A League Of Their Own: Can Amazon Series Capture Original's Charm?

Another new series, another remake. When Amazon chose to recreate the 1992 classic A League of Their Own they knew they’d have an uphill challenge. As with any classic piece of cinema, the critics will always compare it to the original piece of work. If they stick too close to the original and it’s a sleeper. If they change too much it won’t capture the magic of the original and audiences might not get on board. While the remake has a certain nostalgia there are still a few boxes it doesn’t check.

Following the journey of the WWII All-American professional women’s baseball league players as they travel across a rapidly changing U.S.

Where A League of Their Own shines is separation from the movie. The plot is the same and it shares similar concepts, but the characters aren’t the same. Where most reboots alienate audiences is trying to recreate the appeal of classic characters. From there you’re always going to compare performances, plots, and intricacies. More often than not that’s a recipe for disaster.

Luckily new actors are taking on new characters and it distances itself from too many comparisons. Where the show lacks substance compared to the movie is the humor. A League of Their Own is billed as a comedy but the series doesn’t have the humor in its first season that doesn’t have the comedy chops that the original had. If you’re coming to the new series in search of the charm that the movie had, it’s just not there. While there are plenty of small-screen comedic actors, the focus seems more on building a dramatic story over humor.

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Hopefully, over time, they steer a bit more into comedy. In any first season, it’s hard to spread your wings as you’re trying to establish the characters and story. A familiar cast should keep audiences engaged. Unfortunately, A League of Their Own is one of those shows that distances itself too far from the original with tone. With a cast of Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation), Abbi Jacobson (Broad City), and D’arcy Carden (The Good Place) it’s hard to believe they can’t find the laugh-out-loud moments.

But maybe it’s by design. Too much humor and it will take away from the story they’re trying to build. It’s easy to throw moments like Tom Hanks throwing a mitt at one of the girls’ kids into a 128-minute movie, but a series has to take its time to develop potentially multi-seasonal story arcs. Right now, the writers and the show are focused on characters and developing them at a pace that keeps the plot moving. Once they establish major plot points, hopefully, they expand character roles that strengthen character traits. Once they do, there’s plenty of opportunity for a well-timed “There’s no crying in baseball!” moment.

Pace is key when it comes to developing a tv series. If they focus too much on the humor and not enough on plot, the show will miss it’s mark. If they focus too much on plot and not on humor, it risks dragging and alienating audiences. Right now, Amazon’s A League Of Their Own has a ton of potential, but if you’re coming to the streamer hoping to find the charm of the 1992 movie, this one isn’t for you, yet.