the-league

I was probably a little too giddy for the debut of FX’s “The League” last night, but I definitely still enjoyed the comedy about suburban guys balancing their real lives with their fantasy football league. Pilots have so much responsibility to provide a backdrop that they often get unfairly judged, but I think there’s some real comedic promise in this novel approach to a sitcom.

But then again, I’m also a white male who plays fantasy football watching a show about white men playing fantasy football. What if a newspaper took a staff writer (not the television critic) who knew nothing about fantasy football and made him write a review of the show? That’s what the Washington Post did. Let’s take a look at ignorance, shall we?

This is taken from the review by Neely Tucker:

[T]he rough cuts of the first two episodes made available to reviewers suggest shockingly original plot lines: Boy, do guys think about sex a lot! So do their wives! Guys sit on the toilet and drink beer! Women talk at group dinners about the prowess of their own genitalia! Watching porn is great, hunh?

This is sarcasm, I believe. Neely is establishing that he doesn’t like tired old plot lines, but I can’t readily think of examples of men sitting on the toilet drinking beer or women talking about the prowess of their genitalia at group dinners. But yes, watching porn is great.

In the hubbub to get to the next wee-wee gag, the script forgets to mention a reason why any of these people have the slightest interest in football, much less the obsession required to participate in the numbers-crunching minutiae of a fantasy league…

Nobody mentions, say, even such hoary cliches as their dad taking them to a snowy game at Lambeau Field when they were a kid, or of having grown up Down South where the sport is a tribal passion, or having played the game as a kid. Nobody appears to be so much as a season-ticket holder.

Last paragraph: “I hate cliches!” This paragraph: “Needs more cliches!”

Listen, you dumb bitch: my dad never took me to an NFL game. People who grow up Down South and have a tribal passion for football follow the SEC and college football, not the NFL. And guess what? I’m not a season ticket holder, because the fan experience in the NFL — especially for those who play fantasy football — is better when you can follow as many games as possible on TV.

But it’s nice to see that your complaints about the show are grounded solidly in complete f-cking ignorance.

What does this have to do with football, you ask?

I did not ask.

Why would you want to watch a show about this lame league when you could just use the time to play in one yourself, or, good heavens, just watch the game?

I already do those things, too. As it turns out, I have an extra half hour to watch an entertainment program that I identify with because it reflects my obsession.

But that’s a great point he makes. You can do it with any TV show, really. “Seinfeld”: Why would you watch a show about these four dumb friends when you could just use the time to hang out with your own friends? “Always Sunny”: why would you watch a show about these idiotic drunks when you could just use the time to get drunk with your own friends? And so on.

Hey Neely, you suck at your job. You’re in the next round of layoffs.