After first seeing ads for Ted Lasso I just wasn't that interested. A show starring Jason Sudeikis, about soccer in England, and on Apple TV+? To me that's a trifecta all working against it. Boy was I wrong.
A comedy that's so much more, the show revolves around a former American college football coach taking a job in England as the manager for a Premier League team. Sudeikis plays said coach and title character Ted Lasso. If you know nothing about soccer, the EPL is largely considered the most prestigious league in the world stemming in part from its massive TV contract and legions of viewers. It gets many of the best players from anywhere and everywhere. As the top league in England it's not only a huge deal across the pond, it really has fans all over the globe including here in America.
An important piece to know is their system of relegation and promotion, something quite literally foreign to American sports fans. Every season the bottom performing Premier League teams, out of 20, are sent down a tier within interconnected leagues. For at least the next season they will not be competing against the same top level competition. This is relegation. The top teams in the league immediately below get promoted to replace them. I can't really imagine an MLB team being forced to play at AAA following a bad season, but that's the way it is over there. And for the pro clubs in England, many representing smaller communities, it's a huge and heartbreaking ordeal for the players and fans to get relegated. Those are the stakes.
Ted doesn't know it at the onset but he wasn't chosen because of his recent championship. The new owner of the club, the fictional AFC Richmond, hired him because she wanted the team to fail. It's all about getting vengeance on her ex-husband and former owner of the club for a lifetime of infidelity and other myriad slights. The ex cares deeply about the team. She does not and simply wants to hurt him. In this way the plot is a little like Major League. Unlike the owner in that movie, however, she proves to be a sympathetic and complicated character instead of a nearly cartoon villain. Also unlike Major League are the way the players and coaches press on in the face of adversity.
Ted unsurprisingly is in way over his head. He even needs help remembering the little things like how to cross the street, a typical problem for Americans in Britain. More importantly, knowing nothing about the sport he can't, at least initially, comprehend the import of his job to the people around him. He's certainly not much of tactician, leaving his assistant coach 'Beard' to pore over the x's and o's. Ted himself focuses on what he sees as the big picture, helping his players improve on the field and be better teammates all while letting the chips fall where they may. He does this through high energy, genuine positivity, honesty, a willingness to listen to ideas, and a master class in motivation. Is this enough? That's the adventure the show takes you on.
It really is a perfect role for Jason Sudeikis. I primarily know him from low-brow stuff like Horrible Bosses and We're the Millers, and he's also an SNL alum. His acting range seemed pretty limited but he was always good at goofy and happy-go-lucky. It was the crassness in those other roles that made me dislike him (particularly Horrible Bosses with all the sex and disgusting toothbrush usage). Ted Lasso instead allows Sudeikis to utilize his strengths, like some real American folksiness and a bit of physical comedy, all while playing a character that has a wholly good heart and as a result, an utterly charming personality. It's the character of Ted that this show is all about.
In everything he faces it shows the writers clearly understand sports and coaching. The problem each episode builds around are all very real situations any sports fan will be familiar with, and they're not things unique to soccer. An organization that undercuts the team, intentionally or not. A superbly talented player that only cares about individual success. A whole team with an irrational superstition. An older legend reckoning with the end of his time. Ted tackles all this and more as part of building a culture and getting the best out of his team. He'll try his darnedest to win over, entirely through his good nature, anyone who wants to hate him. And eventually he has to grapple with the reality that professional sports are a whole different animal than his last job. I loved it.
The relentlessly positive Ted Lasso will win you over too if you let him, though it should be noted the show has a mature rating. So much of culture today is negative, and I'm not just talking about politics and the news. When something this uplifting comes along it needs to be recognized and shared. Up to this point there's only been one season with ten ~30 minute episodes. Each will leave you full of emotion, whether it's an ear-to-ear grin or a pang deep down in your heart. We were surprised to learn we had Apple TV+ (free with iPhones?) and have been glad to utilize it. What's even better is season 2 already releases in July! Here's the teaser.
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