Ted Lasso

• 1. Introduction

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  Ted Lasso is a television comedy-drama about an American college football coach from Kansas City, Missouri, who is asked to run an English soccer team. He has never coached the sport. Many around the club doubt him, and the person who hired him has a private hope that he will fail. The series was developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly. Its hero began life far from any writers' room. This documentary asks how a character from a handful of broadcast promotions grew into a full series with its own club, staff and rivals. It asks why an owner would want her own team to lose. It also asks what happens to a show built on kindness when critics, and its own makers, start debating how it should end.

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• 2. From Commercial to Series

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  In 2013, Jason Sudeikis first played Ted Lasso in a run of television commercials for NBC Sports. The network was promoting its coverage of England's Premier League. In those spots, Lasso was the new head coach of Tottenham Hotspur. That early version was broader and, in Sudeikis's own word, "belligerent".

  Around 2015, Sudeikis's then-girlfriend Olivia Wilde suggested he revisit the character, perhaps in a story where Lasso's career took an unexpected turn. Sudeikis chose to make him gentler. He told The Guardian in May 2023 that the mood of the time troubled him. People had stopped listening to one another, and the world felt split into two camps. He had also become a father, with his son Otis born in 2014, and he did not want to add to the noise.

  Bill Lawrence, the television producer who created Scrubs, was brought in during 2017 to build a series around the character. Apple TV+ commissioned it in October 2019, with Sudeikis returning to the role. Ownership is shared. Warner Bros. Television, home to Lawrence's company Doozer, co-owns the show and controls its linear distribution rights. Universal Television, a subsidiary of NBC, is described as a passive partner.

  Terry Smith, an American football head coach, became the first American to manage a professional English soccer club, and some sources see him in Ted Lasso. AppleMagazine.com, which is not affiliated with Apple Inc., wrote that the series drew on his time at Chester City, where he took over and then installed himself as first-team coach.

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• 3. The Richmond Roster

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  Rebecca Welton, played by Hannah Waddingham, owns A.F.C. Richmond because a divorce settlement handed it to her. Her ex-husband Rupert, played by Anthony Head, loved the club more than anything. Taking it from him hurt, and watching it collapse would hurt him more. Rupert is vindictive and unfaithful, and he later becomes the owner of West Ham United. Instead of collapsing, the club becomes the place where Rebecca grows into a mentor and friend for Keeley Jones, played by Juno Temple. Keeley starts as a model, becomes the club's manager of marketing and public relations, and later starts her own firm.

  Coach Willis Beard, played by Brendan Hunt, is Ted's grounded and laconic longtime assistant and friend, and he comes from Peoria, Illinois. In London, he meets a girlfriend over a game of chess. Leslie Higgins, played by Jeremy Swift, is the timid but quirky Director of Football Operations. He has five sons.

  Roy Kent, played by Brett Goldstein, is a veteran box-to-box midfielder who becomes captain, then an assistant coach, then head coach. The character is primarily based on Roy Keane, the hot-headed Irish former footballer. Jamie Tartt, played by Phil Dunster, is a talented but egotistical young striker who appears in the first three seasons.

  Nathan Shelley, played by Nick Mohammed, starts as the club's kit man and rises to assistant coach, becoming publicly known as "The Wonder Kid". He later takes the head coach job at West Ham United, quits mid-season, and returns to Richmond as an assistant kit man and coach.

  Smaller touches reward careful viewers. The French Canadian goalkeeper Thierry Zoreaux renames himself "Van Damme" in season three, after Jean-Claude Van Damme. Reserve left back Gareth Canterbury, from Slough, borrows his name and hometown from characters Gareth Keenan and Tim Canterbury in the British version of The Office. Right back Arlo Dixon is named after Arlo White and Lee Dixon.

  In season three, the striker Zava arrives, based on the Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimović. Maximilian Osinski, who plays him, calls the character a "mix between Ibrahimović and French forward Eric Cantona."

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• 4. Casting and the Writers' Room

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  Nick Mohammed first auditioned for Leslie Higgins, the role that ended up with Jeremy Swift. Theo Park, the series's casting director, pushed for Phil Dunster to play Jamie Tartt. The character had originally been written as Latin American, and Cristo Fernández was to portray him. Fernández instead plays Dani Rojas, the enthusiastic young forward from Mexico.

  Sam Obisanya was first imagined as being of Ghanaian heritage. The writers changed that after Toheeb Jimoh was cast, and Sam became a young Nigerian right back. In March 2021, Sarah Niles was cast as the sports psychologist Dr. Sharon Fieldstone. Park said the role demanded a performer with a real sense of security who seemed almost completely unflappable.

