Louis C.K. has won Emmys for his FX show Louie as well as a stand-up special. He's also been a pioneer online. He's sold tickets to his shows directly to fans and he released a 2011 stand-up special on his website for $5 a download, prompting other comedians to do the same.
Now he's taken that approach to the next level with Horace and Pete. C.K. wrote, produced, directed and acted in the web series about a troubled family that runs a struggling brooklyn bar.
Horace and Pete are played by C.K. and Steve Buscemi. They run the 100-year-old bar with an older relative -- also named Pete, played by Alan Alda.
Horace and Pete also stars Edie Falco and features a supporting cast that includes Jessica Lange, Steven Wright and SNL's Aidy Bryant.
All 10 episodes were funded entirely by C.K. and Horace and Pete is available only on C.K.'s website -- for now. Even without being on a network, the series broke through with Emmy voters. Editor Gina Sansom is nominated for Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a comedy series and Laurie Metcalf is up for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
C.K. tells us why he's trying to avoid the internet generally, even though that's where his new show lives, how he made Horace and Pete so quickly and why he felt alright about taking out a line of credit to pay for it.