TV Recaps Reviews

Louie on FX stars comic Louis C.K. If you haven’t caught this new series that follows FX’s Rescue Me, you are missing comedy worth watching. This is smart comedy written by a very smart comic who will make you think and laugh. Comic Louie C.K. is the executive producer, writer and director of Louie. The series follows Louie’s life as a stand-up comedian and as a newly single father raising his two young daughters. What is really fascinating about this show is Louie C.K.’s writing about every aspect of life. Louie says blunt things most people want to say but are afraid to say out loud. The series covers life as a stand-up comic, race, dating, homophobia, parenting, mid-life sex, and just about any other subject that most people wouldn’t tackle in a comedy series. If you like middle-of-the-road comedy and dislike profanity or adult humor, this may not be for you. The writing is unapologetic in its approach, it cuts to the bone when it comes to the reality of life, all while making you laugh.

Louie has already been renewed for another season, and with good reason. This is one of the most refreshing comedies on TV, it is unique, quirky and flat-out funny.

Catch Louie on Tuesdays at 11:00 p.m. to midnight ET/PT on FX. Check your local TV schedule for upcoming episodes of the series.

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Adam is off to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to face the Steak & Catfish Barn’s Fried Catfish Challenge. The current record holder for the competition ate twenty-eight two ounce fried catfish pieces, Adam plans to break the record eating twenty-nine fried catfish pieces and two side dishes in one hour. If Adam breaks the catfish eating record, he receives a trophy and his name on the famed Top-Cat board in the restaurant.

First Adam stops by Cattleman’s, located next to the stockyards, where Cattleman’s specialize in serving the freshest of beef steaks to its customers. Cattleman’s is known for their steaks and lamb fries. Adam has heard great things about their Presidential T-Bone steak, which was named after President George H.W. Bush. Adam tells the television audience “Man vs Food manhandles the panhandle” as he walks into the restaurant. One of the diners tells Adam he eats at the restaurant because of the quality of the steaks and the atmosphere, and proceeds to tell Adam about the steaks coming right off the hoofs of the nearby stockyard. Referring to the diner, Adam tells the audience “He’s going to eat what he wants and ride the rest home!”

Adam goes back to Cattleman’s kitchen, where he watches director of operations David Egan prepare his T-bone steak. Adam discovers that Cattleman’s wet ages their beef, wrapping it in plastic in its own juices for thirty-four days, deepening the flavor of the meat. The T-bone is rubbed with Cattleman’s steak secret seasoning, then goes on the hot grill to get great grill marks. The secret seasoning recipe is known by only two people, one of which is David Egan. Adam tastes a small piece of the steak and says its “Like butter!” When the T-bone is ready, David drenches the T-bone steak in Cattleman’s au jus to keep it moist. Adam joins restaurant owner Dick Stubbs at a table and digs into the tender Presidential T-Bone steak, saying “Read my lips, this is a delicious steak” in reference to Bush 41.

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In this episode Tony starts his trip down memory lane telling the viewers “What an arrogant f**k I was, on the basis of nothing!” A documentary from 2000 by Dmitri Kasterine documents Tony’s life before fame hit, following him during his work days as Executive Chef at Les Halles, and as his book Kitchen Confidential, an expose on kitchens in New York restaurants, is published.

Dmitri Kasterine asked Tony Bourdain access to his life prior to his book publishing, following Tony for a year as his life drastically changes from chef to author and television host. Kasterine’s documentary for TV is called “Out of the Pan, Into the Fire” and is seen here in flashbacks throughout this No Reservations episode, along with Tony in current day making snarky comments about his younger self, particularly about his wardrobe back then.

The documentary film shows Tony is ten years younger, back at Les Halles barking orders to the kitchen staff and joking with them, all the while turning out some serious food from his loyal and talented Latin American chefs. Tony talks about his approach in the kitchen, telling the audience when it comes to food service “It’s all about avoiding disaster.” As Tony talks about how great Les Halles staff is, he tells the audience about a blue collar restaurant he worked at in the summer during his less than successful years in college. Tony’s introduction to kitchen life was as a dishwasher at a Cape Cod restaurant where the staff was a tough crowd. A huge wedding party was at the restaurant that night, and Tony remembers the chef put him on the line to cover for him while he took a break from the kitchen. Tony says “I looked out the window and saw my chef having sex with a woman in her wedding whites, and I thought, you know, ‘I want to be a chef!’” Tony complains about a customer who wants their steak a certain way, saying with distain “They’d like it sliced, please. Maybe they’d like us to chew it for them, too.”

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