''Life with Louie'' is an American animated sitcom television series that ran on the FOX Network from 1994-1998. The series was based on the childhood of well-known

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

Louie Anderson, growing up with his family in the town of Cedar Knoll,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

during the early 1960s, although Anderson himself was actually from

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

, also situated in midwestern U.S. The first two episodes aired in primetime on Fox in late 1994, before moving to Saturday morning on Fox Kids from 1995 to 1998. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide. The series is not available on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

Characters

* Louis "Louie" Anderson (voiced by Louie Anderson) — Based on Anderson's younger self. Louie is an 8-year-old child, living in the fictional town of Cedar Knoll,

. 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 relaxed 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 first and third seasons, but is rarely seen in Season 2. * Andrew "Andy" Mortimer Anderson (voiced by Louie Anderson) — Louie's difficult, but caring father. He is a veteran of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

player, a skill Louie was briefly shown to have himself, 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 (even going so far as to disguise himself at chess tournaments so he wouldn't be recognized). He is a proud owner of a

Rambler Rambler or Ramble may refer to: Places * Rambler, Wyoming * Rambler Channel (藍巴勒海峽), separates Tsing Yi Island and the mainland New Territories in Hong Kong * The Ramble and Lake, Central Park, an area within New York City's Centr ...

sedan (most probably a 1959 Rambler Six), which 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 Miko John Hughes (born February 22, 1986) is an American actor known for his film roles as a child, such as Gage Creed in ''Pet Sematary'' (1989), ''Kindergarten Cop'' (1990), ''Apollo 13'' (1995), '' Spawn'' (1997), '' Mercury Rising'' (1998), ...

) — 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 hot 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 (voiced by

Mary Wickes Mary Wickes (born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser; June 13, 1910 – October 22, 1995) was an American actress. She often played supporting roles as prim, professional women, secretaries, nurses, nuns, therapists, teachers and housekeepers, who made ...

) — The mother of Ora and maternal grandmother of Louie. When her voice actress Mary Wickes died in Season 2, the producers elected to make an episode where Louie handles the death of his grandmother. * Pepper — Louie's obese pet

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have bec ...

. * 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.

Episode list

Specials

Season 1 (1995–1996)

Season 2 (1996–1997)

Season 3 (1997–1998)

Intro and theme song

The show's intro for Seasons 2 and 3 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." This was followed by 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) appeared on the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, while the main character (wearing sunglasses) ate a dot while sitting on a raft while watching TV on a tire. 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 A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

, 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 The kids' meal or children's meal is a fast food combination meal tailored to and marketed to children. Most kids' meals come in colorful bags or cardboard boxes with depictions of activities/games on the bag or box and a toy inside. Most stan ...

toys were also produced for several

fast-food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast-food cuisine and has minimal table service. The food served in fast-food restaurants is typical ...

chains including

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

(1996),

Hardee's Hardee's Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain operated by CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") with locations primarily in the Southern and Midwestern United States. The company has evolved through several corporate ow ...

(1997),

Jack in the Box Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded February 21, 1951, by Robert O. Peterson (1916–1994) in San Diego, California, where it is headquartered. The chain has over 2,200 locations, primarily serving the West Coast ...

(1997), and Dairy Queen (1999). For a time, ''Life with Louie''-branded SpaghettiOs, 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 since Louie Anderson's death in 2022. 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 two

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. It also won the

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing, and is given to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of Paulist P ...

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

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Outstanding Sound Editing - Special Class - Rick Hinson, Rick Hammel, Les Wolf Thomas Syslo and Timothy Borquez -

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

(nominated) *

for Outstanding Sound Mixing - Special Class - Timothy Borquez and Dan Hiland -

(nominated) *

for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program - Louie Anderson -

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program - Louie Anderson - 1998 *

for Outstanding Sound Mixing - Special Class - Timothy Borquez, Timothy J. Garrity and Brad Brock - 1998 (nominated) *

for Outstanding Outstanding Sound Editing - Special Class - Timothy Borquez, Rick Hinson and Eric Freeman - 1998 (nominated) *

for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program - Louie Anderson -

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

(nominated) *

for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program -

(nominated) *

Genesis Award The Genesis Awards are awarded annually by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to individuals in the major news and entertainment media for producing outstanding works which raise public awareness of animal issues. Presented by the HSUS ...

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

References

External links

* {{Fox Kids 1994 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings 1990s American animated television series American children's animated comedy television series Animated television series about children American television series with live action and animation English-language television shows Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Fox Kids Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Hyperion Pictures Television series by Saban Entertainment Television series set in the 1960s Television shows set in Wisconsin