Zach Galifianakis stars in "Baskets"

Weird, odd, quirky. Those are all words that have been used to describe Zach Galifianakis ("The Hangover," 2009) for the last decade and a bit as he's carved a niche for himself in the comedy world. They're also words that describe the FX series "Baskets," a black comedy in which Galifianakis stars, as well as executive produces alongside acclaimed comedian Louis C.K. ("Louie") and nine-time Emmy nominee Jonathan Krisel ("Portlandia"). Season 2 of "Baskets" premieres Thursday, Jan. 19, on FX.

If you haven't seen the series yet, it's definitely worth a watch. Galifianakis is Chip Baskets, a sad clown who flunked out of a prestigious clown school in France due to a language barrier that proved to be insurmountable. In the series premiere, he returned home to Bakersfield, California, where he was hired as a rodeo clown. He also met a very deadpan Costco insurance adjuster named Martha (stand-up comedian Martha Kelly in her first acting gig), who quickly latched on to our protagonist.

A word of advice to those who think this will be another "Hangover"-esque performance from Galifianakis: This show does not deliver knee-slapper after knee-slapper. Krisel, who also directs "Baskets," has called it a "slapstick drama," and Galifianakis said in an interview with Uproxx last year that it isn't your standard network TV laugher.

"This isn't a CBS show. Nothing against that, but this is an off-kilter show on cable, [and] the channel lets you do interesting things," he said, also elaborating on why they went the black comedy route: "I think sadness and anger are really fertile ground for comedy. No one is really interested in a happy person doing comedy. ... You need internal conflict. You need the guy to be out of step with society. It's a tool for comedy."

As for the actual comedy, it's more of the physical kind -- think accidentally rollerblading into an open car door or banging your head on some low-hanging pots. "[The show]'s saying that it's OK to laugh at silly, stupid things," Krisel said in a behind-the-scenes video posted by FX in May. "The show is so earnestly doing dumb things. We're not trying to be crafty and really smart about the comedy; the comedy is very dumb, but the emotions are very real."

Part of that emotion comes in the form of Chips's familial relationships. His twin brother, Dale (also Galifianakis), is the more put-together of the two, and has his life together, with a wife and a couple kids. Chip is constantly competing with him for the love and attention of their mother, Christine, who is played to absolute perfection by Louie Anderson ("Life With Louie").

"I tried to not be cartoony," Anderson said of his character in an online interview with Vanity Fair. "I tried not to act like a man doing a woman. I tried to be the woman. The character is a version of my mom, but a combination of my five sisters and my sister-in-laws."

Martha Kelly as seen in "Baskets"

Anderson, who won an Emmy and a Critics' Choice Award for playing Christine, wasn't the original choice for the role (the character was written for a woman), but the 63-year-old stand-up comedian had been unknowingly perfecting it over the course of his long, illustrious comedy career.

"It was really always going to be Louie," Galifianakis told Uproxx. "He's been doing his mom on stage for years. We got really lucky."

"Louie Anderson -- all his standup stems from his relationship with his mother," Krisel said in the FX video. "He can channel his mother. I would say, 'OK let's try another take.' And he would say to me: 'Jonathan, can I just do what my mom would do?' And the results would be amazing."

While Galifianakis, Anderson and Kelly take up most of the screen-time, a couple of other faces pop up frequently and never disappoint. Sabina Sciubba ("Love the Hard Way," 2001) stars as Chips's French fiancée, Penelope, who only agreed to marry him in order to get a green card in the U.S. She sleeps with other men and doesn't even live with Chip, but the character is sarcastic, dry and just callous enough to avoid being too mean. Also a scene-stealer is Ernest Adams ("Portlandia") as Eddie, the rodeo's big boss with a heavy Southern accent who gives Chip a job as a rodeo clown and tries to keep him straight in his work.

"Baskets" may not be your typical clown comedy, and it may not even be a typical comedy, but the Galifianakis-C.K.-Krisel team certainly works, and they have a great slapstick drama on their hands. Catch the season 2 premiere of "Baskets" when it airs Thursday, Jan. 19, on FX.