Louis C.K. on "Horace and Pete," Trump, and cringe-worthy jokes

Louis C.K. is famous for his stand-up. He has been labeled "America's Undisputed King of Comedy."

But he turns to drama in his latest project, "Horace and Pete." Steve Buscemi, Edie Falco and Alan Alda are among the co-stars. The series is set in a family-owned bar in Brooklyn, New York. Some call it "the most important TV show of the decade." They believe it may change television as we know it, reports "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose.

Rooted in serious dialogue and staged on a simple set, "Horace and Pete" is unlike anything on TV. It's more "Death of a Salesman" than "Modern Family."

Louis C.K. wrote and directed all of it, challenging not only the format of television, but the way it's distributed. Each episode is sold directly to his fans for about three dollars a piece.

It is similar to his trademark comedy only in the way it approaches controversial subjects, like an exchange on one episode with a female character who may or may not be transgender.

"If you used to be a guy, you would have an obligation to tell someone you are going to be with," C.K. said.

"Why?" the transgender woman responded.

"Aren't we all saying that when someone becomes trans, that's a woman? Caitlyn Jenner is a woman now. With all the rights of a woman and, yes and hooray, she's a woman. And it's not polite to say, 'That's Bruce Jenner in a dress, or Bruce Jenner who got an operation,'" C.K. said. "That's Caitlyn Jenner, a woman. So if Caitlyn Jenner sleeps with a man, does she have to tell him, 'I used to be Bruce Jenner?' I think that's a really interesting, unresolved for the average person who doesn't think about this kind of stuff all the time and that's what Horace is... He's just a nothin' guy."

C.K. said he sees a part of him in his character, Horace.

"You know, he moves a little bit slow and he's a bit of a schlub," he said, laughing. "That's always me on some level... My gut's hanging out of my t-shirt half the time and I'll put ice cream on my chest like Tony Soprano."

Still, despite his creativity and ability to tell human stories, C.K. calls himself just an "ordinary guy."

"But that's 'cause I'm an ordinary guy that I think I can tell a story about an ordinary guy," C.K. said.

With "Horace and Pete" behind him now, Louis plans to spend a year honing the skills of what he is known best for -- stand-up comedy.

"I think lying is an effective way to get laughs," C.K. said, laughing. "There's so many lies in my act. I have so many stories that I really convinced them that it's true, and that's why they're laughing. It's like, 'This really happened, man.' And that makes them laugh... because I'm sharing something."

But his jokes also embrace discomfort -- what some people call cringe-worthy.

"A cringe is -- it's repelling away from something. So it's, like, an area you don't want to think about," C.K. said. "To me it's fun to take a deep breath -- which is the opposite of a cringe -- and walk in there, and see what's in there. There's all kinds of stuff in there."

In March, he made some fans cringe with anger when he sent his fans an email about "Horace and Pete," that included some rambling thoughts about Donald Trump.

"And then I wrote, 'P.S.' And all I meant to write was, 'Stop with the Trump. Just stop it. It's not funny anymore.' That's all I was going write. And then I sat there... I was like, 'You know, because this. Well, because also this,'" C.K. said. "And then this and this and this. I wrote this malignant tumor of a thing. This wasp nest of thoughts and I sent it to my mom and she said, 'Sure, send it.' ... I hate to put her on the spot. But she said, 'Sure.'"

C.K. compared the GOP front-runner to Hitler in his rookie years, but does not regret it.

"Not Hitler when he was done... I have no track record of running my mouth politically." C.K. said.