January 21, 2016 (2016-01-21) – August 22, 2019 (2019-08-22)
Baskets is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on January 21, 2016, on FX.[2] The series was co-created by Louis C.K., Zach Galifianakis, and Jonathan Krisel; Krisel is also the showrunner and director. Galifianakis stars in the dual lead role as Chip Baskets, a failed professional clown in Paris, who instead becomes a local rodeo clown in Bakersfield, California, and his twin brother, Dale Baskets. Galifianakis, C.K., M. Blair Breard, Dave Becky, Marc Gurvitz and Andrea Pett-Joseph serve as executive producers, with FX Productions as the production company.[3] In 2017 C.K.'s production company Pig Newton had all ties to the show and FX cut after C.K. admitted to sexual misconduct with five women.[4] On May 24, 2018, FX renewed the show for a fourth and final season, which premiered on June 13, 2019.[5][6] The series ended on August 22, 2019.[7]
Premise
Chip Baskets aims to become a professional clown. After failing to get a degree at a prestigious clowning school in Paris, he is stuck with a job as a rodeoclown in his hometown of Bakersfield, California.
Dale Everett Baskets, Chip's twin brother and the dean and founder of a local vocational college. He is a married father of two.
Martha Kelly as Martha Brooks,[8] Chip's low-key auto insurance agent at Costco. Despite his angry and rude treatment of her, she is Chip's closest friend.
Louie Anderson[8] as Christine Baskets, mother of Chip and Dale, as well as two adopted twins, Cody and Logan.
Recurring cast
Sabina Sciubba as Penelope (seasons 1-2, 4),[8], Chip's French wife. She only married Chip to get a green card so that she could further her singing career in the United States.
Ernest Adams[8] as Eddie, the owner and manager of the Buckaroo Rodeo.
Garry and Jason Clemmons as Cody and Logan Baskets (seasons 1-2, 4), Christine's adopted sons who are also twins.
In December 2013, Louis C.K.'s production company, Pig Newton, signed a deal with FX for him to create new shows for their various networks. FX ordered a pilot episode for Baskets with C.K. and Galifianakis to co-write, and Galifianakis to star.[9] On August 27, 2014, FX picked up the show for a 10-episode first season with production to commence in 2015.[3]
In November 2017, after Louis C.K. confirmed the sexual misconduct allegations against him were true, FX canceled their overall deal with C.K. and his production company, Pig Newton. C.K. would have no involvement in future seasons of the series.[10]
Baskets incorporated several ideas Galifianakis originally came up with for Between Two Ferns: The Movie but were discarded early in the film's development.[11]
Chip continues the hobo life by cashlessly riding the rails (and being violently ejected from them) before he falls in with a homeless clown troupe where he enjoys performing and having companions but is disturbed by other aspects of their lifestyle.
As Chip continues to reluctantly stick with the hobo clowns, he flashes back to his rodeo days and some surprising good and bad times, until troupe-leader Morpheus' shocking death leads to his arrest and a route back to his old life.
Christine ponders motherhood and her path to a healthy life when she goes to bail Chip out of jail. Back in Bakersfield, Dale seeks romance and completely fails.
Christine and her new friend Ken visit the Reagan Library and reflect on their shared parenting experiences and differing political views, while Chip undertakes a mission to properly say goodbye to his late friend Morpheus.
Christine leaves Dale and Chip at home for a shopping trip to Costco and a nice lunch with Martha. Her sons end up in an escalating battle that includes destroyed property and a mission to rescue Christine's cat that ends up being a cause for catharsis.
An angry Christine throws Chip and Dale out of the house they badly damaged, and spends some surprisingly useful time with her aging mother. Chip enlists Martha to become his manager, but after a more established clown-for-hire service gets him real work and fires her, he admits that Martha is a true friend to him.
Christine travels to Denver and spends the day with her friend, Ken, and his family. Chip, with Martha's help, tries to take Meemaw to the doctor, but has an eventful day at the casino with a shocking ending.
The family comes together to say goodbye to a loved one. Christine has an honest conversation with her dishonest brother about their childhood and the emotional and physical abuse she suffered at the hands of their long-deceased alcoholic father. Chip and Dale help Cody and Logan reconcile and a surprising assist from Penelope lands the DJ Twins new work.
Martha is left to handle a yard sale of Meemaw's old items, as the Baskets family tends to several situations: Chip's effort to help his former hobo-clown friend Trinity, Dale helping Sarah get out of a crisis and facing bad news at work, and Christine once again giving her selfish brother Jim a dose of reality.
Christine ponders how to help her family post-inheritance while Ken comes to visit her and Chip sees a great opportunity at a Russian traveling circus turn into another bitter disappointment, before Christine joins Chip, Dale and herself in a new venture.
Chip's quest for finding clowns to work at the rodeo leads into a bizarre journey for himself and Martha to find and bring back his old rodeo boss Eddie.
Chip has to help out when his old friend Juggalo Jody has a crisis with his girlfriend Trinity, while Christine navigates the chaos that Eddie brings with him to Bakersfield.
Christine plans an outrageously extravagant opera-themed gala event at the rodeo to impress her increasingly unkind circle of "friends" but it ends up alienating her from both Chip and Dale.
Dale calls in Christine's unpleasant brother Jim to "help" with the rodeo situation, and his reaction to his estranged wife's boyfriend makes him even angrier at his mom.
Christine coerces Martha into attending a Women's conference in Las Vegas. There she briefly meets Lori Greiner, a seminar speaker, and gets a hard lesson from Martha about listening and not just talking. Ken visits Bakersfield in Christine's absence and tries to persuade Dale to be more reasonable with Christine with some help from Chip.
Christine announces that they'll make a TV commercial for the rodeo but Dale (who has experience making lame ads for Baskets Career College) returns to his usual pissy self when Christine says that Ken will run the project due to his own TV experience. The filming doesn't go well with mistakes and Ken ultimately tires of Dale's disrespect and ridicule of Christine and slaps him, sending Dale into hysterics. Dale loses his mind and announces he's leaving town, and Ken and Christine have a tense farewell that leaves their relationship in doubt, before Christine finishes the TV commercial herself.
Chip wants to try out a new clown character and give Martha the birthday celebration she didn't want, Martha's romantic story hits several roadblocks, Ken comes back to fix things with Christine, and Dale shows up and proclaims he's gotten engaged.
Ken and his daughters rent what seems to be a crummy cabin for a New Year's Eve celebration. Dale's lies destroy his engagement after he makes it clear he won't support Ken's plan to propose to Christine, but some reality and rare humility improve the situation. At a nicer location, Chip is surprised by a phone call from Penelope, and Ken has something he wants to ask Christine.
Baskets has received positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the first season 70% with an average score of 7.4 out of 10, based on 36 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Though its themes may be unpleasant for some and LOL moments are few and far between, Baskets succeeds on the strength of its deadpan delivery and terrific cast."[52] On Metacritic, the first season holds a score of 68 out of 100, based on 32 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[53]
