A heartwarming yet hilarious show, “Ted Lasso” stars Jason Sudeikis as Ted, capturing the hearts of his audience in the comedy-drama.
Lasso’s remarkable new season has currently released four episodes streamed from the third season on Apple TV Plus. This brand new content follows the story of the first season, (premiered on August 14, 2020) which unfolds by introducing the show’s main characters, each of them brilliantly charming in their own way. Ted; the coach hired, Beard; Ted’s assistant coach, and Rebecca; the owner of AFC (Association Football Club) Richmond- the company hiring them. The show blossoms from the messy divorce between Rebecca and her ex-husband, Rupert. Through her divorce, Rebecca inherits her husband’s soccer team- the only thing Rupert truly cares about.
Taking place in a town in London, soccer is commonly referenced as “football”. Ted Lasso is an American football coach and thus has no experience in coaching soccer. Rebecca has strategically hired Ted for AFC Richmond as a way to get even with her husband in the hopes that his lack of Football experience will cause the team to do badly.
Although the show’s Football club AFC Richmond is made up, TV critics speculate the team to have been a product of inspiration from Crystal Palace: a Football club in London. The two teams share the same jersey colors, but the otherwise originality of Ted Lasso stands on its own.
This comedy-drama series is constructed by a collaboration of writers, mostly consisting of the actors themselves. Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) and Brendan Hunt (Beard) worked with writers Bill Lawrence and Joe Kelly to bring their story to life- a story that they claimed to have originally created while the two performed improv comedy together.
Ted Lasso is full of quick-witted humor and speaks in iconic riddles. The banter between Coach Lasso and Beard does not go unappreciated, and the intolerance of Ted’s humor from Rebecca is hilarious. While comedy is a contributing factor to the likeability of the show, the family dynamics of the Football team are also charming. While the players treat their new coach awfully because of their negative presumptions of him, Ted’s quick jokes and raging optimism slowly break through to each player- even the toughest, Roy Kent. Roy is an ill-tempered grouch who holds everyone at arm’s length, but even he isn’t immune to Ted’s charm. Ted persists until he’s finally broken through, earning an occasional word rather than just mumbles and grunts from Roy.
As someone who has watched all currently released seasons of Ted Lasso, I would say they are in tight competition with each other. The second season was initially more enjoyable for me because I had a better idea of the characters and how they interacted with one another, but after re-watching season one, I have a deeper appreciation for the forming of friendships that show up in the second season. Both seasons are equally great and maintain the same level of humor and wholesome writing. I will say the humor from the first season lost its luster a bit in the most recently-released episodes…Season three. This may be because I’m so used to the riddles that it’s easier for me to predict them coming, rather than being surprised by them. I was also a bit disappointed when I noticed other minor nuances in the new season that differed from the previous two. This is not to say that the changes are bad– just different. There are currently only three episodes streamed from the third season on Apple TV Plus, so I will watch to see if my opinion changes as the new story forms.
For those who are looking to watch an uplifting show, this story about an unlikely family created through the wonders of a sport highlights the importance of perseverance and insisting on optimism. It’s a consistently “feel-good” comedy that always leaves viewers with a warm heart. I can’t recommend watching Ted Lasso enough, for young adults and up.
As Ted Lasso says: “I believe in Communism. Rom-communism, that is. If Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan can go through some heartfelt struggles and still end up happy, then so can we.”
