Life with Louie is an American animated series. The show is based on the childhood of stand-up comedian Louie Anderson, growing up with his family in Wisconsin, although Anderson himself is from Minnesota.
The first two episodes aired in primetime on Fox.
Characters[]
- Louis "Louie" Anderson (voiced by Louie Anderson) Based on Anderson's younger self. Louie is an eight-year-old child, living in the fictional town of Cedar Knoll, Wisconsin. He is a very sensitive, impressionable, and intelligent young boy. He often uses his gifted sense of humor to deal with difficult situations. He always stands up for his own rights and principles, but also for those of others. His most notable catchphrase used in the series is, "All right!"
- Jeannie Harper (voiced by Debi Derryberry) - Louie's best friend. She often defends Louie from local bullies. Louie has a crush on her.
- Michael "Mike" Grunewald (voiced by Justin Shenkarow) - Louie's friend with a sarcastic sense of humor. He has a somewhat chill attitude and comes from a rather wealthy family, much to Louie's jealousy.
- Toddler Tobolinski - Louie's other friend. He is somewhat shorter than the others, about the same height as Louie, and loves activities like recess.
- Scott Jensen - One of Louie's friends. He appears quite often in the 1st and 3rd seasons. But he is rarely seen in the 2nd season.
- Andrew "Andy" Mortimer Anderson (voiced by Louie Anderson) - Louie's difficult, but caring father. He is a veteran of World War II and likes to tell his family stories about his experience at the front in Europe. Much of the humor regarding Andy, involved his 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 it in his youth (he even went so far as to disguise himself at chess tournaments so he would not be recognized). He is a proud owner of a Rambler sedan[5] (most probably a 1959 Rambler Six), that appears on the show in various episodes. His catchphrases: "For crying out loud!" and "I heard that." Despite his appearance, he is a very caring and loving person.
- Ora Anderson (voiced by Edie McClurg) - Louie's kind, loving and sweet natured mother. She usually acts as the voice of reason for Louie and Andy.
- Thomas "Tommy" Anderson (voiced by Miko Hughes) - Louie's youngest brother. Louie teases him a lot in the beginning.
- Glen Glenn (voiced by Justin Shenkarow) - The local bully of Louie’s school who teases Louie and the other Kids. His mother Jen Glenn has a huge temper and loud voice which the other citizens don't like.
- Craig Eric, Paul George - Glen Glenn's friends.
- The Melvins - A group of chess nerds. One of them is actually named Franklin but is still called Melvin.
- Henrietta Shermann - Louie's grandmother, mother of Ora. She dies in Season 2.
- Pepper - Louie's obese pet goldfish.
- Sid Anderson, John Anderson, Danny Anderson, Peter Anderson - Louie's older brothers.
- Mr. Jensen, Earl Grunewald, Gus Williams, Mrs. Stillman - Louie's neighbors
- Laura Anderson, Carol Anderson, Charlie Anderson, Julie Anderson - Louie's older sisters.
Episodes[]
Main Article: Episode List (Life with Louie)
Intro and theme song[]
The show's intro involved the main character running toward a 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.
Main Article: Life with Louie (Theme Song)
Home videos and merchandise[]
Based on the popularity of the show, various merchandise was released including apparel, videos of various episodes, a "Lake Winnibigoshish" CD-ROM comic book, and a book series for children. The book series was based on the various episodes of the show and contained six books in total. Kids' meal toys were also produced for several fast-food restaurant chains including Taco Bell (1996), Hardee's (1997), Jack in the Box (1997), and Dairy Queen (1999).
For a time, Life with Louie-branded Spaghetti-O's, in character shapes, were available.
In early January 2006, TVShowsOnDVD.com posted a news story that Life with Louie was going to be released on DVD in the US. The information came 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 in the United States. However, three 2-episode sets were released in the United Kingdom in summer 2007 as Life with Louie: Volume 1, 2, and 3. The sets were released through Boulevard Entertainment as part of the Jetix programming brand.
Awards[]
The series won three Emmy Awards. It also won the Humanitas Prize three times, which is more than for any other animated series.
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing - Special Class - Rick Hinson, Rick Hammel, Les Wolf Thomas Syslo and Timothy Borquez - 1996 (nominated)
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program - Louie Anderson - 1997
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program - Louie Anderson - 1998
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing - Special Class - Timothy Borquez, Timothy J. Garrity and Brad Brock - 1998 (nominated)
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Outstanding Sound Editing - Special Class - Timothy Borquez, Rick Hinson and Eric Freeman - 1998 (nominated)
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program - Louie Anderson - 1999 (nominated)
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program - 1999 (nominated)
- Genesis Award for ethical treatment of animals - 1997
- Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation - 1996
- Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation - 1997
- Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation - 1998