Take 4 TV: The League of Gentlemen

The League of Gentlemen (1999 - 2002)

What's Going On?: Welcome to the quintessential and quaint village of Royston Vasey, in Northern England (motto: "You'll Never Leave'). Lots of strange things are happening in Vasey. There's the Local Shop, where non-local people are mysteriously disappearing, and the strange nosebleeds that plague the populace. And we can't forget the town vet whose patients all meet tragic ends and the strange toad-loving family next door with the twin daughters who look like they're straight out of The Shining. Oh...you're not imagining things...a lot of the people look alike. But that probably has less to do with in-breeding and more to do with the fact that all the main characters are played by the same three actors. Very strange. Picture Kids in the Hall meets Twin Peaks. You've got three seasons to contend with here...plus a Christmas Special. But British. And although it doesn't sound like it...yes, it's a comedy. And if you end up watching EVERYTHING the series has to offer, you may find yourself here for a while (see also Red Dwarf).

Leading the Line-Up: The actors in the League started doing sketch comedy on stage, and this series places the characters from their act all in the same, strange town...forcing them to interact. The three performers are Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith. A fourth member of the League, Jeremy Dyson, only does writing, and seldom appears on-screen.

Things to Look Out For: Very self-referential. Even though there was a two year gap between seasons two and three, I caught a LOT of callbacks to the first two seasons. They do it very subtly, too...so that they don't try to obviously call attention to these details, which is good: kind of makes you feel a little proud that you caught the joke. I think that's a key difference between British and American humor. Oh, and as a side note, although I'm referring to each year as a "season" of the show, the Brits call each year a "series." I think a "series" equals 1.34 "seasons," but I've never been that good with the metric system.

Special Features to Catch: Wow. A lot. A whole lot. More than you can shake a stick at. The first season has the special features on the DVD, which includes some deleted scenes, info on special effects, a handy directory of the characters you meet, etc. Quite a bit to choose from. The biggiest thing, by far, was the cast commentary...they discuss EVERY episode. As part of my sacred duty to you, the reader, I watch and listen to every single special feature. Luckily, there are only six episodes per season, but that ended up being nine hours of commentary. Well, ten, if you include the commentary on the Christmas Special...and then there was also an hour-long BBC radio interview and a couple twenty minute behind-the-scenes documentaries. Yeah, Merry Christmas. And that leads up to the two bonus discs I stumbled upon for seasons two and three: more behind-the-scenes documentaries, cast and crew interviews, deleted scenes, character profiles, out-takes, production stills, storyboard comparisons, a "create-your-own-ending" editor, video diaries...and music from the show. Whew.

So...what to catch? Most of the additional stuff is pretty brief (the bonus discs each took about an hour to watch), so you might as well check 'em out if you're enjoying the show. But one or two commentaries is enough, unless you get hooked on them.

Random Trivia: The title of the show in Korea is "Psycho Village." Oh...and about 75% of the characters are based on real people that the cast has met. Scary.

And I Quote: Pauline: "Just who do you think you're talking to?" Cathy: "Well, according to my report, a psychotic 50-year-old lesbian." Pauline: "How dare you. I'm 48."

Life Lessons From The League of Gentlemen: 1) British comedians are very willing to talk about their craft. VERY willing. 2) Don't eat the special meat. 3) If someone asks if you are local, the answer is YES.

Curt's Take: Well, have to break this one down a little bit differently...

Seasons One and Two - "Worth Considering." Was very unsure as I watched the first episode of the first season, but was sucked in by the end. Was funny, entertaining, and had just enough of the quirky British humor I like so much. As mentioned above, the commentary tracks got a bit old after a while, but it's not like you have to listen to them.

The Christmas Special - "Not a Priority." Accidentally stumbled on this when searching to see if they had a fourth season out. It was okay...basically, an hour-long special that ties together three horror tales featuring characters we'd met in the first two seasons. Only a Christmas special because it takes place around Christmas time. I did like the third tale, which gives the backstory on why the town vet has such unfortunate things happen to him. If you do rent this, it comes chronologically after the first two seasons.

Season Three - "Don't Bother." The tone completely changes, and a lot of the comedy is traded in for absurd drama, it seems. Each episode largely focuses on one character, rather than several simultaneously stories, which makes me prefer the first two seasons. A lot of the characters you've come to love in the first two seasons don't make an appearance. I don't know...it was like they came back with a year off and wanted to take the show in a completely different direction. Was disappointing, even though they explain their thinking on the special features disc of season three.

Seasons Two and Three: Bonus Discs - "Not a Priority." Stumbled on THESE when I found the Christmas Special. At this point, I was like...WILL IT NEVER END!!! By this time, I was just hoping to get something different in the mail from Netflix. That having been said, the stuff was pretty brief and somewhat interesting to watch.

All this having been said, looks like the League has made its way over to the big screen in Britain, with The League of Gentlemen's Apocolypse. I'm actually hoping to check that out.