The League Season 4, Episode 1 Review: Singing Cowboys, Chalupa Batman, and Jenny-on-Shiva Action 

We learn early on in the opening episode of the 4th season of The League that Kevin has actually traded his commissioner-ship to …. wait for it….. to Ruxin. As part of the deal, Ruxin agreed to recognize Kevin’s championship in an otherwise invalid previous season (the gang lied to Ruxin about rigging the draft order). As part of the deal Ruxin owns the naming rights to Kevin and Jenny’s soon-to-arrive baby.

Taco starts a business in which people hire a singing cowboy to deliver bad news because “everything sounds better coming from a cowboy.” As a result he ends up buying the surprisingly expired URL “dallascowboys.com” That prompts an invitation from Jerry Jones, who flies the boys to Cowboys training camp. With cameos from Felix Jones and Jason Witten, the mostly silly training camp scene results in Taco winning the first pick of the draft (after agreeing to sell the URL back to Jones for $250,000).

Kevin’s refusal to have sex with a very pregnant and very horny Jenny (he doesn’t want his sacco to be that close to his baby) forces her to take care of business on her own, fantasizing about Jason Witten, DeSean Jackson and, of all people, Shiva. Because her masturbation is interrupted by the guys, she gets added to the list of league vinegar strokes (Taco: “I saw into both her and her baby’s soul; both not great.”)

Her water quickly breaks, prompting The League to draft in the delivery room during her delivery. Taco trades the first pick to Commissioner Ruxin (Arian Foster was the pick), in exchange for the baby’s naming rights. The singing cowboy joins the chaos to deliver the Taco-granted name for Kevin and Jenny’s baby boy: Chalupa Batman McArthur.

It wasn’t a top-tier episode of The League; as with other season openers, the gang goes on the road, there are a ton of cameos and there’s a silly scramble for the draft order. We will admit that the idea of Commissioner Ruxin gets us a little excited for the rest of the season. The NFL cameos (Rich Eisen, RG3, Trent Richardson, Jerry Jones, and a brief glance of Tony Romo), it’s difficult to re-create the usual brilliance of The League. But we are happy to have it back after watching re-runs and You Tube clips of our favorite scenes.

We do question the logic of airing the show on Thursday nights, opposite actual football games. I can DVR it, but Tuesday night, for example, might be better. We also wonder when and if we will see Rafi, and if Sarah Silverman and Jeff Goldblum will reprise their hysterical roles at all this season.

I give the episode a rating of 3 Shivas (out of 5).

About the author: Thomas J. McFeeley

Thomas J. McFeeley is a former award-winning journalist and a current Jets fan. He is a Jets fan because his dad was a (typically dispassionate) Giants fan. He is a fantasy football junkie because he is a Jets fan and wanted to experience meaningful games in October.