Get excited, ‘Louie’ fans, there’s going to be a spin-off (and it sounds amazing)

We have not-so-good news and SUPER good news for Louie C.K. fans. Let’s get the not-so-good-news out of the way first- it’ll be like ripping off a band-aid and dealing with the pain by scarfing down an ice cream cone.

So, the not-so-good news, first as promised- Rolling Stone reports that Louie C.K. has announced that he’s going to be taking an extended break from writing/directing/editing/starring in our beloved Louie.

But… how long is that break going to be?

“It’s really going to be his choice,” FX CEO John Landgraf explained at the Television Critic’s Association summer press tour. “He could decide to take as long as a six-month hiatus… he could decide to take a two-year hiatus and we could be where HBO is with Larry David, announcing periodically that subsequent seasons will air.”

Here’s the good news: Louie C.K. isn’t going use his time off to go sloth out on a beach somewhere. No, he’s getting right back to work, making A+ television for us adoring fans. And for those of us who can’t quite shake our sads about the Louie hiatus, we’re in luck, one of the projects C.K. is developing is a Louie spinoff starring Pamela Adlon, who has played Louie’s friend Pamela in four out of the five seasons of Louie to date, and, for her work in the fifth season, was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.

The show, entitled Better Things, was just picked up on Friday, and will star Adlon as an actress and a single mother raising three daughters. The series was co-created by Adlon and C.K., and the ten-ep first season will air sometime in 2016.

C.K. has a couple more projects in development with FX, Baskets, a comedy about an aspiring clown played by Zach Galifianakis (yes forever, re: this), and a third project C.K. is producing that is, as of this writing, veiled in mystery. Oh, TV development mysteries, so fun in theory, so frustrating in reality, we just want to know what you are! And, and, and, C.K. is also writing, directing, and starring in a feature film I’m a Cop.

So the auteur is QUITE the busy dude, but we’re glad the reason he’s busy is b/c he’s going to be making all this awesome art for us. Everybody together, now: Thank you Loouuuiiiiieeee!

Related:

The many, many reasons to know and love ‘Louie’ star Pamela Adlon

What the Louie ‘Fat Girl’ episode got wrong (and right)

Image via FX