The GLOW-shaped void in my TV schedule is filled by this League.
Reboot sales can be difficult. Having said that, I urge you all to watch A League of Their Own on Prime Video. Although the new series isn’t flawless (I’ll discuss its one major flaw, storyline juggling, later), this past weekend I had the best type of contemporary streaming experience with it.
I intended to advance For All Mankind more over the weekend. However, after seeing a few encouraging tweets about A League of Their Own (and having seen the first movie), I decided to give it a shot.
Then, viewing the pilot accidentally evolved into binge-watching. I went from being irritated by A League of Their Own’s absence from the home screen to watching the entire eight-hour first season in less than a day.
So why do you need to add A League of Their Own to your own queue? Allow me to explain — and I’ll start by declaring that anyone who liked Netflix’s GLOW will likely love A League of Their Own.
It is a narrative of women coming together as a team and overcoming challenges in a male-dominated culture, and both the cast and the writing are strong. Even though GLOW was cancelled by Netflix, it may have been for the best. As a result, A League of Their Own was able to hit a couple home runs.
The best pilot ever is the first episode of A League of Their Own.
The first episode of A League of Their Own drew me over almost immediately. The series’ star and co-creator, Abbi Jacobson, who plays Carson Shaw, starts off by playing to her strengths of being flustered and awkward. Her character is absolutely ungroomed and is rushing to catch a train.
Before she can get there, she stumbles into some old acquaintances who are perplexed by her actions and start talking about how her bra was exposed behind her back. That last sentence is a clear indication that we are no longer in the year 2022, as if the period clothing weren’t already enough of an emphasis. A lot has changed since 1943.
As the war effort’s demand for men strips the major leagues empty, A League of Their Own begins to establish its roster of other women who are trying out for the teams once she arrives in the large metropolis.
Immediately, Carson meets Greta (D’Arcy Carden) and Jo (Melanie Field), two charming aspiring ballplayers who start making fun of her whenever they get the chance. Since I don’t have any close ties to the classic movie, these actors aren’t the A League of Their Own stars you might recall. I didn’t even care.
I also kept thinking, “Yeah, I’m going to have fun getting to know these individuals,” as I met each new cast member. Like the charming blonde Maybelle (Molly Ephraim) and the stern pitcher Lupe (Roberta Colindrez), they all properly bounce off of each other. Additionally, a hint that these women won’t always get along comes from the no-BS Kelly (Jess McCready) and the hypochondriac Shirley (Kate Berlant). And what happens when Esti (Priscilla Delgado) is ecstatic to learn that she isn’t the sole Spanish-speaking candidate? Like your first day of summer camp, you experience the same thrill.
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But most importantly, we get to know Max, a heat-throwing pitcher (Chanté Adams), and Clance, her best friend (Gbemisola Ikumelo). Despite how society was meant to have evolved, Max still faces obstacles when trying to join the new baseball teams that are forming since she is Black.
And that’s just one example of how A League of Their Own by Abbi Jacobson differs from the previous film. Since you find out that the Rockford Peaches have openly gay women on their team by the end of the first episode, A League of Their Own becomes even more intriguing.
A League of Their Own did really need to develop.
So let me finish this up right away. You may have heard that A League of Their Own is engaged in a conflict off the field using the cutting-edge practise of review-bombing. Several people have expressed displeasure in the reviews section of the show’s Prime Video page, as Decider(opens in new tab) explains “Another person wrote, “I really don’t care who you love, I just wanted to see women represented playing sports. The baseball takes a back seat to all the other’messages’ this show is trying to shove at you. Who is straight and who is gay has become the new focus.”
Without becoming too polemical, the latter statement includes a clear contradiction: some people only want to see the types of representation that are important to them.
But let’s face it—queer people and people of colour aren’t some invention of the modern day. That their presence and their experiences are not part of some sophisticated Ponzi scheme designed to raise more money through phoney displays of diversity. The original film achieved this with one Black lady who threw a ball past Dottie, the character played by Geena Davis. To correctly represent the history of women in sports, you must tell the history of all women and not hide the women of colour in little roles.
A League of Their Own describes the lives of LGBT women off the field in addition to the experiences of women of colour on the field. How the social mores of the day turned their life into illegal activity. And as a result, the show is enhanced. I couldn’t help but cry since the scenes at the underground homosexual club have such powerful emotional impact (and later ugly-cry).
Yes, viewing this show might introduce people to a concept they weren’t aware even existed. It’s easy to see that Max’s tale, as well as those of the closeted players, are entirely worthy because the scenes and A League of Their Own written broadly truly work.
One issue with A League of Their Own only
Even while I adore Max’s storyline, A League of Their Own occasionally feels like it jumps around too much between her story and the events involving Carson, Greta, Jo, and the other Peaches.
Max’s struggle to be taken seriously as a pitcher goes parallel to the Peaches’ drive to really win games. And at times, something about the way the show switches back and forth between them feels almost abrupt. Although it’s never irritating enough, it’s a first-season bug that needs to be fixed.
Support A League of Their Own wholeheartedly.
I was unable to put A League of Their Own down after that endearing first inning and for the next seven chapters. Prey was supposed to be on, but I postponed watching it. Additionally, I wanted to play that brand-new Ninja Turtle video game. But I couldn’t stop watching A League of Their Own.
I write this in an effort to encourage everyone to give it a shot. Abbi Jacobson and her colleagues have created a prequel that has a shot of lasting for several seasons among a sea of lifeless reboots and dubious sequels. I only hope that the audience drowns out the boo-birds in the reviews section. And thus far, it appears as though the Peaches have a chance—A League of Their Own ended The Terminal List’s 42-day stint atop the Prime Video TV charts.