  Brett Goldstein and Brendan Hunt joined Sudeikis in the writing team, the second and third main cast members to do so. Hunt and Sudeikis were writers and performers from the start. Goldstein was first hired as a writer and story editor. A video audition of some Roy Kent scenes reached showrunner Bill Lawrence, and Goldstein was added to the cast.

  Two episodes, "Carol of the Bells" and "Beard After Hours", were developed when the second season grew by two episodes. They were designed to fit the season's continuity without disturbing the storylines already written. Production on that season began in January 2021.

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• 5. Real Grounds and Faces

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  Most of the pub and street scenes were shot in the actual London Borough of Richmond. The club's training field and the complex housing Rebecca's office are filmed at the SkyEX Community Stadium. That ground belongs to Hayes & Yeading United, a semi-professional club in England's seventh level of competition. Nelson Road, Richmond's home stadium, is really Selhurst Park, the home of Crystal Palace.

  In season one, exterior shots of Fulham's Craven Cottage stood in for Everton's Goodison Park when Richmond travelled for an away match. In season two, Wembley Stadium played the setting for the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City. Season three went further afield. The production filmed in Amsterdam, and the Johan Cruyff Arena of AFC Ajax appears at the start of the episode "Sunflowers". Old Trafford, Turf Moor, the Emirates Stadium and Manchester City's home ground were also used.

  Filming for the third season began on the 7th of March 2022. The London Stadium doubled as West Ham United's home once Nate became the club's head coach. For the episode "4-5-1", the crew used Chelsea's Stamford Bridge, and a controversy followed. Supporters had paid for a memorial banner for the late Chelsea player Ray Wilkins reading "They don't make them like Ray anymore". The show's editors changed it to read "Roy", to suit Roy Kent returning to his old club. Owner Todd Boehly apologised to fans and to the Wilkins family, saying the deal with Apple was agreed before he bought the club.

  The series also borrows genuine television. Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday appears with its real presenters, sets and theme music, and Jeff Stelling, Chris Kamara, Paul Merson and Clinton Morrison appear as themselves. ITV's This Morning appears too, with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield interviewing Jamie about his turn on the reality dating show Lust Conquers All, hosted by Fleur East. Scott Van Pelt of SportsCenter delivers the news of Ted's hiring. Thierry Henry and Gary Lineker play pundits, referee Mike Dean officiates several games, and Pep Guardiola appears as the Manchester City manager. Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles are heard, but not seen, as Canadian commentators Lanny and Bruce in the episode "International Break".

  For the second season, assistant director Sophie Worger hired former professional Kasali Casal to manage the football choreography. Casal recruited former players to appear as Richmond's opponents, including Lee Hendrie, Jay Bothroyd, Jermaine Pennant and George Elokobi.

  In October 2021, Apple TV+ reached a licensing deal with the Premier League worth as much as £500,000, around $682,000. It allowed the show to display the league's logos, kits and trophy from season three onward. On the 6th of March 2022, a day before cameras rolled, Nike posted a picture of its Swoosh on an A.F.C. Richmond kit.

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• 6. Critics Divided

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  Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season a 92% approval rating from 74 reviews, with an average of 8.2 out of 10, while Metacritic scored it 71 out of 100 from 21 reviews. The early notices were mixed. Kristen Baldwin of Entertainment Weekly gave an A-, calling the show undeniably winning even though nothing about its story beats was groundbreaking. Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone awarded three out of five and found it likable but more a hypothetical comedy than an actual one. He felt that for long stretches Juno Temple was the only actor trying to sell the jokes.

  Benjamin Lee of The Guardian gave two out of five, calling it "a show that isn't unwatchably bad but isn't really much of anything". He also suggested that some of its humor leaned on uneasy stereotypes.

  Opinion shifted as the season went on. After the eighth episode, Caroline Framke of Variety published a piece headlined "For Your Reconsideration: Ted Lasso". She wrote that the show wore down her skepticism the way the title character wears down everyone he meets. Keri Lumm of Paste called Ted "the wholesome American hero we need" after the penultimate episode. After the finale, Lea Palmieri of Decider praised it as both a distraction and a reminder that kindness exists, even deep in the heart of America.

  The second season earned a 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 126 reviews, averaging 8.6 out of 10, and a Metacritic score of 85 from 35 reviews.

