Put all your TV viewing eggs into ‘Baskets,’ the dark comedy returning to FX
The second season of “Baskets” is even better than the first season — welcome news for those loyal fans who took time off from a billion other binge-wortthy shows in 2016 to watch Zach Galifianakis play a fortysomething out-of-work clown and Louie Anderson portray his concerned mother.
“Baskets” wasn’t a blockbuster when it debuted on FX last year, but the dark comedy dealt with the popular themes of self-loathing, adult-life crisis and sick relationships better than much more hyped series such as “Animals,” “Love” and “Girls.”
The show followed Chip Baskets, who attended a professional clown academy in Paris before returning to his hometown of Bakersfield with romantic aspirations of Pierrot-like fame.
Yet the only job the art-minded performer can find is at a local rodeo, dodging bucking broncos and beer cups thrown by drunken patrons. Chip ends up moving back in with his mother, who is a living, breathing daily reminder of his epic failures.
The care Anderson took in playing the role of Christine Baskets was a large part of “Baskets” critical success. Far from the tired joke of a burly male comedian camping it up in women’s clothing, Anderson’s performance was a revelation, a straight-ahead portrait of a widow leading an unremarkable middle-class life but who found joy in the most…
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