louie Anderson himself who mentioned this news on a radio program he was a guest on, KQRS-FM. There has been no other news since then and it is now unknown if this series will ever be released on DVD.

References

External links

* [http://abcfamily.go.com/abcfamily/path/section_Shows+LifeWithLouie/page_Video-LifeWithLouie-1001 Life with Louie Episodes Available at ABC Family ]