Customer Reviews

The League of Gentlemen - The Collection

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Absolutely Fabulous, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Dad's Army, Are You Being Served?, Nighty Night and a whole host of other shows have proven to the world, time and again, that the greatest sitcoms come from merry old England. With a few notable exceptions, our British brothers and sisters seem to have nailed with microsurgical precision the art of getting television comedy right.

"The League of Gentlemen" began life as a series of short radio broadcasts, and featured a whole host of grim characters in macabre situations, and, thanks to the foresight of the Beeb and the unbelievable talent of the show's four creators - Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith - the show came to television, with mind-bendingly brilliant results.

Comedy isn't really a suitable genre in which to bracket "The League of Gentlemen", since it's not as laugh-out-loud funny as, say, Ab Fab or Nighty Night. Similarly, it's just too damn funny to be labeled as Drama, but since it's got more than its fair share of horrific moments too, it's also got a finger in the pie of the Sci-Fi/Horror genre. On paper, then, "The League of Gentlemen" should, by all accounts, have been a terrible mess.

In actuality, it's the polar opposite - brilliantly crafted and thoroughly watchable, with more black comedy and more riveting characterisation than anything in recent memory. It's oddly endearing how the one-joke characters such as Herr Lipp and Barbra the transgendered taxi driver come to life with sympathetic scenarios, designed to turn these otherwise-throwaway charicatures into real, memorable parts of the story. And they're just secondary to the antics of the main body of heroes - people like Tubbs and Edward, proprietors of the Local Shop for Local People (seriously, you'll remember that line forever!), Pauline the Unemployment Retrainer, and Judee Levinson and her downtrodden maid Iris Krell - are so well-acted and so damn riveting that you'll want to see them over and over again.

This really is the only "League of Gentlemen" DVD to buy, it's got all three seasons of the show, and a whole host of truly excellent extras to mull over, once you're done with the episodes. Sound and picture quality are very, very sharp and for the price, you're getting more than your money's worth.

Thoroughly recommended.

I have all three series plus the Christmas special as released in the UK and love them -- I'm very glad to see they're being released in North America at last! If you've never seen them, The League of Gentlemen (three of whom perform, with the fourth remaining behind the scenes) have created a fictional northern UK town called Royston Vasey, and play all of the townspeople - male and female. The characters and their stories are all intertwined, and are united by a macabre vision of small-town life influenced by countless horror and suspense stories. Cursed veterinarians, wishing toads, mobster newsagents, mysterious meat from the local butcher and "a local shop for local people" are just a few of the highlights. Enjoy!

The BBC knows how to do it--comission a number of episodes and extend the show no further than those given episodes. The result? Fresh, original shows that never get stale and are usually exciting and totally engrossing. The League of Gentlemen is characteristic of such fare but is so different (and better) than anything you'd ever see on American network television. Once you're through the first two episodes, you'll see how the characters really start to develop and how deep and thought out the plot really is. More than just a showcase of grotesque characters, this show is a masterpiece, especially when you take into consideration that all of the members (except for one) perform all the characters they create. This is one show I can't stop talking about!

I first caught Series I in 2000 on Comedy Central, and became immediately hooked. When the Complete Series DVD set became available in North America I was ecstatic! If you have ever had the opportunity to spend any time in the North of England you can definitely relate to the characters and the town of Royston Vasey. The Amazon.com editorial review gives a spot on representation of this unique series. What I find most amazing is the depth of talent in these four young gentlemen. The creative process is well documented in "behind the scenes" discs which are included with Series II and Series III. The episodes are all cleverly written, with subtle references to pop culture which span international borders, and the acting is, well, simply brilliant. The episodes are best watched in sequence, with the Christmas Special between Series II and Series III. If you can, spend an afternoon having a League of Gentlemen Marathon, and I guarantee that a laugh riot will be induced. If you like humor which is simultaneously blatant and subtle, combined with horror and the dark side of the human psyche, The League of Gentlemen is for you. Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith are frighteningly talented individuals, and if I could relocate to Royton Vasey I would do so in a heartbeat!

First let me say, this series is NOT FOR CHILDREN! This is truly a series where you don't know whether you should be disgusted or laugh hysterically. It's dark and perversely funny, and if you don't have a somewhat "sick" sense of humor it's definitely NOT for you.

The series pokes fun at the oddities in life, ranging from a really bad Veterinarian to a Transsexual Taxi Driver with a botched operation. There are bored housewives, inbred shopkeepers, over-the-hill musicians, a butcher who serves mystery meat to his "special" customers, a seemingly "man's man" who finds he's attracted to the same sex, a screwy Mafioso, and many more bizare and unusual characters.

The series focuses on the everyday lives of the individuals, their involvements with each other, and the inane fear of "outside" influences coming in and changing local customs and ways of life. It's a dark parody of small town life and the extremes some will go to so progress and change will be stalled, or at the very least, waylaid.

I consider myself a pretty average person, and found there were times I wanted to turn the DVD off, but couldn't because I couldn't believe what I'd just seen, and wanted to see what happened next. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars is because I thought some scenes really were disgusting, gross, and offensive, even though I couldn't help laughing.

