Sports are as common as superhero movies. They’re not going anywhere and have long been deemed a “manly” thing to be into. We’ll leave it at that and get to the show on deck this week, The League. Based around a group of guys and a gal who don’t only love the football that comes from the NFL, but also their fantasy league upon which almost all their trials and tribulations are constantly centered. Another notch in our man cave of a month, this is also one of the most recent in the series as a whole to say adios to the air.
Name of Episode: “The Great Night of Shiva”
Premiere Date: October 29, 2009
Finale Date: December 9, 2015
Site: The League
Impact on Pop Culture
Fantasy Football was already a thing when this show came out, so it wasn’t like its popularity was making that industry go up in an insane way, but it did open it up to those who were clueless as to what that whole world was about. The League also showcased a lot of real life NFL players and gave them a new field to play on. They could show they weren’t just millionaires playing a game fit for recess, but could act and joke around as well. Also, this show gave way to an overflow of disses one could hurl at their friends and foes — most of which don’t seem appropriate to list here.
Facts & Stats
- The show was set in Chicago.
- The actors behind Pete and Jenny are married in real life.
- You can see Paddy’s Pub from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia in one of the episodes in the first season.
- A handful of stars from HBO’s Silicon Valley made cameos on the show.
- They’ve even had Oscar winners — well, sort of. Brie Larson of Room appeared on a couple episodes before she took home the gold.
What I Knew Before Watching the End
Pretty much all I needed to know. Watching the show religiously since season two, I came into the finale as a fan, but just because I am a fan doesn’t mean I was happy with it. The characters, the premise, everything was known to me.
Final(e) Thoughts
Upon finishing up this finale, I read that the people behind it had planned to cut the cord after six seasons but went on to do one more (obviously). What I don’t understand is that if you knew it was the end, why wasn’t there more to be had? This finale felt like just another week, just another episode filled with the same hilarity fans had grown to know over the years.
What I did respect was the simplicity, in that anyone could watch this and it’d be pretty clear cut what was going on. Subtle things with the characters and their interactions gave way to their relationships on a surface level, but come on — the show was never hard to understand. So while I could’ve walked into this a stranger and still enjoyed it, it was not a great finale.
There were only two aspects that made it remotely a finale in any way. The first was Meegan actually being pregnant with Pete’s baby, not Andre’s, and then the kid finding out on his 18th birthday. It was like one last burn towards their most loathed friend. The other was Pete winning that money and the beach house. It was clear he was onto something new. Other than that, what was to happen to the rest of the characters who rounded out this cast? It wasn’t this cool mystery the writers left us with, but rather just rushing to close the show out.
Larry David’s cameo was great. Rafi finding his uh, girlfriend Margaret (a watermelon) dead behind the couch, still making love to her and screaming “She was pregnant” is and will forever be one of the best moments of the show BUT all in all this was a good episode, not a series finale by any means.
