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The League: The Complete Season Two
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (20th November 2011). |
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The Show
 One day—hopefully not anytime soon—“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (2005-present) will end its run and The Gang from Paddy’s Pub, canned wine in hand, will say goodbye to FX, the cable network they’ve called home for over half a decade. Someone, somewhere in the horrible halls of the most insane annex of the NewsCorp Empire, knows this to be true, and that’s why they agreed to pick up “The League” (2009-present) a few years ago, hoping to have a suitable substitute waiting on a bench when the unfortunately inevitable eventually happens. It’s a strategy—not a smart or sound one mind, but a strategy—in place because in many ways, “The League” is a comparable show to “Sunny”, if also inferior in every way. It’s easy to see the logic in grooming “The League” as a replacement, and why, FX has giving it similar guidance in its early days. Like “Sunny”, “The League” had a short freshman season, running a quick six-episode order the first time out. And one of the few suggestions the FX brass gave to husband and wife show runners Jeff and Jackie Marcus Schaffer after that unassuming debut was to add another major player to the cast for season two (in much the same way the “Sunny” crew added Danny “Frank” DeVito in their sophomore year; the Schaffer’s add a lesser figure to the same effect). The comparison needn’t stop there, as both shows are boundary pushing, censor-baiting sitcoms fit only for late night cable, that follow a tight-knit group of repulsive people as they drink and shout insults at each other. In “Sunny” it’s Paddy Pub, the disgusting dive bar that Frank, Dee, Dennis, Mac and lovably illiterate Charlie collectively own, which brings them together for 22-minutes a week. In “The League” a fantasy football league provides the loose construct around which its collection of characters gathers, only to branch off into absurd side stories for an equally brief amount of time each week. Although having at least a cursory knowledge of football—and the even more complexly silly concept of fantasy football—certainly doesn’t hurt, it isn’t necessary to enjoy “The League” and all of the half-realized comedy that is baked into the show. (I can fully attest to this fact. I’m not the sportiest guy in the world—I know, big surprise, right—but I admit, in bursts, “The League” is a hilarious and, dare I say, clever show. But, and I stress this, only in bursts.) That’s because, although the sport is a part of the formula, the series is a standard—albeit laugh-track-free—sitcom, and each episode is structured in the typical way, with the core characters split between an a-plot, b-plot and c-plot, all usually right out of the latest yellow-spined copy of Sitcoms for Dummies. The league—five thirty-something guys unwilling to let go of the tattered relics from their drunken fratboy pasts—is comprised entirely of archetypes of the sitcom mold. Three members of are somehow well-to-do professionals. One, Andre (Paul Sheer), is a plastic surgeon that lives in a palatial loft in downtown Chicago and has a penchant for buying hideous works of pretentious “art”. The two others, Kevin (Stephen Rannazzisi) and Ruxin (Nick Kroll), are lawyers and have wives who love them unconditionally. How they manage both, despite their personalities and equally crippling cases of serious stupidity is a mystery I have yet to master. The three “professionals” are joined by two freer spirits: the woefully undefined character called Pete (Mark Duplass) is the laid back cool guy of the group, who’s super successful with the ladies—but that’s sorta it—while Taco (Jonathan Lajoie) is Kevin’s functionally-retarded brother; a sort of a rain man in reverse. He’s a social savant, but not sharp, perhaps best described as a spoon in the knife drawer. This season also sees Kevin’s wife Jenny (Katie Aselton) upgraded to the main cast, as she vies for a spot in the league so she can spend more fun time with her husband. Why “The League” kinda works—and why it also doesn’t work as well as it could—is simple. The show wishes to be the next great semi-scripted sitcom, in the same vein as other, more popular, if-it’s-loud-it’s-funny comedies like “Sunny” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2000-present). And it partially succeeds. The random asides and wonderfully offhand non sequitur’s sprinkled throughout most episodes is the sort of brilliant stuff only the best improvisational comedians can think up. Thankfully, at least one of the cast members, Jonathan Lajoie, is such a comedian. Sadly, the others, largely, are not. The show’s semi-scripted nature proves to be its biggest downfall, while also being its greatest strength. The Schaffer’s write each “League” episode outline, while directing the cast to provide what amounts to mostly filler. The set ups written by the Schaffer's then are unoriginal sitcom clichés, and most of the jokes come off as either forced, oddly placed, unnatural, or, frequently, a little homophobic (the show relies on gay-panic jokes like a crutch; although, that’s probably at least somewhat authentic given the nature of the frat-type, rah-rah, mindset that was epitomized by a phrase from school I’m suddenly reminded of: “Football! Get some!”). Sure, a few hilarious gags, and a couple of jokes, crop up in each episode. But they usually only end up drawing greater attention to how inconsistent the rest of the so-called writing is. Semi-scripted shows only truly work in a few fairly specific environments. The cast needs to be uniformly natural at improvisation and instinctively