"The League" (2009-present) has just started its fifth season on a new network, the FX-owned FXX. Unfortunately, it appears that though the network has changed, the series has not. After a somewhat stale fourth season, "The League" is in need of a shakeup. Many of the jokes are getting old and the dynamic between the characters has barely changed over the last four years. Yet the show still has extremely funny moments (especially amusing to new viewers) that give "The League" hope - maybe, just maybe, the show will be able to return to its once outstanding form.
The show revolves around a group of friends in a fantasy football league: the everyman Kevin (Stephen Rannazzisi), his competitive wife Jenny (Katie Aselton), his perpetually unemployed brother Taco (Jon Lajoie), his slacker best friend Pete (Mark Duplass), the paranoid and ruthless Rodney Ruxin (Nick Kroll) and the wannabe-artsy surgeon, Andre (Paul Scheer). Also Rafi (Jason Mantzoukas), Ruxin's certified crazy brother-in-law, shows up once in a while to spice things up. They all compete in a fantasy league, hoping to win the highly coveted "Shiva" trophy, and desperately trying not to win "The Sacko" - the trophy for the last-place finisher. Along the way, the friends verbally and mentally abuse their fellow league members and generally stab each other in the back in order to get the upper hand. The plot makes for great dialogue between characters, which is often improvised by the actors themselves (the show is only semi-scripted).
The fifth season picks up several months after season four ended, and Andre is getting married. The California wedding, though, is undermined by the league's draft on the same weekend. Andre insists that they can't do it during his wedding weekend, as his bride doesn't want fantasy football to ruin her special day, but as usual the sports-obsessed group holds the draft anyways. Meanwhile, Ruxin has been kicked out of the league because he doesn't fulfill his Sacko punishments, various embarrassing tasks given out to the winner of the Sacko.
Overall, the first episode was poorly done, something that did not bode well for the rest of the season. Despite the improv style of the show, the jokes were far from fresh - most were just repackaged versions of old bits. The worst of these were the jokes making fun of Andre or his ignorant, unfunny discussion of homoeroticism. While there were a few good moments, the season five premiere was disappointingly reminiscent of several dreadful season four episodes.
That being said, the second episode was much better than the first. With Andre's wedding potentially serving as a catalyst for change, the second episode set up this season for some much needed adjustments. To keep things interesting, "The League" needs to modify the group dynamic this year: guest star JJ Watt was hilarious in the first two episodes of season five, and hopefully the show will continue to feature him in future episodes.
With a solid second episode, the show might be able to break its current streak of dullness. But it's still early - "The League" could revert to relying on the same tired jokes. With just two episodes so far - one of them poor and the other above average - it's hard to say which way this season will go. The next couple of episodes will be telling of the direction the show will take. Hopefully, this season makes sure to stay fresh for its dedicated viewers.
