The League is currently airing its third season on FX on Thursday nights. It is a show that is based around a fantasy football league, but the show goes much further than that.
The show revolves around five friends, Pete (Mark Duplass), Kevin (Stephen Rannazzisi), Andre (Paul Scheer), Taco (Jonathan Lajoie) and Ruxin (Nick Kroll). Also included in this league is Kevin's wife Jenny (Katie Aselton).
In the first season, Jenny was first her husband's helper for his team and not technically a member of the league. She did, however, run his team more than he did - and that became a running joke. In season two, a spot opened up on the team and Jenny asked to join the league, but her husband boycotted this and they instead brought in Ruxin's brother-in-law Rafi (Jason Mantzoukas). Rafi is way over the top in everything that he does, and the league soon regrets bringing him in - and in the latter part of the season the group does all they can to get rid of him (and make him think it's his idea). After he leaves, Jenny officially joined the league.
This show, to me, is downright hilarious. All of the characters are so over the top, and in each episode there is always something that just makes me roll over laughing.
It is a semi-scripted, semi-improvisational comedy. This works in many ways, but one that it sometimes hurts is when it comes to the actual fantasy football portion. Don't get me wrong, the show is based around a fantasy football league, but if you are watching this to get tips - you are watching the wrong show.
The show doesn't really maintain a straight line when it comes to facts. Things happen in one episode or season and, probably because of the improvisation, it can be different in another episode. For instance, players sometimes switch teams for no real reason - plus, I am pretty sure this is an 8-person league, which really is a horrific sized league.
So, again, don't watch this for the fantasy football. It's cool to have the sports side of things as a sports fan, but the show is so much more, and again very funny.
I didn't include this in my Fall TV list, but I am definitely adding this in the Watch This section. You probably don't have to watch it from the beginning to enjoy it - but there is only a few shows in season one (currently streaming) and they are only in season three. So, get caught up.
I'm definitely still a fan, but I gotta say that I think it's been slowly (very slowly) getting worse since it started. So I'd probably rank the first season an 8/10, 7.5 for the 2nd, and so on. I guess I'm thinking that it's gotten a bit too zany and far from what it started out being. Rafi absolutely kills me, though - that guy is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteIt still has me rolling. There is usually something each episode that cracks me up.
ReplyDelete