image source: The League
I am not a football fan. In fact, I would rather do my taxes than watch the Super Bowl. I am not kidding. My husband, however, loves football, and the only positive side to that for me is it resulted in me being introduced to the terrifically crass and funny The League.
The League centers around a group of friends in Chicago who are obsessed with their fantasy football league, going to great lengths to win and hurling insults at one another that would make a school girl blush. (That is, except for Taco, who spends most of his time getting high and making up hilarious songs. F*** Everything is amazing, and I bought it on iTunes). Jenny and Kevin are married, Pete is divorced from the uptight Meegan, and poor Andre, a plastic surgeon, is so abused by the group that their hiring of Dirty Randy (Seth Rogan) to film a porno in his apartment is not the worst thing they do to him.
Ruxin, the dorky lawyer, is my favorite. His lines are great, and much of it comes down to his delivery. He is married, inexplicably, to the gorgeous and kind Sofia.
Scott, my husband, introduced me to The League one weekend when we drove down to Charlottesville for a UVA event. We binged-watched the whole first season at our hotel, which was easy to do since it got us hooked immediately and there are only six episodes to the season. It starts with a bang, setting up the characters well and presenting possibly the best episode, Mr. McGibblets, as Episode Four. This features Taco dressing like Mr. McGibblets (think faux Elmo) to scare Kevin’s little girl into hating the popular show, and Pete taking Andre on a romantic spa getaway once intended for his ex-wife. Although it might not seem like it from the description, fantasy football remains the group’s number one priority throughout the episode.
Except for Taco, who is too high to care.
As you’ll see from the graph my husband created with the help of Tableau, the whole series is consistently great throughout the whole first six seasons. Even though it revolves around the same event – fantasy football, of course – it never gets stale. The team always comes up with new ways to keep the audience entertained, from the group’s cruelty to Andre, to the constant obsession over cheating in the draft, to guest stars like Adam Brody and Brie Larson. (When you watch that extremely dirty episode, which is Season Three, The Au Pair, just remember that Brie Larson is an OSCAR WINNER. That blows my mind every time). Sure, the ratings dip to a 7.6 in Season Six, compared with a strong 8.2 in Season Two, but 7.6 is nothing to sneeze at.
Unfortunately, as it happens with most show that last more than five seasons, The League goes out with a whimper. Overall, the last season holds an average rating of 6.7, largely because it goes off the rails in killing off Ruxin’s Sophia in an episode that earns its abysmal 4.4 rating. This happens three episodes before the finale, serves no purpose, and leaves Ruxin a widower with two young children. Nothing funny about that, of course, and since The League is at its heart a bitingly hilarious comedy, the episode is a square peg in a round hole that makes the series completely lose momentum as it comes to a close.
The Sofia episode (actually called Adios y Bienvenidos) reminds me a bit of the horrific last episode of How I Met Your Mother, where the writers clearly tried valiantly to fit their long-ago vision of the last episode into the ending notes of the series, refusing to see how their characters and story had evolved and how BARNEY AND ROBIN NEEDED TO BE TOGETHER. However, unlike in HIMYM, at least one could somewhat understand why the writers decided to crap all over the viewers who had faithfully followed them for nine seasons. The Sofia turn in The League makes no sense, which is why that episode is rated a 4.4 .
Season Seven aside, please, please watch The League. I’m no football fan, and I love this show. I have to think you’d appreciate it even more if you’re into football. (And honestly, I wish I was too – I think it’s so cool how into it people get. When fantasy football rolls around every year, it’s like a club I miss out on). To make it easier for you, below this article you’ll find a table of the IMDB rankings of all of the episodes. Check out the highest-rated, and I guarantee they’ll make you want to start at the beginning.
When you reach the end of Season Six, however, don’t be tempted to keep going. You don’t have to watch every episode to be a true fan.
Just the Mr. McGibblets one about four or five times.
