FX's Louie will take an extended hiatus between seasons, with season four of the Louis C.K. comedy now scheduled to premiere in spring 2014, the network said Tuesday.
Louie would have returned to FX's schedule in summer 2013 if it remained on its normal air pattern, but FX agreed to the creator's request to have more time to finish new episodes, network president John Landgraf said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday.
"I want the show to keep going I want the show to keep getting better, I want it to stay funny," C.K. said. "I want season four to go somewhere new."
C.K., who writes, directs and stars in every episode of Louie, said the hiatus would allow him to start shooting the series earlier than he usually would - in September or October 2013 for a May 2014 launch.
"I think I can do better work if I can space things out," he said. " I feel like seasons one, two and three were a trilogy of three parts. I'd like to start a new story. I don't know what that is yet."
Landgraf said the decision to give C.K. more time to complete the next season was an easy one, saying he believes creative work can suffer if forced to adhere to a specific time frame.
"The goal all along was not to force Louis to adapt his creative instincts to a specific business model," he said. "I think creative potential greater when they don't have to follow a specific form."
