It appears that Louis C.K. is taking the Larry David route with his very popular (and brilliant) TV series Louie.  FX announced today that the comedian will take an extended hiatus, with the fourth season not expected to air until Spring 2014.  This comes just a couple of weeks after the show’s season three finale capped off a wonderfully strange string of episodes that saw fantastic guest turns by the likes of David Lynch, Amy Poehler, Parker Posey, Jerry Seinfeld, and Chris Rock.  Here’s what C.K. had to say about the decision to take some time off:

"I want the show to keep getting better, I want season 4 to go somewhere new.”

Hit the jump for more details about the decision and a timetable for season four’s schedule.

Per The Wrap, the decision to take some extra time between seasons came from C.K. himself.  The creator/star/writer/director/producer/editor of the series said that he thinks of Louie’s first three seasons as a trilogy, “and hopes to begin a new story with the fourth.”  The Late Show arc of season three was a stroke of brilliance and saw C.K. bring his character to new heights.  There is literally no other show like Louie and I look forward to seeing what C.K. brings to the series after taking a short breather.  The extended hiatus model mirrors Larry David’s routine with his HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, and that's panned out pretty well.

The longer break will allow C.K. to have more time to shoot and edit the series in addition to focusing on standup.  He plans on beginning production on season four in September or October of 2013 in anticipation of a May 2014 premiere, allowing him to completely finish the season before he has to start promoting the premiere.

There will also be a slight change behind the scenes next season.  After handling editing duties himself on the first two seasons, C.K. brought in Woody Allen’s editor Susan E. Morse to pitch in on season three.  He took over the editing duties when Morse’s husband died, and now says he’s learned that he has to edit the show himself, so he’ll presumably be editing all of season four on his own.