Chances are you’ve never heard of FX’s semi-improvised comedy series The League. But if you’re one of the millions of sports fans around North America running your own fantasy football team, you have got to get your hands on a copy of the first season, which has been available on DVD since Sept. 14.
The League was created by husband and wife writing duo Jeff Schaffer and Jackie Marcus Schaffer. It’s a series that centres around five friends who run and participate in an eight-team fantasy football league simply called The League. The first season is only six episodes long and quickly runs through the fifth year of the league’s existence — from the draft day to the championship game. The guys all play for an elaborate trophy called “Shiva,” which, oddly enough, is named in homage to the high school valedictorian of their graduating class. This is one of many inside jokes within the group that continues throughout the season.
The show attempts to break the myth that fantasy football is only for sports nerds who devote their lives to crunching odds and statistics. The lead character of the series is Pete Eckhart (played by Mark Duplass), the current league champion who is going for four straight championship years. Pete is married but his wife does not approve of the league and can’t understand Pete’s fascination with fantasy football. Conversely, the league commissioner Kevin McArthur (Stephen Rannazzisi) and his wife Jenny (Katie Aselton) actually share their love of football, to the extent that Jenny helps Kevin set his fantasy lines each week. To avoid the embarrassment in admitting that his wife helps with fantasy strategy, Kevin tries to maintain the facade that it he is the only one at the reigns of his team. Ruxin (Nick Kroll) is also married but, like Pete, his devoutly Christian wife is totally apathetic towards his fascination with sports.
Taco McArthur, played by Canadian YouTube sensation Jon Lajoie, is Kevin’s younger brother and by far the most liberated, unpredictable character in the show. Taco is an unemployed musician who is consistently stoned and constantly scoring with hot women. He pays the least attention to the league and yet still manages to be successful, much to the chagrin of the other guys. Taco’s detachment from both the sports world and the “joys of marital life” provides plenty of non-sequitur humour and those who are familiar with Lajoie’s comedic stylings won’t be disappointed by his character in The League.
Rounding out the cast is Andre “Dr. Dre” Nowzic (Paul Scheer). Andre wouldn’t even be in the league if it wasn’t for his vast wealth, amassed through his work as a plastic surgeon. Due to his fantasy football naivety and his gullible, self-conscious nature, he is constantly taken advantage of throughout the season by his friends. Three out-of-town guys fill out the other open spots in the league, but are barely ever referenced — it’s implied that they have no chance at ever winning Shiva.
The League doesn’t require the viewer to be a fantasy football aficionado by any means, but you must be a subscriber to the raunchy, Judd Apatow style of humour. Being a sports fan doesn’t hurt, either.
As a 22-year-old guy who loves fantasy football and worshipped Judd Apatow movies throughout my teenage years, I fit right into the show’s key demographic. The show glorifies the smack talking, scheming and intense rivalries created between friends in a fantasy football league. And even though it’s just faux football, there’s still the inherent masculine urge to constantly one up your friends and spit on them once you’ve reached the top.
For those on the outside of this demographic, the show’s often stereotypical portrayal of gender relationships and obsession with the preconception that men only think about sex and sports might not be suited for you. Just like other FX comedy shows like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Louie, the comedy found here is definitely a far cry from what you will see on primetime network comedy blocks, so if you’re afraid to leave your comfort zone while watching TV, it’s not worth your time to hunt down a copy of the DVD.
But if a raunchy comedy show about fantasy football and the man-children who adore it sounds appealing, I implore you to check out the first season however you can. Season two of The League is currently airing on FX, which, to the best of my knowledge, is not available in Canada.
So if you end up enjoying The League as much as I did, you will be happy to know that, eventually, there will be more to come.
