C.K. said that now he’s going to promote Horace and Pete (perhaps he figured news of his financial troubles might drum up headlines about the show), and has even submitted it for Emmy consideration. He thinks he’ll be able to pay off his debt by the summer, and then he may explore selling it to a TV network like, for instance, FX, where his acclaimed show Louie, now on extended hiatus, was on air for five years. Horace and Pete, for what it’s worth, is adored by critics, even as few people are aware that it exists.

The comedian, who’s known for his frankness, admitted that this probably wasn’t a sound business decision. But he didn’t want to sacrifice his vision for the show. Had he gone to a network like FX or a streaming service like Netflix, as most creators do, he would have had an easier time financing the series—but he likely wouldn’t have been able to do exactly what he wanted in terms of casting, production, and especially distribution.

“As a TV watcher I’m always delighted when I can see a thing without knowing anything about it because of the promotion,” the comedian wrote on his website. “So making this show and just posting it out of the blue gave me the rare opportunity to give you that experience of discovery.”

Experimenting outside the traditional TV ecosystem is, to say the least, financially risky. C.K. benefited from his name recognition—a more obscure artist would have sold even fewer episodes than he did. This tweet from New York Times TV critic James Poniewozik just about sums up the situation:

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