Anderson’s so sweet he’s cast as mother in new TV show

On Thursday, Las Vegas headliner Louie Anderson will co-star in FX's series premiere of "Baskets," a role he neither sought nor auditioned for. He landed the part because of his heart.

"Baskets" producer (Louie C.K.) and star (Zach Galifianakis) told a convention of TV critics on Saturday they offered the gig to Anderson because he seemed perfectly funny for the role as Galifianakis' mother (yes, mother).

But here's the rest of the story.

Louie C.K., a fellow comedian, has always loved Anderson's sincerity and his demeanor, since Anderson isn't about "putting people on," C.K. said.

"Louie is a real heart-on-his-sleeve kind of stand-up," C.K. told TV critics.

Anderson (who performs Friday and Saturday at the South Point hotel) told me he thinks of this "Baskets" role as a "really big gift" and it changed him.

"I went in with (an attitude of), 'My job here is to support the rest of the cast,'" the softspoken Midwesterner-by-breed says. "This is the first time I ever went on a job on a show like this saying, 'You're not allowed to complain about anything, and you have to say yes to everything.'"

On previous TV shows, Anderson was the lead, thus success and failure fell on his shoulders. But this time, he wanted to relax and do a great job for comrades.

"I'm the type of person that wants everything my way. I didn't want to be that person," he says. "I had to get out of the idea this was about me. It was really good for me."

Plus, while Anderson was promoting "Baskets" at that TV critic convention in Los Angeles, he received validation from an icon.

"John Travolta came over and said a big hello, like we were good friends," Anderson says, "and I thought, 'Wow. I'm friends with Travolta. Huh. I am doing really well.'"

DICE GETS TROP, SHOWTIME, HBO

Come spring, Andrew Dice Clay will put Las Vegas on Showtime with the semi-autobiographical series "Dice," a six-episode comedy filmed during 30 days last year at the Treasure Island hotel.

"There was one week," Dice tells me, "where I was shooting scenes from three episodes, and I'm going, 'Which episode is this again?'

"It's the funniest thing I've ever been allowed to do in show business," he asserts.

"Dice" tells the tale of the comedian settling down in Las Vegas, performing in little rooms and resurrecting his career, while surrounded by his ex-fiance, ex-wife, mother-in-law and his rock-band sons. It's bound to be as much of an autobrio as an autobio.

"Dice" costars heavy hitters Adrien Brody, Michael Rapaport, Lorraine Bracco, comic Natasha Leggero, plus Wayne Newton, Criss Angel, and Dice's real sons Matt and Dillon. Dice says his friend Angel really knows how to "hit those dramatic levels."

In real life, Dice will perform at the "New Tropicana's" Laugh Factory comedy club on Thursday through Saturday (and again Feb. 4-6 and 25-28).

Later this year, Dice will co-star in the Mick Jagger/Martin Scorsese-produced HBO show about rock 'n' roll, "Vinyl," debuting Feb. 14.

And Dice and his love of seven years, Valerie Vasquez, are still together, several years after getting divorced.

Yeah, it's an unusual, sweet story.

"We never split up. I got divorced so I could save the marriage. She's the greatest girl in the world. The day we filed divorce," Dice tells me, "we went, did it, and had a celebration dinner, and went home. We didn't split up for a second."

So why did they get divorced? He says without much elaboration that the word "married" was too much for him.

"I've been down that road a few times, and I didn't want to break up," he says. "We've never been happier since that day."

That seems true from the outside. They still call each other husband and wife in person and on social media. She did makeup for the "Dice" series. They travel together. The whole thing.

Dice gets sentimental and romantic when he talks about her as a great love, lover and best friend.

"My Valerie keeps me alive, trust me," he says.

Wait, hold on, Dice. Is there something you're not telling us, like you broke up to see other people in an open relationship?

"No! Are you kidding?" Dice says. "If anybody laid a hand on her, I would chop off their hand."

He's possessive. He knows it.

"I get mad if my friends hug her too tight. I'm like, 'What's that about? You think I don't see what's going on?'"

Ultimately, though, he puts up this vigorous, pro-female defense of not being married:

"If you think about all the tough guys that are married, all the gangsters, they always have the girlfriend, right? So who gets treated better — the wife or the girlfriend? The girlfriend!

"The girlfriend gets the car. The girlfriend gets the jewelry. The girlfriend gets the fun nights out and the fancy dinners and all the laughs. We may not be married, but I treat her like the girlfriend. She's both."

Doug Elfman can be reached at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman. On Twitter: @VegasAnonymous.