What do the Americans and other foreigners think of The League? - The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005) Discussion

[–] svenf101 19 years ago

I'm American, and I think it's brilliant. Several years ago I was flipping past BBC America one evening and stopped when Dr. Chinnery was about to give a dog a rectal examination. The dog flew into the fireplace and exploded bits of what looked like strawberry jam back into the owner's and Chinnery's face. I laughed so hard--and I knew I shouldn't! This was so politically incorrect--laughing at a little dog's demise and it's posh owner's misery. I was hooked!

The title ("The League of Gentlemen") never got me to watch. It was happenstance, a very funny moment, and honestly, the laugh track that probably got me to stop and give it a look. Part of the League's appeal to me is that I know not everyone will like it. The humor is unique and a bit more cerebral than (almost all) American comedy. I now own all the DVDs and just got confirmation from Amazon yesterday that the movie was dispatched to me.

Before satellite services began to offer BBC America (maybe 7-8 years ago?), there was not a lot of Britcom in America. Benny Hill, Are You Being Served, Fawlty Towers, and Keeping Up Appearances was about all we had. I still laugh at AYBS repeats, even though I've seen them 100 times and know the lines by heart.

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[–] johnietoth 19 years ago

I too thought it was quite good. Better in fact, than most "non-American" stuff out there. The humor was not as dry as I recall most BBC type humor (monty python, benny hill,Are You Being Served, etc)..

bravo folks, now I am off the find the other TV shows that they made....:)

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[–] Pronkjewail 19 years ago

I'm from Holland our humor has a lot in common with the Britts: It is Dark, Strange, Harsh and often Provocative! Both go a lot further than American humor, though there is nothing wrong with American comedy series(except friends).

I Love the League and after 4 years of waiting the DVD is finally comming out in Holland!

I AM LOCAL!!!

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[–] filthy_manchild 19 years ago

I'm Australian and i love it man!
UNFORTUNATELY...It was overlooked largely, Little Britain is more popular then The League...I HATE LITTLE BRITAIN(rip-off!)

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[–] Psychoholic_Zombi 19 years ago

Most other americans dont really get the humor, i think its genious, but the rest of us just arent intelligent enough to appreciate it.

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[–] boyd-james 19 years ago

American here (quasi-expat)

Bloody brilliant, I was laughing so hard it hurt most of the time. I'll definitely agree that there isn't really anything like this in the states (I think there was one somewhat similar series on one channel a year or two ago, but it had a bit more of a base approach).

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[–] BakedEel 10 years ago

(I think there was one somewhat similar series on one channel a year or two ago, but it had a bit more of a base approach).

Does anyone know what show this was?

[truth]I am bisexual. If you dont like that: you can blow me. If you do: same deal.[/truth]

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[–] Renaldo Matlin 19 years ago

I'm Norwegian and I WORSHIP the league of gentlemen and ALL their stuff. Got all the DVD's, got their movie (YAY!!) in the mail this monday and loved it as well.

Maybe not a big shock, because even John Cleese - who has done some television stuff in Norway - has said that he feels Norwegians are the ones who's sense of humour is closest to the Brits so British comedy is very popular here.

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[–] paulb47 19 years ago

I'm a Canuk who's lived in London, Houston and now NYC. I'm often called upon by my American pals to translated English humour and visa versa. In fact I'm often called upon by Yankees to translate "The South" !

With League though, I really did have an immediate sense that--"this has got to be hitting notes for Brits** that I'm probably not even hearing. Not that that took away from my own enjoyment of it. I was pretty much entranced.

**and especially those in the Rural North--maybe all the way to Wales! :-)

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[–] mortlieb-1 19 years ago

The League of Gentlemen is the reason I bought a region-free DVD player. I own all three series, plus the Drury Lane Live and Christmas special. Just yesterday, I had Apocalypse dispatched to my home. I can't wait!

And the League and the region-free DVD player have become gateway drugs to other British comedies, notably Teachers and the pre-HBO Ali G Shows.

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[–] Courtesy_Flush 19 years ago

American Anglophile here. Getting an all-regions DVD player specifically for my Brit/Irish/Aussie/New Zealand addiction.

LoEG is absolutely excellent!!!1

--Foo

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[–] tokyostory2000 19 years ago

I'm an American living in Japan. A friend living in the States sent me the season 1 DVD as a gift and I quickly got addicted and watches seasons 2 and 3 and have the movie and Christmas special on the way. I love it, but there are references in the show that I didn't pick up. Such as: "Do I look like Deidre Rachid?", which I looked up on the internet. Also, I'm not sure what an "airing cupboard" or "immersion" ("Turn on the immersion!"), but I still think the show is hillarious and much funnier than anything in recent memory from the US (well, the simpsons,...) Can anyone tell me what "It doesn't look owt on me" means? Whats "owt"?

