MacArthur gets a star turn in TV show

A Long Island legend has a starring role in the upcoming season's final episode of "Louie," an edgy comedy TV series due to start airing in late June.

Long Island MacArthur Airport is the backdrop as the show's protagonist takes another character to an airport in what will be the finale of the 13-episode second season, according to Louis C.K. -- writer, director, editor and star of the critically acclaimed FX series -- on set at the airport Friday.

It is the second time "Louie" has used MacArthur -- the show filmed at the airport for one of last year's top-rated episodes. According to C.K. and executive producer Blair Breard, that experience -- and the reasonable price tag, $5,000 per day -- brought them back.

"The people here have been extremely friendly and accessible -- and it looks great," C.K. said of the terminal as a set.

"We're really low-budget, but we don't want to be limited in our creativity," said Breard, who scouted other New York area airports. "Coming to a place like this where logistics are less of a hassle factor, it lets us be efficient with our filming. We're still in New York but can make the scene look like any airport in the country. It's a huge production bang for our buck," she said.

Last year, the airport netted around $20,000 by serving as a set. So far this year, it's earned close to $13,000.

On the FX show, Louie is a newly divorced father of two under-10 girls and a successful stand-up comedian, much like the guy who plays him -- Louis C.K., born Louis Szekely, a star of the New York standup world. The show, which made several TV critics' Top 10 lists last year, blends his stage routines with skits of happenings in his life.

"I like telling stories that relate to what I do on stage," he said in an interview, explaining the show's format allows him to let "each story fill as much time as it's entitled to."

The Islip Town owned-and-operated airport is no movie newcomer. The airport scene in the 1970 movie "The Out-of-Towners," starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis, was shot there.

"People in the business look at the show and say, 'How did you pull that off?' " Breard says of last year's airport scenes, which also included filming aboard a jetliner. "I tell them, 'There's this little secret called MacArthur.' "