Life with Louie is an American animated series. The show is based on the childhood of stand-up comedian

Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

 Louie Anderson

Louie Anderson

Louie Perry Anderson is an American stand-up comedian. Anderson created the cartoon series Life with Louie, has written three books, and was the initial host of the second revival of the game show Family Feud, from 1999 to 2002....

, growing up with his family in Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

.

The first two episodes aired in primetime on Fox.

The series has since aired on the European version of Jetix

Jetix (UK & Ireland)

Jetix was a television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company that was aimed at children ages six to 14. Jetix was available in many countries around the world in a localized form, including the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It was previously known as Fox Kids.Jetix was available as a...

 and was popular enough to merit a few DVD releases in the region.

Characters

• Louis 'Louie' Anderson - Main character; overweight eight-year-old child living in Wisconsin
  Wisconsin
  Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
  
  .
• Jeannie Harper - Louie's friend. She often defends Louie when he's being harassed. Louie had a crush on her.
• Mike Grunewald - Louie's other friend.
• Andrew 'Andy' Anderson - Louie's neurotic father. He says he is a veteran from World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  , but in episode 28, "Military Reunion," it turns out that Andy was only a cook (nicknamed "Keister"). 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 wouldn't be recognized). His catchphrases were, "For crying out loud!" and "I heard that." Despite his appearance, he is a very caring person.
• Ora Anderson - Louie's sweet natured mother. Often has to cool down Andy when he loses his temper.
• Tommy Anderson - Louie's youngest brother.
• Glen Glenn - Boy who is bullying Louie.
• Henrietta Shermann - Louie's grandmother, mother of Ora. She dies in one of the episodes.
• 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.

Specials

№	#	Title	Original air date

Season 1: 1995-1996

№	#	Title	Original air date

Season 2: 1996-1997

№	#	Title	Original air date

Season 3: 1997-1998

№	#	Title	Original air date

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.

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

CD-ROM

A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....

 comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

, 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

Kids' meal

A Kids' meal is a meal specified to children, usually to preteens, sometimes younger. Most kids' meals come in bags or cardboard boxes with a special themed promotion, containing activities on the bag and a small prize...

 toys were also produced for several fast-food restaurant chains including Taco Bell

Taco Bell

Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...

 (1996), Hardee's

Hardee's

Hardee's is a restaurant chain, located mostly in the Southeast and Midwestern regions of the United States. It has evolved through several corporate ownerships since its establishment in 1960. It is currently owned and operated by CKE Restaurants. Along with its sibling restaurant chain, Carl's...

 (1997), Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant founded by Robert O. Peterson in 1951 in San Diego, California, where it is still headquartered today. In total, the chain has 2,200 locations, primarily serving the West Coast of the United States...

 (1997), and Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen, often abbreviated DQ, is a chain of soft serve and fast food restaurants owned by International Dairy Queen, Inc, who also owns Orange Julius and Karmelkorn. The name "Dairy Queen" is taken from the name of their soft serve product, which the company refers to as "Dairy Queen" or...

 (1999).

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

Jetix (UK & Ireland)

Jetix was a television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company that was aimed at children ages six to 14. Jetix was available in many countries around the world in a localized form, including the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. It was previously known as Fox Kids.Jetix was available as a...

 programming brand.

Reception

As of 2010, based on 1280 votes, Life with Louie holds an 8.5 rating on the Internet Movie Database

Internet Movie Database

Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...

. It also holds an 8.1 rating based on 143 votes on TV.com

TV.com

TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...

.

Awards

The series won two Daytime Emmy Award

Daytime Emmy Award

The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...

s. It also won the Humanitas Prize

Humanitas Prize

The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser — also the founder of Paulist Productions — but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious...

 three times, which is more than for any other animated series.

• Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program - 1997
• Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program - 1998
• Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program - 1999 (nominated)
• Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program - 1999 (nominated)
• Genesis Award - 1997
• Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation - 1996
• Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation - 1997
• Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation - 1998 (nominated)
• Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation - 1998