A League Of Their Own (Amazon series)

[Chino]

Anyone give this a watch yet? The original film is probably in my top 10 of all time, and it's easily my favorite baseball movie. 

[gmillerdrake]

Debating it. I LOVED the movie.....just don't know if I'm all that interested in exploring the subject matter any further than that though.

[lonestar]

I did. It's good, but a very, very different story from the movie. Much more about the characters than about the game, and very centered on the main lesbian characters. I read an interview with one of the surviving players that like 40% of the league was gay(no real surprise tbh), this tells their story from their culture.

[Adami]

Love the movie so much.


Saw the first episode and didn’t love it.

Yes, they’re trying really hard to throw in as much modern social commentary as possible, but I just didn’t find it well written or well acted with the exception of the black characters friend. The rest were pretty meh. But I know Nick Offerman plays the Tom Hanks equivalent so I might have to try episode two at least.

[Chino]

I did. It's good, but a very, very different story from the movie. Much more about the characters than about the game, and very centered on the main lesbian characters. I read an interview with one of the surviving players that like 40% of the league was gay(no real surprise tbh), this tells their story from their culture.

I finished it up last night too. I didn't hate the angle they took, but it felt sloppy. I think the message was more important to the writers than the writing, and I think it could definitely be felt. I really didn't get Nick Offerman as the coach. His character was all over the place, almost as if he came to work every day and they changed who/what his character was supposed to me.   

I was pretty bummed to find out just how little the show had to do with the game of baseball. The girls weren't even playing on screen. They'd just make motions and the ball was CGI'd in. It looked so lame.

I'll watch season 2 when it comes out, but I think a lot was left on the table.

[gmillerdrake]

I did. It's good, but a very, very different story from the movie. Much more about the characters than about the game, and very centered on the main lesbian characters. I read an interview with one of the surviving players that like 40% of the league was gay(no real surprise tbh), this tells their story from their culture.

This is what I've heard and.....this will probably come off wrong but it's not intended that way......that's not a story I'm particularly interested in. Not that I'm not sympathetic to their culture or the challenges they've faced....particularly in the past and that era....but, with the abundance of content available out there to stream and other shows I'm looking to dig into....this one is really far down the list, actually...not even on it.

[Harmony]

I'm nearly finished with the season.  It started slow and grew for me.  I think it was hard initially to not compare it to the film (which I have seen about 200 times and still love).  I heard an interview with one of the original players on NPR recently.  She was on set during filming and acted like a historian.  I wish I could post the interview but I cannot find it.  At any rate she said the series was much more true than the movie was.  Apparently the studio refused to let Penny Marshall tell the real story - the lesbianism and racism, so the movie barely brushed past these issues that were integral to the league at the time.  Without that ability, the movie had more comedic moments than it did dramatic ones.

I think the world can hold 2 differing versions of the story.  And it is not lost on me that the more factual version will garner more criticism than the fantasy version.  Sometimes our past is difficult to look at and it is just easier to laugh and be entertained.

[gmillerdrake]

Sometimes our past is difficult to look at and it is just easier to laugh and be entertained.

In this particular case.....maybe it'd just have been better to do a one hour special on it rather than try to make an entire series? Judging from the comments of those who've seen the series.....it simply wasn't done very well. Maybe there wasn't a compelling story to tell? Just because there is strife and hardship doesn't mean it's going to translate into a good story.

[Harmony]

Sometimes our past is difficult to look at and it is just easier to laugh and be entertained.

In this particular case.....maybe it'd just have been better to do a one hour special on it rather than try to make an entire series? Judging from the comments of those who've seen the series.....it simply wasn't done very well. Maybe there wasn't a compelling story to tell? Just because there is strife and hardship doesn't mean it's going to translate into a good story.

I've seen comments go both ways.  Like I said, I think the world can hold 2 versions.

[Chino]

I think it would have been a fine story, there was just too much going on. It was too fragmented and way too much to try and cover in just 8 episodes. I think an 8 episode series dedicated to only Maxine and her friends/family would have been easier to manage, and way more interesting.   

 

[lonestar]

I think it would have been a fine story, there was just too much going on. It was too fragmented and way too much to try and cover in just 8 episodes. I think an 8 episode series dedicated to only Maxine and her friends/family would have been easier to manage, and way more interesting.   

 

Agreed, I think that was the most intriguing part of the series.

Totally agree with the sloppy aspect. The humor was so heavy handed and forced it usually fell flat for me. I was much more into the serious aspects.

[pg1067]

Haven't read everything in the thread yet.  I like(d) the movie a lot.  It goes into fairly heavy rotation on the MLB Network during the offseason, so I usually see a decent chunk or all of it once a year.

I'll end up checking this out -- if for no other reason than D'Arcy Cardon from The Good Place is in it.  My concern (which is borne out by one of the comments I saw here) is that they'll add a bunch of "inclusive"/woke storylines.  I'll reserve judgment.

[ZirconBlue]

Haven't read everything in the thread yet.  I like(d) the movie a lot.  It goes into fairly heavy rotation on the MLB Network during the offseason, so I usually see a decent chunk or all of it once a year.

I'll end up checking this out -- if for no other reason than D'Arcy Cardon from The Good Place is in it.  My concern (which is borne out by one of the comments I saw here) is that they'll add a bunch of "inclusive"/woke storylines.  I'll reserve judgment.

Sounds more like they're adding reality to it.