Honestly, this show is really not as bad as some of these reviews would have you believe. Coming from the guys who wrote The Inbetweeners, you should have some idea of what to expect and there are some clear similarities. It's this very reason that makes this show difficult to judge on its own merits.
Starting off, I would say that If your a fan off The Inbetweeners, it doesn't mean you'll definitely like The First Team. However, most of what the the writers did well with Inbetweeners crosses over nicely here and it's a show that is definitely not without it's own charm. There are a few false notes here and there but I expect this is show just finding its rhythm.
OK, so there are some issues. One of which is that the characters are a lot less relatable. Apart from the fact the not everyone likes football it's also set in a world most of us know nothing about. The Inbetweeners has tons of relatability as most of us do know what it's like trying to get by at school and not quite knowing where to fit in socially. Since a big part of comedy is about how well one relates to something, this is mostly why the humour falls a tad flat sometimes. These characters are also (to different extents) already successful so we're not rooting for them the same as the Inbetweeners boys or sympathising nearly as much. Playing professional football in any capacity is successful compared to most people so the underdog thing doesn't really work here. Very hard to feel sorry for someone being paid 25k per week.
One thing I really like is that the writers didn't go with a narration v/o this time. This show really doesn't need it so they made the right call, in my opinion. Formula wise, it operates on a very similar level to The Inbetweeners and it moves along at a nice pace and doesn't drag or get boring.
The Mattie character is quite similar to Will in the sense that he is kind of a fish-out-of-water with all this madness going on around him where he's the only appearing sane. The way he responds to people when they say something stupid, for example, is exactly like Will. He is, however, more likeable, in my view, and Jake Short does a great job playing him.
This show definitely deserves a second season. It will be interesting to see where it goes. Don't believe the haters. It's not a classic by any means but if you like football and a bit of gross out humour then it's definitely a fun watch.
Starting off, I would say that If your a fan off The Inbetweeners, it doesn't mean you'll definitely like The First Team. However, most of what the the writers did well with Inbetweeners crosses over nicely here and it's a show that is definitely not without it's own charm. There are a few false notes here and there but I expect this is show just finding its rhythm.
OK, so there are some issues. One of which is that the characters are a lot less relatable. Apart from the fact the not everyone likes football it's also set in a world most of us know nothing about. The Inbetweeners has tons of relatability as most of us do know what it's like trying to get by at school and not quite knowing where to fit in socially. Since a big part of comedy is about how well one relates to something, this is mostly why the humour falls a tad flat sometimes. These characters are also (to different extents) already successful so we're not rooting for them the same as the Inbetweeners boys or sympathising nearly as much. Playing professional football in any capacity is successful compared to most people so the underdog thing doesn't really work here. Very hard to feel sorry for someone being paid 25k per week.
One thing I really like is that the writers didn't go with a narration v/o this time. This show really doesn't need it so they made the right call, in my opinion. Formula wise, it operates on a very similar level to The Inbetweeners and it moves along at a nice pace and doesn't drag or get boring.
The Mattie character is quite similar to Will in the sense that he is kind of a fish-out-of-water with all this madness going on around him where he's the only appearing sane. The way he responds to people when they say something stupid, for example, is exactly like Will. He is, however, more likeable, in my view, and Jake Short does a great job playing him.
This show definitely deserves a second season. It will be interesting to see where it goes. Don't believe the haters. It's not a classic by any means but if you like football and a bit of gross out humour then it's definitely a fun watch.