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[–] jtjonas2000 19 years ago

Answers to your questions.
Diedre Rachid was a character in a British soap called Coronation St. She was sent to prison for a while by mistake and to tell you the truth her character reminds me of Pauline.
The airing cupboard is a cupboard in your house where you keep towels and bedding.
The immersion is a heater or boiler of hot water. Dont forget to turn it on for a hot bath.
And finally the best of your questions - What is owt? Owt means a cross bewteen anything and nothing. Its northern slang. Or for me local slang

Just time for a rant

Avoid the film - After a superbly written third series the league have left me feeling underwhelmed and disappointed. Although Geoff Tipps a clever man with a big cock - that was quite funny.

Does anyone else think that the film was actually quite poor?

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[–] spooks_2 19 years ago

No......I loved it.

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[–] Renaldo Matlin 19 years ago

Well all though it's pretty hard to top the best of the series I still found the movie really great. All though I would have liked to see more of Pauline. I love her.. and her pens!

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[–] jtjonas2000 19 years ago

It seems to me that the log havent used their immense talents since the third series and decided to cash in with a film. And by the way I dont hold a grudge for that but the end to the third series was fantastic and the log should have been left there. The film is not a reliable measure e the log and I fear that potential fans will simply not bother with the series.
There have been spurious comments on the plot of the film on this site but for me the writing lacked the wit or depth of any single episode within the entire series. The christmas special was a spin off short film but it hit the right spots and was - superb.
The film just wasnt consistent for the log. The jokes and plot were too contrived and it lacked any dark humour so ended up slapstick or carry-onish. The characters were forced to characature themselves. This detracts from the huge strength of the series which was the development of the characters and their relationships. I love the log series and hold the log in v high regard but this was at best a disappointing end at worst self indulgence. I suspect that if the log were honest enough they would admit the same.

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[–] jiemeic 19 years ago

I'm from Taiwan, and I love the tv series!! Am watching the movie on DVD right now as I type... I'm saving up in order to give myself the boxset for Christmas!! 8D

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[–] hannibalmcnee 19 years ago

Rats. I hate to interrupt an interesting flow of foreigners declaring their love, but I just had to voice my sincere disagreement towards jtjonas2000.

I thought there was more character development in the movie than in all three seasons of the League. Geoff Tipps - who I never really liked - became a hero! Herr Lipp, the big walking double-entendre, actually became a human character. It was great!

Never mind all the guys playing themselves as complete cnuts!

Also, it had FAR MORE laughs than I ever remember being in the series. I was in pain when I left the cinema. I could hardly take it.

I was anxious when I heard details of the plot that the thing would be far too self-referential and indulgent. It certainly was indulgent, but the amazing thing was that that didn't hurt it.

And as for Herr Lipp pretending to be Steve Pemberton... that just has to be seen to be believed.

Furthermore, the Hammer Horror type stuff was unexpectedly brilliant.

I guess you can tell, I love this film. I loved it more than all the series put together. It has been, for me, the funniest film of the year so far and I think to tell anyone to avoid it does a disservice not just to the film, but to other potential viewers who might enjoy it as much as me.

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[–] shewasmyrushmore 19 years ago

hmm
i'm an aussie and i do like the series - the film was ok - for the first 40 min or so anyway...still worth watching.
there are some elements of league of gents that i find quite funny and others that i must admit i do find irritating in the same way i find a lot of english comedy.
that common trait of over the top, dressing in womens clothes, talking in high pitched voices, painting their teeth brown, using poo as a prop, inventing characters where one is straight, the other is exasperating and exaggerated...all these kind of cliches that are common in english comedies.
i prefer lowkey sarcastic wit - i'm not surprised at all that a lot of brits don't like seinfeld, but this would be a good example.
or aussie examples would be frontline, cath and kim(in a way) - ie taking the mickey out of something that does actually exist, rather than dressing up in panto and screaming about in weird voices...
personally though i think a brit has done it the best with 'the office' - definitely in my all time top 5 for comedies, pure perfection.

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[–] kubu 19 years ago

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I loved the tv series :)))
surprisingly it was dubbed, which is not very popular in Polish TV, and I must admit, that the Polish actor who dubbed Steve Pemberton was brilliant. His Pauline, and Tubbs are so much better than the original :)

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[–] yojimboy 19 years ago

Me and my family love it, but I tried showing the first episode of season 2 to a group of friends and none of them laughed. I don't know what happened... It wasn't for them, I guess. Or maybe I should have started with season 1.

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[–] Electric_Dragon 19 years ago

I'm Australian and I absolutely love the League.
I had heard so much bad hype about the movie, but it ended up being my favourite League venture yet.

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[–] CaptReynolds 18 years ago

Hi, I'm from New Zealand, and am a big fan of the series. I just watched the movie last night and loved that too. The show has only been on pay TV here so I don't think it has a huge following here, I mean, I don't remember the movie even being released theatrically in NZ. Still, British comedy tends to be pretty popular here.

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[–] pdrinkwater 18 years ago

hey im english but right now i live in new zealand, and yeah league of gentlemen movie was straight to video here, so irented a copy this weekend

i dont think league of gentlemen is that well known around here, which is a bit of a bad un because i dont think you can really get this movie without seeing the series, the video shop owner said she would watch it, but since she aint seen the show i think she will be clueless

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