‘Louie Show’ Unites Unlikely Roommates

Comic Louie Anderson’s appeal is his quirky humor. But there aren’t enough quirks or humor in the premiere of his sitcom, “The Louie Show,” to get you through the first half hour.

The format is fairly ordinary. The whiny but likable Anderson occupies the comedy’s sane center, playing a therapist in Duluth, Minn., around whom orbit several bent characters: Dr. Jake (Paul Feig), Curt the cop (Bryan Cranston) and a tightly wired, neurotic arrival from Los Angeles (Kate Hodge), who has just blown into town and needs a place to live.

By episode’s end, she and Curt (whose wife has kicked him out) are sharing digs with the single Louie and driving him up the wall. Before long, he may be the one needing a shrink.

Will this awkward domestic arrangement work? CBS is betting that it will. But the routine premiere, whose only highlights are a couple of amusing gags comparing Duluth and L.A., indicates differently.

* “The Louie Show” premieres at 8:30 tonight on CBS (Channel 2).