Aug 25, 2024

Smells Like Potential

'Ted Lasso' was always coming back, but a few remains questions...

EXCLUSIVE: Ted Lasso fans, this is not a drill. In a major step toward the long-awaited fourth season of Apple TV+’s hugely popular soccer comedy, the series’ studio Warner Bros. Television has picked up the options on the three original cast members who had been contracted under the aegis of the UK acting union Equity, sources tell Deadline. They are Hannah Waddingham, who plays AFC Richmond owner Rebecca Walton, Brett Goldstein, who plays hardman Roy Kent and Jeremy Swift, who plays Director of Football Operations Leslie Higgins.

After securing the trio, the studio is expected to start reaching out to Ted Lasso cast members with SAG-AFTRA contracts whose options had expired, so they will need to make new deals, we hear. In addition to co-creators/executive producers Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) and Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard), the list is believed to include Juno Temple (Keeley Jones). It is unclear creatively which other Ted Lasso stars may be approached about Season 4; the cast have all said repeatedly that they would be happy to reprise their roles if an opportunity arises.

That all sounds great, but as the article makes clear, it would seem to all hinge on Sudeikis, who is not yet officially on board, they're just inferring this means he will be. At the same time he created a three season arc and wrapped it up with a nice little bow – one which seemingly happens to line-up with his own personal life as a divorced dad who had to spend most of his time overseas working... Is he ready and willing to come back? Is Ted Lasso?

At the same time, it was always fairly obvious that the show would be back. Last year, after it ended, I wrote the following:

Fast forward to the summer of 2023. It’s the end of 'Ted Lasso'’s third season. And, possibly — presumably? — the end of the series. Narratively, I’m not buying it. But tonally, I am. We needed 'Ted Lasso' three years ago. With the pandemic now seemingly behind us, we don’t need him as much as we used to. Perhaps not at all. But I suspect we will again. And I suspect he’ll be back when we do.

Ending with:

But I don’t think it’s actually gone. I think 'Ted Lasso' will come back. When we need him again. Which we will. This is what I choose to *believe*.

Well, it took barely over a year... And again, as obvious as it was from the show's perspective, it was far more obvious from Apple's – to quote myself again from this past January:

Back to 'Ted Lasso', the most impressive element of it topping these charts is that it's a relatively short show with relatively few back episodes. And, as noted, it's on Apple TV+, which is the smallest of the major streaming players. Yes, the numbers were undoubtedly boosted by the fact that Lasso kept getting longer episodes as they built towards the finale – something I argued for from almost day one – but it still speaks to how greatly that show resonated with the audience. They clearly sought it out and came back to it. And as such, I imagine, Apple basically has to figure out a way to come back to it now.

Over a year after it ended, Ted Lasso remains Apple TV+'s one true, bonafide hit. Yes, other shows have been good – great, even – but in terms of ratings, there's Ted Lasso and then there's everything else when it comes to Apple TV+. So, yes, Apple needs to bring it back. Even if that means backing up the Brinks truck to Sudeikis' home. It will be cheaper than buying HBO – presumably.

At the same time, in both of those above linked pieces, I had footnotes wondering out loud if they might try to continue Ted Lasso without Ted Lasso:

It is, of course, also possible that they keep making 'Ted Lasso' the show without Ted Lasso, the character. Or at least, not as the main character anymore. This didn’t really work when Michael Scott left 'The Office', and his name wasn’t even on the tin of the show. But I suppose they could try here. Roy and Jamie and Rebecca remain compelling enough characters to continue on with. I’m less sold on Beard — who always seemed less of a character and more of a series of trying-quite-hard-to-be-clever-zingerbot-outputs — without his wingman, but maybe.

And, in the later piece:

I suspect they always planned to bring it back, just perhaps without Sudeikis' Lasso himself. Sort of like when 'The Office' continued on without Steve Carell's Michael Scott. But I also suspect Apple may figure out a way to bring Sudeikis back now given these numbers. After all, 'The Office' wasn't called 'Michael Scott'. The other characters are fine on 'Ted Lasso', but only one is its beating heart.

My guess would be the obvious one: that they start up Ted Lasso again without Ted Lasso, the character. All of the other characters are trying to continue on in Richmond without him. But unlike with The Office (finale aside), this will be a story arc meant to pay-off in Ted being lasso'd back by the end of the season. The smart way to do this would be to make this new season short but also film another season with Ted back-to-back, and roll it out a few months later.

To mix sports metaphors, it would be like Michael Jordan's "I'm back" – and he was, at the end of that season. But it was the following season that he truly was back in full force, as were the Bulls.

The larger issue, as noted in my post about the finale:

To be honest — and I know I’m not alone here — this past season has been a bit of a slog to watch. Naturally, I feel like the show has been getting worse, but I’m also not entirely sure it’s any different than it was three years ago. Again, I think it may be just as much that we don’t need it anymore. 'Ted Lasso' in 2020 was perfect. 'Ted Lasso' in 2023 is a bit, dare I say, cringe? The jokes fell flat. The dialogue rang a bit lazy. There was a sense they were trying to balance the earnestness with crude jokes and profanity. It all felt like it was trying to be two times too cute — and largely failing at that.

Or maybe we’re just cynical bastards again.

With enough time having passed, I think we can safely say it was both. The last season was fairly weak and we all grew too cynical as the world came back to life. That said, I actually started watching the first season again recently and... it's still really good. Much better than the third. It has a different vibe and energy that they really need to tap into again when they bring it back.

They're apparently aiming to start up production again in early 2025, which means we could possibly see it in 2026. I think three years away is more than enough time to restore the 'stache. Hopefully no new pandemics required.

One more thing: a month ago, my footnote: