EP beg, borrowed, and dealed to end the NFL lockout, but not just because we missed pro football, we just wanted The League back. We get our wish Thursday. By Nick Roertgen.
To be a fan of The League on FX, you don't need to know much about fantasy football, the NFL, or sports at all. You just need to love to laugh and have friends you love to hate.
The League is a semi-scripted comedy that follows a group of old high school friends who play in a fantasy football league together. While they will have each other’s backs when it comes to issues outside the league, each member will do anything and everything to make each other's lives miserable within the league. At the end of the day, each character’s only goal in life is to win the elusive "Shiva Bowl" and avoid the dreaded "Sacko Bowl."
After a big boost in viewership during season 2, FX gave the green light for production of 13 more episodes of the show. The show seemed poised for a tremendous thid season, but complications arose when the NFL lockout began. The lockout held the The League hostage to the point that filming was continuously pushed back until they were sure the NFL season would resume on time.
As you know by now, the NFL ended the lockout. With Week 5 of the season looming this weekend, The League will air its season 3 premiere on Thursday at 10:30. Rumor has it that the premier will cover the NFL lockout and include guest star Seth Rogan, who will play the character “Dirty Randy.”
Many of the past episodes include cameos from NFL players such as Antonio Gates (San Diego, TE), Chad Ochocinco (New England, WR), Terrell Suggs (Baltimore, LB), and Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh, QB turned FOX Analyst), so we can only hope that season is much of the same. It is also rumored that Saturday Night Live’s Will Forte will also guest star in an episode this season.
For you who don’t know, the show features a collection of rising actors and comedians each with a unique character. First, we have Pete Eckhart (Mark Duplass), the three-time champion of the league, who separated from his wife in season 1 because she complained that he spent too much time concentrating on fantasy football. Pete is very persuasive and has a reputation of “trade raping” some of his fellow league members.
Kevin MacArthur (Stephen Rannazzisi) is Pete’s best friend, and the league commissioner. Since he’s never made an appearance in the Shiva Bowl (the name for the championship game), he often takes advice from his wife Jenny (Katie Aselton), causing the other members of the league to think she runs his team. At the end of season 2, Jenny enters the league with her own team.
Nick Kroll plays Rodney Ruxin, an attorney who annoys the league with his constant whining and complaining. Ruxin will go to any length to win the league, but his eagerness to please his wife often corrupts his decision-making. Ruxin is extremely paranoid and often believes his friends are trying to sabotage him. Much to the league’s fear, he wins the championship at the end of season 2.
Andre Nowzik (Paul Scheer) continues to be the laughing stock of the group despite being a very successful plastic surgeon. Andre, better known as “Dre,” often uses cliché phrases such as "child please!", "try the veal...child," and "homie don't play that.” He wins the Shiva Bowl at the end of season 1, but many of the league members believes he had an unfair advantage because of his real-life relationship with Shiva, their high school valedictorian and the inspiration for the name of their championship game. Though Dre began season 2 as the league champ, he ends the season as the winner of the The Sacko, the last-place trophy.
Jon Lajoie plays Taco, Kevin’s little brother, a broke musician and full-time stoner. He never sets his lineup and has little interest in fantasy football other than hanging with his buddies. He frequently hooks up with women, and lives by taking handouts from his brother and relying on his "Eskimo family tree" (people who have slept with the same people he has). But, he occasionally makes ringtones of animal noises, has a naginta, and briefly worked as a notary (or "El Notario" considering it was actually a Venezuelan stamp).
Though The League’s target market almost entirely consists of a male audience, the show can be appreciated by anyone who loves quick-witted and unsophisticated humor. The show offers enough humor outside fantasy football to appeal to a more general demographic. It delivers a very similar comedy as fellow FX show It’s always Sunny in Philadelphia.
The best part of the show is that it is only semi-scripted and much of it is improv, which makes the dialogue seem genuine. Often it seems that the actors are actually laughing at the jokes that their colleagues have delivered. The improv makes for unbelievable chemistry among the characters and contributes to the naturalness of the show. It really feels like you're watching real friends arguing and debating as they deliver realistic jokes and punch lines.
It is impossible not to laugh out loud multiple times during an episode of The League. Don't believe us? Tune in tonight at 10:30.
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