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The League:  A Thanksgiving Episode for the Rest of Us

Whenever I watch The League, I expect to be slightly horrified, fairly disgusted and thoroughly amused. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect form "Thanksgiving," given all of the conventional tropes of a holiday sitcom that it promised, but by the end of the episode, I was choking on my own laughter (but thankfully, no one's beloved class pet). This highly underrated comedy managed to take every clichéd part of a Thanksgiving episode, flipped it over and nailed it from behind in front of its loved ones. Here are the banalities the writers used, and how they managed to cover them in the funniest filth I have ever seen.

Unannounced Relatives Show Up, Hijinks Ensue
Ah, the house hotel -- every perverted family man's dream. While a traditional comedy would have their lead happy for a little bit of peace and quiet, The League uncovers the truth: It's bullshit. Guys want to have their homes to themselves so they can jerk off everywhere to everything. Whoever decided to cast Jeff Goldblum as Nick Kroll's father deserves all kinds of Emmys, especially for the moment in the bar where the two Ruxins look at each other, trading condescending grunts about how stupid everyone around them is. The episode even managed to sneak in an incredible Anne-Frank-versus-watching-porn-on-your-laptop comparison.

Expected Relative Shows Up, Embarrasses Character
Sarah Silverman was another amazing guest star, and I completely believe Heather as Andre's sex-obsessed sister. Rather than Heather simply being embarrassing, she was absolutely dirty and incredibly sweet ("It's our move! Let's call Mom and Dad!"), and, seriously Andrew, what did you think everyone was doing when they told you they were playing video games?

Holiday Weight-Loss Competition
Using a pedometer on your wrist when you masturbate and pretending it measured your run is so absolutely gross, especially considering there were days when Ruxin ran three miles, that I was almost bummed when he finally recruited his dad to record his actual runs. Also, in killing time before the weigh-in, we got to hear Andre's amazing new team name: The Twilight: Breaking Dawndres.

Wild Adventures with Child's Class Pet
A lot of elements made this denouement particularly funny: Taco's $2200 truffle (nice profit, there), the fact that Ruxin compared the dinner guests to "Peruvian street urchins" for eating guinea pig and that the nausea that followed led to everyone seeing into Ruxin's dad's soul... not good. R.I.P., Shakespeare.

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