The League Season 1 Review

The League Season 01 (2009): B-

The League is kind of like a poor man's It's Always in Philadelphia but with fantasy football instead of a bar. The weakest parts of the show are those involving fantasy football - the show is best when it deals with the friendship between the characters. Even in Always Sunny where the characters are undeniably evil they are still developed and somewhat likable. The characters in The League are just totally one dimensional and kind of douchey. I feel absolutely no warmth or compassion to any of the characters on the show. In Always Sunny where the characters do some really heinous things (like ruin and torture the lives of the waitress and Rickety Cricket) the characters are compelling. In The League the characters are just privileged immature middle-aged men with way too much time on their hands.

Some of the characters are a little better than others like Andre who is in my opinion the funniest guy on the show (played by Paul Scheer who has been on Party Down and Parks & Recreation). Part of it may be sympathy for the continued ragging he suffers from the other members of the league. There is just an awful character called Taco on the show who doesn't like football, is really stupid, and is perpetually stoned. And this guy is portrayed as some combination of Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton, and Charlie Sheen who can bed women in minutes despite the previously mentioned traits. Add in the fact that the guy is not that good looking and it becomes even more confusing and frustrating why he is portrayed as such a ladies man. The other characters on the show are not as poorly developed as Taco but aren't that compelling or funny.  The actor who plays Kevin, the commissioner of the league is prone to overacting and in my opinion really over does basic emotions.

The show's fantasy football elements are weak at best. There are some inaccuracies in regards to the characters playing fantasy football - there are a couple players too few (at least). Most fantasy leagues have ten teams at minimum where as The League has five players that we see on screen and apparently some off-screen players. The guys are cocky and arrogant about their expertise in football and it seems a little unbelievable that they are such pros. The show gets away with only having 5 cast members and just mentions "out of towners" who play in the league but are rarely mentioned.

The show is semi-scripted (like Curb Your Enthusiasm) and the conversations between the characters generally flows well and comes across as realistic. The humor that works is really standard stuff that doesn't rely on the fantasy football element. One of the better jokes in the season involves one character dressing up as a cartoon character because another character's daughter is obsessed with the cartoon and the guy dressed up is supposed to scare the girl but instead robs the house. The rest of the successful humor comes from the character of Andre awkwardly say things that he thinks are cool like "child please" after comments by others and his attempts at picking up women through methods like negging women.

The best episodes of the short (6 episode) season was "Mr McGibblets" (E04) The second season is somewhat improved from the first but the show's characters are still universally unlikable and completely one-dimensional. I probably wouldn't have watched the show if not for the fact that it airs right after It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Thursdays. The show isn't great but its usually fairly funny - it has rarely ever been hilarious though (by my count there was only one amazing joke/gag in the first six episodes).  Watching the show is a fine way to pass 22 minutes but its nothing to go out of one's way to watch.