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The League: The Complete Season 1 Blu-ray Review

Chris Rebholz

10/7/2010 10:38 AM EDT

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Most sitcoms develop their shows with some sort of gimmick, which eventually, if the show lasts long enough, they develop into something else. Some examples are Big Bang Theory, How I met your mother, and The Office. It is only natural that one network would come up with the idea of basing a series about a group of people and their obsession with fantasy football.

The League is that show. Several people, who are all friends, sign up for a fantasy football league but take it way too seriously and hilarity ensues. What this show did differently was present how we let certain obsessions or hobbies interact with our daily lives. Who doesn't have some hobby that we end up bringing to the dinner table, meeting, laundry mat, or even the bedroom. Another aspect of this show that separates it from the rest is its use of semi-scripted episodes. This basically means that the shows creators would have an outline for the episode, maybe even a few pages of dialogue, but they let the actors improvise where they saw fit so the scenes felt more natural, and in turn, became funnier.

The show was short lived because like most genre sitcoms, if it doesn't grab the audience right away then it will flounder to stay afloat until either it dies or something comes along to save it. Thankfully with the invention of DVD (and now Blu-ray) we can watch the show as we see fit and when we see fit. Volume one contains the first 6 episodes which is just enough to whet your appetite. Even if you are not a football fan, or even a sports fan, it is hard not to like the show. It is obvious that the cast had fun making this series and that kind of enjoyment is very contagious.

So while a series like The League never really grew out of its infancy, its nice to be able to go back and watch those first episodes. Maybe even dream of what the show might have become, while checking your fantasy football team of course. 

-- Chris Rebholz

Purchase The League: The Complete Season 1 at Amazon.com

Download The League From iTunes

For more information about The League visit the FlickDirect Movie Database. Blu-ray screen captures provided by Macgo Mac Blu-ray Player. Artwork and photos ©20th Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.

Chris Rebholz, Senior Critic

When Chris was but a wee lad growing up in the slums of suburban New Jersey, he happened to rent a little movie called Tron. Then his head exploded. It was at the moment that he realized that he loved movies, and since then Chris has made it a habit of renting movies, going to the movies, discussing his favorite movies, and anything else in between when it comes to that genre. It has been Chris’s passion and hobby for years now and will be for years to come.