FX hopes for Better Things with Louis C.K.

US cable channel FX has ordered a comedy pilot from Pamela Adlon and Louis star Louis C.K.

The show, Better Things, will star Adlon as a single parent of three girls struggling to enjoy life. Adlon, who appears in FX comedy Louis, created and wrote the pilot with C.K. Both executive produce along with Blair Breard, Dave Becky and 3 Arts Entertainment. C.K.’s prodco, Pig Newton, and FX Productions coproduce.

FX has also bought C.K.’s stand-up special, Louis C.K. Live From the Comedy Store.The show will debut on LouisCK.net before broadcasting on the Fox Television Group-owned cable channel.

Better Things is the fifth comedy pilot FX has greenlit in the past 12 months, coming after others such as Donald Glover’s Atlanta and Bill Buhr-starrer Pariah.

FX also ordered Baskets, which will star C.K. and Zack Galifianakis and launching in 2016.

These shows, plus existing franchises such as Archer, have been part of strategy to position FX as a leading comedy channel in the US. At the TCA critics tour last week, FX Networks CEO John Landgraf claimed that “HBO and FX [were] absolutely dominating the race for quality in television”.