Popular comedian Louis C.K., talking on Howard Stern‘s radio show, has revealed that he canned his show, Louie, and his prospective feature film, I’m a Cop, in order to focus on his low-key sitcom Horace & Pete. What’s more, he’s a bit in debt, too.
C.K. says that he was set to film I’m a Cop last American summer, but the fact that he was also doing his television show at the same time led him to shelve both projects: “It was a very terrifying thing to do”. However, he felt the need to take a break to recover some inspiration and avoid creative burnout. The month or so he had off resulted in coming up with Horace & Pete.
Having self-financed Horace & Pete, C.K. has also revealed he’s a bit under the kosh financially. When Stern read out his apparent celebrity net worth of $16 million, C.K. incredulously dismissed that figure as “nowhere near that”. The ten episode-long first season of Horace & Pete ending up costing C.K. $2 million of his funds, which forced to him to borrow money.
With all this in mind, Stern asks C.K. why he doesn’t sell his show to a network, who gives an answer true to his stubbornly laconic and renegade nature: “If I went to a network with this show, I’d have to do press”. It’s no surprise then that Horace & Pete, to date, hasn’t been marketed by the comic beyond his own website and weekly emails.
Listen to the interview with Stern below, in which Louis C.K. also discusses his career, and his vision and conception for Horace & Pete including how he managed to get Steve Buscemi, Edie Falco, Alan Alda, Paul Simon and others to contribute to his new show.
