During an appearance on "The B.S. Report" podcast, Louis C.K. told host Bill Simmons that the television show he ever loved watching the most was also one he equalled despised: "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," the failed drama from "The Newsroom" creator Aaron Sorkin.
"It's so terrible. It's the worst thing anybody ever did," C.K. said after explaining that he was a giant fan of "The West Wing" and much of Sorkin's other work, but that "Studio 60," a show that explored the world of comedy, missed the mark so much that the stand-up comedian couldn't help but enjoy every minute of it.
"I anticipated with more glee watching that show than any show I ever liked. Unparalleled," he said.
Although the show took place behind the scenes of a sketch program similar to "Saturday Night Live," many professional comedians felt that the show was hardly a realistic depiction of working in comedy.
Many pointed to the show's sky-high stakes -- such as sketches becoming front-page headlines, and terrorists targeting the families of cast members -- as reason for its failure.
Sorkin also insisted on writing many of the sketches himself. C.K. felt that since the show included "sincere comedy sketches," it was a "nightmare" of good comedy writing.
Lorne Michaels prevented Sorkin, who would later win an Oscar for writing "The Social Network," from visiting the set of "SNL" to research, likely because Michaels' own show "30 Rock" premiered the same season on NBC.
Since then, Sorkin poked fun at the show in a guest appearance on "30 Rock," and even has admitted since that much of the criticism of "Studio 60" was accurate.
"My jaw was on the floor," C.K. said. "Comedy writers signing autographs? What fucking arrogance. And to have it done with this baroque Sorkin writing, [this] dense, beautiful, rich writing of just... garbage."
But the comedian, whose show "Louie" comes back for a third season Thursday evening, emphasizes that he has the utmost respect for Sorkin as an artist. Simmons makes a comparison that others have made, that C.K. and Sorkin are two television auteurs whose voice and vision comes through loud and clear on their respective shows.
"He's a brilliant, brilliant writer," C.K. says. "If somebody loved hating my show, that'd be great."
Sorkin's new show has met with some of the same backlash that "Studio 60" saw. Only one episode has aired on HBO, however, and it remains to be seen whether it will last for more than one season, unlike his last show.
Listen to the full "B.S. Report" episode with Louis C.K. here, where the comic talks at length about his surprising love of boxing.