Louis C. K. to Take Hiatus From FX Series \'Louie\'

By DAVE ITZKOFF

When you - or your fictionalized TV counterpart - have in a single season traveled to China, dated Melissa Leo and Parker Posey and vied to replace David Letterman on his late-night talk show, what do you do for an encore?

If you are Louis C. K., the standup comic and star of the highly regarded and influential FX comedy series “Louie,” the first order of business is to take a break and recharge your batteries.

Louis C. K., who writes, produces, acts in and often edits “Louie,” said on Tuesday that he will take an extended hiatus from this show, which broadcast the final episode of its third season on Sept. 27.

“The last three seasons have been this surge of fun and work and stories, and it's been great to share all this stuff, and I want to keep going,” Louis C. K. said in a conference call with reporters. “I want the show to keep getting better. That's my goal, and I don't want it to be making the doughnuts. I want it to keep being something that comes from somewhere fun and important, and I want it to stay funny. It's a luxury that I asked for, which is more time to create Season 4.”

John Landgraf, the president and general manager of FX, said in the conference call that the hiatus had been granted at the request of Louis C. K., who last month won an Emmy Award for his writing on “Louie.”

“The goal of FX, in terms of its relationship to Louie and his creative process, has always been to say yes and to give him whatever space he needs to create, as best he can,” Mr. Landgraf said.

He added that working with Louis C. K. was “an incredibly joyful process from my standpoint” but “maybe less joyful for Louie, because I have so little to do, because he does everything himself.”

Louis C. K., who is currently performing a live standup comedy tour, said he would likely start writing a fourth season of †œLouie” at the start of next year, and production on those episodes would begin in September or October. As a result, these new episodes would likely be shown showing in spring 2014, rather than summer 2013. (The first three seasons of “Louie” had their premieres in the summer.)

He said it was possible that future seasons of the show could have story lines that were even more ambitious than the widely hailed arc from Season 3 in which his character is invited to audition to replace Mr. Letterman on CBS's “Late Show.”

“Who knows?” Louis C. K. said. “Maybe there'll be a six-episode story, or maybe there won't be. I still have to noodle it all out, but there is potential for that.”