Jeff Schaffer and Jackie Marcus Schaffer are accomplished movie/television producers. For heaven-sake these two were instrumental in the classic movie Eurotrip. Jeff was also an executive producer on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Not too shabby, and I didn’t even mention the associate producer credit for Brüno.
Jeff and Jackie were nice enough to take time out to talk with me today just prior to the premiere of the fourth episode of their new series The League. As I explained in an earlier post, The League is a new FX comedy, set against the backdrop of a fantasy football league.
———————————-
OWS: Prior to the show, what were your previous experiences with the shenanigans that often surround a fantasy league? Maybe a favorite story?
Jackie: We were on a Christmas vacation in the Alps, having dinner in an amazing romantic restaurant. But Sunday dinner in France is game time back in the states. And Jeff was in the Superbowl in two leagues. Jeff kept pretending the food was “making him sick” and running to the bathroom.
Jeff: But I wasn’t running to the bathroom, I was running outside in the snow to call (at great expense pre-skype) back to the states to see how I was doing. I got caught, but the story has a happy ending. Jackie came up with the idea for the show and I won the title in both leagues.
OWS: I guess that is a pretty damn good ending. Are you currently in a fantasy football league? How is that going?
We’re in one with the cast and it’s scary sometimes how much art imitates life. Jon La Joie (Taco) is doing pretty well despite the fact he drafted on auto-draft, has made NO trades, and frequently starts players who are on their bye week because he doesn’t give a shit enough to change his lineup. Paul Scheer (Andre) drafted 3 defenses in a row and got stuck on auto draft by accident – but he’s crawled out of that hole. He’s obsessed now and is online all the time doing research. He even picked up a player on his wedding night back in October. No joke. We should send his new wife add/ drop notification.
OWS: Terry Bradshaw was in the last episode. Was he receptive to being a part of this new show?
Very much so. He had a blast and we’d love to have him back. He also got a kick out of reporting the gamebreaking news and giving Kirk Menefee a run for his money.
OWS: You have another athlete guest tonight in Antonio Gates. Did you meet with him and how was it working with Antonio?
We thought it’d be funny to see what happens when your average fantasy football guy actually runs into the NFL player he wants to strangle because he destroyed your team. And Gates was perfect because he had just had that lights out game against Pittsburgh and he was on his bye week. Antonio Gates could not have been nicer. And by the way, great comic timing. We were shooting the scene in a hot tub at an actual working spa while it was open. Acting while sitting in 115 degree water for an hour is not as easy as it looks. And to answer your next question, yes – we did try to get insider info about LT’s ankle while he was here. And no, he wouldn’t dish.
OWS: I can’t wait to see Gates on the show tonight—sounds hilarious. Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. Anything you would like to add about the show…
We love doing this show because it combines our two greatest passions – football and offending everybody.
———————————-
Again, I want to thank Jeff and Jackie for taking time to speak with us. I expect OWS to be written into next season. But seriously, everyone be sure to tune in tonight at 10:30 on FX.
[...] Also a congrats to Deadspin for getting an interview with Nick Kroll after we did one with the creators. [...]