able to bounce jokes off each other at any and every turn, or, the “semi-scripted” needs to be more like “carefully and rigorously outlined and almost written to script.” The best show’s mix a little of both schools of thought; “The League” seems to have very little of either. Nearly all of “Curb” is written in some form. Larry David and his team craft each outline into more or less an actually script, with a clearly defined arc for each season, and little post-rehearsal improv is allowed into episodes. (One would think Jeff Schaffer, who has also directed a half-dozen or so half-hours of the HBO series, knows this. Apparently, if he ever did, he forgot.) “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” is mostly of the former style, with the actors more like a family that feed of each other's frenzy of fast-flung insults. But, that show is also helped because half the "Sunny" cast also serve as credited writers on most episodes and they usually shape the plot to their strengths as comedians. The cast of “The League” just doesn’t have the sort of innate rapport the guys (and gal) of "Sunny" do. Not yet, anyway. And with rare exception, they don't write the plots their characters are forced into. With all that said, “The League” isn’t a bad show. It’s worth watching if for no other reason than Lajoie’s turn as Taco, whose subplots are almost always the highlight of an episode, and the few bits of other randomness that manage to transcend the general mediocrity. And the handful of episodes credited to writers other than the Schaffer’s, namely cast members Knoll and Scheer, although sitcom-y, tend to better showcase the rest of the cast’s comedic sensibilities (as if those few episodes may have actually had a proper script—or at least, something longer than an outline). “The League: Season Two” includes all 13 episodes from the second season on two discs. Six episodes—“Vegas Draft”, “Bro-Lo El Cunado”, “The Kluneberg”, “The Tie”, “The Expert Witness” and “Ramona Neopolitano”—are available in either original broadcast or extended forms via seamless branching. The episodes are: - “Vegas Draft”—Reining league champion Andre hosts an extravagant draft in Las Vegas, complete with a special appearance by Chad Ochocinco. Meanwhile, Kevin’s wife Jenny maneuvers to join the League. - “Bro-Lo El Cunado”—Kevin and Ruxin must atone to their wives for the Vegas draft debacle. The League is plagued by its newest member, Ruxin’s abrasive brother-in-law, Rafi (Jason Mantzoukas), known as El Cuñado within the league. - “The White Knuckler”—Andre expands his medical practice and Ruxin manipulates a sick child in order to meet Josh Cribbs. Meanwhile, Pete dates Kevin’s ex-girlfriend (Lake Bell), Taco discovers martial arts and Terrell Suggs shows up at Andre’s party. - “The Kluneberg”—Jenny and the guys reconnect with old friend Russell (Rob Huebel), whose acquired some unusual addictions. Taco gets addicted to his new toilet seat. Andre is mocked for his ridiculous and expensive painting. And everyone conspires to expel El Cuñado from the league. - “The Marathon”—Andre and Pete train for a marathon and Taco launches a new career as a notary. Meanwhile, Kevin squares off with Jenny in a very personal league matchup. - “The Anniversary Party”—Ruxin throws wife Sofia (Nadine Velazquez) an anniversary party on the same day as Jenny’s birthday. Pete’s ex-wife (Leslie Bibb) attends the soiree with an interesting “plus one”. And Taco’s anniversary video tribute goes awry. - “Ghost Monkey”—Kevin coaxes everyone to the suburbs for “adult” Halloween, Ruxin cracks under the pressure of his matchup with Pete, and Taco steals a monkey from the pumpkin patch. - “The Tie”—Ruxin and Andre refuse to accept a tie. Taco discovers Western medicine. And Pete’s connection for free football tickets may come with a price after all. - “The Expert Witness”—Andre testifies as an expert witness for Ruxin in court, but Pete threatens to steal his thunder. Taco poses for a nude portrait to impress the courtroom sketch artist (Alia Shawkat). And Kevin and Jenny are suspected of collusion. - “High School Reunion”—Ruxin proudly parades his smokin’ hot wife, Sofia, around, but his true taste in women is revealed at the class reunion. Meanwhile, Pete creates a humiliating last place award for the League and the story of the “Shiva blast” can finally be told. - “Ramona Neopolitano”—The playoffs approach and Andre’s special diet makes him especially emotional. Meanwhile, Kevin dares to take on fantasy football gurus John Hansen and Adam Caplan, and Ruxin needs back up after he lies to Sofia. - “Kegel the Elf”—Tension mounts as Christmas, and the playoffs, near. Ruxin's revenge gift to Kevin backfires; and Ellie's school behavior causes Jenny to worry that fantasy football is causing her to neglect her parental duties. Meanwhile, Taco's eggs turn 1 year old. - “The Sacko Bowl”—The season is ending and everyone is vying for the Shiva (and trying to avoid “winning” the dreaded Sacko). Meanwhile, Kevin learns to read lips by watching porn and Pete is mistaken for a cop when he buys a Ford Crown Victoria.
Video
“The League” looks good on Blu-ray. Sourced from native high definition video, 1.78:1 widescreen 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 transfer offers sharp detail, vivid yet lifelike colors and natural skin tones, and a largely problem-free encode without a trace of artifacts or banding, although stock shots of skylines sprinkled throughout the season exhibit some faint aliasing. The show has the unmistakable look of being shot on video—whites a blown out and fall off is a problem in the darkest blacks and shadows—but it also manages to appear better budgeted than its cheap origins suggest, due to its extensive use of location shooting.