A warning - This is not anything to do with the film 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'. This is something else, something far more interesting, exciting, scary, original, twisted and frankly far more absurdly hilarious. It is a comedy proggramme based around the fictional town of Royston Vasey, a refuge for the weird, psychotic or just generally insane... The first two series are like sketch shows based around a central theme, with very strange characters in nearly every scene. For example Tubbs and Edward with the now immortal phrases "Hello, hello, what's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!" "This is a Local Shop for Local People, there's nothing for you here!" and "They are not children... they are MONSTERS!", and these are just one set of characters. More characters include Papa Lazarou ("You're my wife now...."), the Denton's, Pauline and Mickey and so on and so forth. The third series are in the format of episodes, each one focusing on a paticular set of charcters, keeping the whole thing as fresh as a daisy. The Christmas Speicial, however, is a darker affair. It is equally is fantastic, but darker in every respect of the word...

I recommend this product to anyone with a sense of humour worth speaking of, and if you do not laugh, then you really do NOT have a sense of humour at all!

If any of you are familiar with The Curmudgeon's other reviews, you may well be scratching your heads at this one. A FIVE star review?! That can't be right. And usually, YOU would be right. The Curmudgeon has dedicated 95 of his 100 reviews to bringing you the very worst things out there. To celebrate the 50 review milestone I reviewed 5 GREAT things that are available on Amazon, and so, now I've reached 100, I thought I'd do the same again. So, from reviews 100 - 105, it's going to be nothing but good, great and awesome stuff.

Comedy is a strange thing. For years it was always considered that Britain produced superior comedy (Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army). Even in the 90's, although America was in front, Britain produced some classics (Red Dwarf, Game On, Father Ted, Fast Show and some cosy family comedies - Keeping Up Appearances, Men Behaving Badly all major hits) yet recently the words "British" and "comedy" were enough to give even the most hardy viewer nightmares. America were indeed the champs of comedy, with Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Friends, Frasier.. in a contest, the UK were rank amateurs compared to the American Heavyweight champs.

Then - things began to change. From around 1999 onwards British comedy has had a severe shot in the arm, giving new life to the once dead genre. True, the mainstream family comedy was now a thing of the past, but the likes of Little Britain, The Office, Brass Eye, Phoenix Nights and more were coming thick and fast.

And (arguably) the best of them all? The League Of Gentlemen - one of the cleverest, willingly absurd but lovingly crafted comedies of all time. Devilish in its targets (paedophilia, incest, mass murder - all weekly topics), what made League a step above its murky roots were the characters and actors involved in them, giving even the most grisly inhabitant of Royston Vasey depth and charm. Hell, you even feel sorry for some of them.

Seasons One and Two were near flawless examples of sketch show lunacy (even if the characters evolved and progressed each week, seldom seen in this format), the absurdly wonderful and disturbing Christmas Special and the genius of Season Three (a mile away from Seasons One and Two, in both style and content) make this collection something to be watched over and over. Die-hards can spot the injokes, the running gags, the hidden gags.. newbies can become involved in a grim world where the words "are you local" should have you running for your life.

Sick, twisted madness. Like the best sitcoms, we all want for more, but like the VERY best sitcoms, (Young Ones, Fawlty Towers, The Office), we're not going to get it (token movie notwithstanding). Absolutely unmissable.

And that's part three of five taken care of. Two more things that The Curmudgeon actually likes. But what on earth could they be? Only one way to find out...

The_Curmudgeon_Hates_You@yahoo.co.uk

These guys are the best thing since Monty Python! Very original, wildly creative, incredibly talented! Their characters are intriguing and addicting. It is hard to believe three guys play all characters. This humor is not for everyone though. As the series progresses they get pretty dark. If you like British humor this is a must own!

This is darkly funny stuff delivered by some extremely talented comedians. I had despaired of the BBC ever producing something as funny and memorable as Flying Circus or Fawlty Towers again, but I was wrong. If you like British comedy, check this out.

I put together my very own LOG Collection. I'd rather deal with playing Region 2 DVDs rather than put up with crap ads for the now-horrible BBCAmerica, so I bought Season One first from AmazonUK, absolutely loved it, so then bought The Complete League Of Gentlemen 3-disc set, and I've recently added The League Of Gentlemen Box Of Delights, which includes The League Of Gentlemen's Apocalypse feature film, The LOG Live At Drury Lane, and The LOG Are Behind You.
I'll give 5 stars to Season One due to general brilliance, Season Two 4.5 stars and
Season Three 3.5 stars, for a total of 12 stars & an average of four. (I'd also give 4.5 stars to Apocalypse, 4 to Behind You, and 3.5 to Live At Drury Lane).
Season Two is also brilliant, as S-1's underlying darkness began to peek around the edges of the shows, but then in the 3rd season it leap out of the background and took over the program, and the word brilliance disappears from my review.
Since the League is not for everyone, I would seriously advise the prospective buyer to preview Season Three before investing in a set like this. I've a very black sense of humor(this doesn't mean I ever found Gary Coleman funny), but Season Three unfortunately leaves me cold.....every time I watch it.