FX renewed Louie for a fourth season this summer, but you won’t see the comedian return to the airwaves for quite some time. Instead of premiering in late June as is tradition, Louie will come back in Spring 2014. Why the hold-up? In a conference call today Louis C.K. said he’s taking an extended break from the show for two main reasons: to focus on touring (which runs from this month all the way to February 2013) and to allot time to making the next season as creative, entertaining, and funny as possible. “The last three seasons have been this surge of fun and work and stories and it’s been great, but I want the show to keep getting better,” he said. “That’s my goal, and I don’t want it to be making the donuts, I want it to be something that comes from somewhere important and stays funny.”

Louie envisions his FX show to live on for nine seasons. The first three seasons have served as the first act of a trilogy, making season four the beginning of a new phase for the show. Following the splendid three-episode Late Night arc and the absurdity that ensued in the season three finale, I personally cannot wait to see what Louie has up his sleeve.

[Via Deadline; EW]

High off his record-breaking seven Emmy nominations, Louis C.K. has more to be excited about. On Saturday FX renewed his comedy series Louie for a fourth season. The cable network also renewed Russell Brand’s new talk show BrandX and said it will undergo creative changes as the show continues through the fall. Wilfred and veteran Justified were not renewed, but FX entertainment president John Landgraf remains positive about their respective futures. On Wilfred, he expects the bizarre comedy to remain on the air for “many years.” On Justified, he sees the Timothy Olyphant-led show run for at least six seasons (season three concluded in April).

Charlie Sheen’s comeback vehicle Anger Management has performed well enough in the ratings for FX to grant it a (whopping) 90-episode order. Though Landgraf has yet to greenlight the order, he expects to do so in the near future. “We won’t make a decision on the 90 episodes until all 10 have aired but the series up until now has given us every indication [that it will return],” he said. In episode 10, Charlie’s father Martin Sheen will join the cast as a series regular. “What the entry of Martin Sheen’s character will do is it will give an extra dimension to the show and make it a multi-generational family show,” Landgraf explained. “The show will still deal with his relationship with his patients and the women in his life, but will also [expand to focus on his family].”

Currently Anger Management, Louie, and BrandX air Thursday nights at 9:30PM, 10:30PM, and 11PM, respectively, on FX.

[Via EW 1, 2]

Louie Louie Louie Louieeeeeee. Sing it. You know you want to.

Tonight stand-up comedian Louis C.K. returns to your television screen in his highly lauded comedy Louie. The season three premiere is called “Something is Wrong” and the log line goes like this: “Louie has a challenging day.” This has got to be good. As you should be used to by now, C.K. wrote, directed, and edited the episode; you will see his name plastered all over the opening credits throughout the 13-episode season. He hit a high point in last year’s war-themed “Duckling,” and he’s still red hot following the massive success that was Live at the Beacon Theatre. Expect a bunch of guest stars to pop up throughout the season including Oscar winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and fellow comedians Robin Williams and  Jerry Seinfeld (the latter will help carry a three episode arc towards the end of the season).

Louie airs Thursday nights at 10:30PM on FX. Also premiering tonight on the cable network is the return of Charlie Sheen in Anger Management (9PM) and Wilfred season 2 (10PM).

In related news, C.K. is going on tour again soon. It starts on October 3 in Cleveland, OH and comes to a close on February 1 in Washington, DC. He’s following his previous means of success (read: Live at the Beacon Theatre) by directly selling tickets to his fans through his website. Tickets go for $45, no fees, no annoying emails.

In a blog post he explained, “Making my shows affordable has always been my goal but two things have always worked against that. High ticket charges and ticket re-sellers marking up the prices. Some ticketing services charge more than 40% over the ticket price and, ironically, the lower I’ve made my ticket prices, the more scalpers have bought them up, so the more fans have paid for a lot of my tickets.” He continued, “By selling the tickets exclusively on my site, I’ve cut the ticket charges way down and absorbed them into the ticket price. To buy a ticket, you join NOTHING. Just use your credit card and buy the damn thing.” And he means business. “Also, you’ll see that if you try to sell the ticket anywhere for anything above the original price, we have the right to cancel your ticket (and refund your money). this is something I intend to enforce. There are some other rules you may find annoying but they are meant to prevent someone who has no intention of seeing the show from buying the ticket and just flipping it for twice the price from a thousand miles away.”

That’s the C.K. way, and it rules. Click here to read the rest of his blog post and here to view the tour dates.

Update: He did it again, only this time he did it faster. According to the AP, Louis sold 100,000 tickets and raked in $4.5 million in sales in 45 hours. He shared his excitement in a tweet: “I guess it was a good idea.”