One of the most sympathetic, compelling portraits of motherhood on television centers on a performance by a man. On FX's Baskets, which recently completed its third season, comedian Louie Anderson plays Christine Baskets, mother of twins Chip and Dale (both played by Zach Galifianakis), and he describes the experience not as trying to put on a character but, instead, as channeling his own mother, Ora, a South Dakota native who spent most of her life in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota. When he steps out of his trailer, Louie says, it's as if he opens up a conduit to his mother (who has passed away), wherever she might be.

He's also used his fond memories of his mother to write a new book, Hey Mom: Stories for My Mother, But You Can Read Them Too, in which he reminisces about how she protected him from a dangerous, abusive situation during his childhood and prepared him for his long career in comedy, which has included highly acclaimed standup work, the 1990s animated series Life With Louie, and a gig hosting Family Feud. His standup is notable for pivoting between gently poking fun at himself (usually via his vast roster of self-directed fat jokes) and telling more emotionally risky stories about his life growing up with his large family.

Louie joins Todd this week to talk about learning to play his mother, wondering just what was in her chocolate frosting recipe, and what it takes to tell a good fat joke that's not needlessly cruel.