Audio
“The League’s” English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack (48kHz/24-bit) is rather basic. Dialogue is consistently intelligible, the theme song is loud and strong, and the mix is mostly dominated by front-focused speech. Discrete rear effects are few and far between, and most episodes have a solid mid-range but neither dazzling highs nor a powerful low-end. The exception that proves the rule is “Ghost Monkey”, season two’s Halloween episode. It has a perfectly admirable mix, full of atmospheric effects and low rumbles from the bass to appropriately spookify the campy ghost scenes and Wicca witchery. But “Ghost Monkey” draws attention to how lifeless and flat the other episodes are in regards to surround use and LFE. Clarity and detail are also only slightly crisper; Taco’s loony songs featured in episodes like “The White Knuckler” sound only moderately better in lossless when compared to the two-channel Dolby Digital encoded music videos found in the “Taco’s Tones” special feature. Each episode also features optional English, Spanish and French subtitles.
Extras
The two-disc set includes several extended episodes, a few featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel and a three music videos. Each disc also includes the usual resume playback and optional bookmark functions and Fox’s new season mode feature. Season Mode plays extended episodes where available. DISC ONE: Extended episodes: several episodes from the second season are made even cruder, ruder and unrated with new disc-exclusive extended cuts that are on average two to three minutes longer than the original broadcast. The extended episodes on disc one are: - “Vegas Draft” (1080p, 24 minutes 33 seconds). - “Bro-Lo El Cunado” (1080p, 23 minutes 6 seconds). - “The Kluneberg” (1080p, 24 minutes 41 seconds). Disc one includes seven deleted scenes (1080p, 7 minutes 59 seconds total runtime) trimmed from broadcast. These include: - Taco records the sex noises of two mating lions for his cell phone ringtone business. - Taco talks with Chad Ochocinco. - The guys argue with Andre about whether or not he’s wearing a women’s tracksuit. - Taco interrogates Pete as to the whereabouts of his Naginta spear. - Andre introduces his possible business partner to some of his more notable party guests. - Kevin learns that Taco’s secretly running his notary business out of Jenny’s car. - Taco thinks the evil ghost monkey has found out where he lives. “Kluneberg Paint By Numbers” (1080p, 6 minutes 45 seconds) is featurette with Paul Scheer as afro’d 80's PBS icon and painter Bob Ross, talking about the controversial painting featured in one episode this season. Just mind-numbingly awful. A featurette titled “El Notario” (1080p, 5 minutes 16 seconds) has Jonathan Lajoie, in character as Taco, presenting a series of infomercials and bad promos for his notary business South of the Border. “Taco Tones Productions Presents” (1080p, 10 minutes 38 seconds play all) includes three music videos—“I’m Inside Me [feat. Chad Ochocinco]” by Taco, “Naginta!” by Taco and “Vinegar Strokes” by Taco—and an extended version of Ruxin and Sofia’s disastrous wedding video shot and edited by Taco. DISC TWO: The extended episodes on disc two are: - “The Tie” (1080p, 23 minutes 1 second). - “The Expert Witness” (1080p, 22 minutes 22 seconds). - “Ramona Neopolitano” (1080p, 25 minutes 10 seconds). Disc two includes three deleted scenes (1080p, 3 minutes 19 seconds total runtime) trimmed from broadcast. These include: - “My temple doesn’t need to be cleaned. It’s cleaned by people who don’t speak English every night.” Taco decides to clean Andre’s office. - Andre talks about going to the Chess shop. Cause he shops, but doesn’t want to sound girly. And Chess is like a smart person’s checkers… right? - Pete and Kevin shoot the breeze with an old friend named Frank (Ike Barinholtz), who eats the world’s smallest muffin during their conversation. As noted just about everywhere, including several times in this review, “The League” is only semi-scripted, relying on lots of improvisation to fill the runtime. “Alt Nation” (1080p, 8 minutes 21 seconds) collects several of these improvs in an alternate-take blooper reel. Season two’s special features wrap up with a superfluous and overlong gag reel (1080p, 8 minutes 53 seconds).
Packaging
It’s happened—the dreaded two-disc eco-case is here. “The League: Season Two” arrives on Blu-ray from Fox Home Entertainment in a double pack of dual layer BD-50's. The horrible eco-holes reveal disc contents printed on the reverse of the cover art. The set is reported to be Region A locked.
Overall
“The League” isn’t a total fumble from Fox and FX. The show has its moments, mostly in smaller asides and occasionally brilliant bouts of stupidity regarding the character of Taco, who’s played by the spry Jonathan Lajoie. But the show—the second season anyway; I haven’t seen the first and don’t intend on revisiting—is largely uneven. The Blu-ray release has surprisingly sharp and colorful video (that looks, very much, like cheap video and not film), unimposing audio and a few fan-pleasing extras. Worth a look.
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