  The third season landed at 81% from 207 reviews, averaging 7.45 out of 10, with a Metacritic score of 73 from 31 reviews. Reception grew more mixed as the season unfolded. A joint review in Vulture used the words "bumbling", "tedious" and "discombobulated" compared with the first two seasons. David Sims of The Atlantic disliked the pivot from sitcom to what he called prestige drama, and he called the hourlong episodes an excess of streaming television. Linda Holmes of NPR said the show should refocus on relationships rather than giving every character a separate storyline.

  Jack King of GQ took the opposite view and thought the third season had markedly improved. He still found Ted himself, whom he called "saccharine", to be the least interesting part of the series.

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• 7. Awards and Audience

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  Twenty nominations at the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards made the first season the most nominated freshman comedy in Emmy history at that time. It won seven awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series and acting awards for Jason Sudeikis, Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham. Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, Jeremy Swift and Juno Temple were also nominated. Sudeikis additionally won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance, covering 2020 and 2021.

  At the 37th TCA Awards, the show won Outstanding New Program, Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and Program of the Year. The Writers Guild of America, at its 73rd ceremony, named it best comedy series and best new series.

  The second season drew 20 nominations at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards and won four. They included Outstanding Comedy Series, acting awards for Sudeikis and Goldstein, and a directing award for MJ Delaney. Nominees included Toheeb Jimoh, Nick Mohammed, Juno Temple, Hannah Waddingham, Sarah Niles, James Lance, Sam Richardson and Harriet Walter.

  The third season earned 21 nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, including nods for the finale's writing and directing. At the Creative Arts ceremony of that year, Sam Richardson won for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

  The audience numbers were equally striking. Ted Lasso became the most watched series on Apple TV+, and its first-season premiere was the service's most watched premiere. Between the 1st of November 2019 and the 18th of July 2021, it ranked 89th among series measured across streaming platforms. The analytics firm TVision found that panel members watched it 8.4 times as much as the average Apple TV+ original it measured.

  Over the second-season premiere weekend, Apple TV+ grew its number of new viewers by 50% week over week. Apple also said the season's viewership was six times that of season one. In 2021, the second-season finale ranked ninth among all subscription streaming programs and fifth among originals, with 507 million minutes viewed.

  After the third season debuted, US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden invited the cast to the White House to promote mental health and well-being. Those themes had run through the storylines of seasons two and three.

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• 8. After Season Three

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  Ten episodes made up the first season, which premiered on Apple TV+ on the 14th of August 2020. Three episodes arrived at once, and the remaining seven followed weekly. The series was renewed for a second season on the 19th of August 2020, and a third season was ordered on the 28th of October 2020. The second season premiered on the 23rd of July 2021, and the third arrived on the 15th of March 2023.

  Talk of an ending began early. On the podcast Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach + Donald, Bill Lawrence said the show would likely run three seasons, because of Sudeikis's limited availability and a story planned to resolve within that span. In June 2022, Brett Goldstein said, "We are writing it like that." In March 2023, Sudeikis called the third season the end of the story they wanted to tell, while leaving room for spin-offs. In August 2023, director Declan Lowney called it "the end for now" and said any return would be two or three years off, if it happened at all.

  In June 2024, Warner Bros. Television CEO Channing Dungey discussed the possibility of a fourth season. In August 2024, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein and Jeremy Swift signed contracts for one. The series was officially greenlit in March 2025, with Juno Temple and Brendan Hunt later confirmed to return. Sudeikis said the scripts were being written and that "Ted's coaching a women's team."

  Production began in July 2025, with locations scouted in Blue Springs, Missouri and around the Kansas City area. Filming started on the 21st of July, and a photo showed the main cast seated at Gates, a Kansas City barbecue restaurant. Scenes were shot at CPKC Stadium during a Kansas City Current match, at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and at Country Club Plaza. Filming then returned to London later that summer. New cast members include Tanya Reynolds, Jude Mack, Faye Marsay, Rex Hayes, Aisling Sharkey and Abbie Hern. Grant Feely takes over the role of Ted's son Henry from Gus Turner. In April 2026, the premiere date was announced as the 5th of August 2026.

  The world around the show kept growing. Official merchandise, including football jerseys, went on sale in June 2021, and in 2023 Nike released a full range of A.F.C. Richmond jerseys, hoodies, tracksuits and practice shirts. In December 2021, Apple TV+ released a four-minute claymation special, Ted Lasso: The Missing Christmas Mustache. In September 2022, it was announced that A.F.C. Richmond and Nelson Road would appear in the video game FIFA 23, where players could even pick Ted to manage any team.

  In the show, the reporter Trent Crimm writes a book about the club, ultimately titled The Richmond Way. On the 30th of July 2024, a Blu-ray and DVD box set of seasons one to three was released under the same name.

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