# Baskets (2016)

> A failed French-clown hopeful returns to Bakersfield, works as a rodeo clown, and clashes with his siblings over their mother's approval.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/57103

## Facts

- Seasons: 4
- Episodes: 40
- Episode runtime: 23 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy, drama
- Created by: Louis C.K., Zach Galifianakis, Jonathan Krisel
- Network: FX
- Cast: Zach Galifianakis, Martha Kelly, Louie Anderson, Sabina Sciubba, Ernest Adams, Mary Wiseman, Ryan Moore, Amy O'Neill
- TMDB rating: 7.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3468798/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: deadpan, awkward, wistful, melancholic, sardonic

## What critics say

Critics broadly praise the series' offbeat blend of absurd comedy and family melancholy, anchored by Zach Galifianakis's dual performance.

## Synopsis

Baskets (2016-2019) is an American dramedy created by Louis C.K., Zach Galifianakis and Jonathan Krisel for FX. Zach Galifianakis plays Chip Baskets, a would-be French clown whose dream of performing in Paris keeps running into money trouble and a language barrier. After moving back to Bakersfield, California, he takes a job as a rodeo clown while confronting the past he thought he had left behind. His siblings, Christine Baskets (Louie Anderson) and the scheming Dale, compete with him for their mother's approval and affection, and Martha Kelly plays Martha Brooks, a figure who sharpens the show's awkward emotional tangles. Across four seasons of ten episodes each, the engine of the series is simple: a determined man keeps chasing an improbable goal while ordinary responsibilities pull him back into a volatile family. Each episode unfolds at a modest pace, with uncomfortable pauses and deadpan exchanges turning small humiliations into quietly sad comedy. The tone mixes wistful melancholy, awkward humor and moments of tenderness in a dusty, working-class Southern California setting. Its odd, tragicomic register and rodeo-ring backdrops recall the bittersweet absurdity of Louie and the sardonic family chaos of Arrested Development, and fans of Atlanta will find similar outsider comedy here.

## Shows like Baskets

- [Single Drunk Female (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/112954)
- [Reservation Dogs (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/80403)
- [Huge in France (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/74553)
- [I'm Dying Up Here (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/58696)
- [Rain Dogs (2023)](https://ember.film/tv/137107)
- [One Mississippi (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59520)
- [Better Things (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/58877)
- [Mo (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/124531)
- [Louie (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/30334)
- [Maron (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/42269)

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