A poster at Cascade High school depicting a theme commonly seen in the show "Ted Lasso"
Strewn about T-Mobile Park in Seattle, during the last several games of this year’s Seattle Mariners’ Cinderella run toward, but ultimately not quite to, the playoffs, were slightly askew yellow signs with blue lettering spelling out the word “Believe.” In case you also have been quarantining these last 18 months from pop culture, the “Believe” signs are copies of the handmade, locker room sign that is an emblem from and for the Apple TV+ series and cultural phenomenon, Ted Lasso.
While the show began as a feel-good, fish-out-of-water tale combined with an applaud for the underdog - in this case, a loveable idiot - it quickly evolved into a more nuanced exploration of Ted Lasso’s more complex nature. In addition, the show has given almost equal time to the development of supporting characters and plot lines. That quick maturation, while keeping its comedic center, just as quickly won over both critics and audiences. Reviews from The New York Times to local weeklies have been overwhelmingly positive and, last month, the show won seven Emmys, after having been nominated for a record twenty. Lasso took home Academy of Television Arts & Sciences statuettes for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series (Jason Sudeikis), and Outstanding Supporting Actress (Hannah Waddingham) and Actor (Brett Goldstein) in a Comedy Series, among other technical awards.
Ted Lasso, a comedy, ostensibly about a soccer team, was developed by Saturday Night Live alumnus Jason Sudeikis and a cohort of his writing and acting friends. The show is gleaned from a character of the same name that Sudeikis first portrayed in a series of gag promos for NBC’s coverage of the Premier League (the top level of the English soccer system) in 2013 and 2014. The series follows Ted Lasso, a mildly successful, former Midwestern American college football coach, as he is hired to coach an English “football” (soccer) team. Lasso, unknowingly, was hired by the team’s owner (Waddingham) in a covert attempt to implode the team, as a means of seeking revenge against the former owner, her ex-husband. Lasso’s relentless optimism and folksy cheerfulness, to which the English are not only unaccustomed but, at first, also highly resistant to, gradually becomes infectious within the team and its community of supporters. That, somewhat predictable, gradual acceptance of Lasso’s bearing is welcome as he, the team, and its supporters deal with Ted’s all but complete lack of experience and understanding of the sport and, maybe even more importantly, its culture. The first season premiered August 14, 2020, on the subscription Apple TV+ and was comprised of ten episodes. The second season of twelve episodes, premiered on July 23, 2021, with its finale airing on October 8th. The show has been renewed for a third season to be released toward the fall of 2022.
The timing of the series, as television audiences were kept home by pandemic restrictions and were craving an upbeat, sanguine story, could not have been better. While the unsurprising, and a bit formulaic, jokes that play off the gulf between the cultures of American and English football hooked its audience, the deeper issues, addressed by the show with equal part sympathy and humor, kept it.
The grumpy captain and fading star of the Richmond Greyhounds, Roy Kent (Goldstein), who initially mocks Ted as a Midwestern Mary Poppins, is dealing with looming retirement and subsequent lack of purpose. The self-absorbed, current star of the squad, Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), is slowly coming to terms with his narcissism and anti-social behavior by examining the root of it - being raised by a manipulative and abusive father. The young, suave, homesick Nigerian, Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh) is torn between doing what he knows is morally right and success. Off the pitch and (mostly) out of the locker room: team owner, Rebecca Welton, is trying to keep a brave, if not steely, face in the light of her former husband’s very public affairs; Welton’s newfound friend and model turned club marketing manager, Keeley Jones (Juno Temple), is managing relationship and career changes; team psychiatrist Dr. Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles) is helping members of the team and staff manage mental health, yet neglecting her own. All the while, the layers of Ted’s life are being peeled back revealing not just a relentless optimist, but also a character who feels deeply and has struggles with his own demons. In one of the more satisfying scenes of either season, Ted quotes Walt Whitman to deliver a life lesson on kindness: “be curious, not judgmental.”
Though seemingly not yet widely seen within the CHS community, some have viewed the show. When asked for her take on it, freshman Mia Dries’s answer was not dissimilar to a large swath of the hit’s audience. Dries “appreciates,” in addition to the humor, “how the show deals with grief, loss, and mental illness. These topics are a great addition to the show and should be part of our cultural narrative and helps explain the show’s reach.”
Ninth grader Teyva Dillon who recently began watching the series with her family, “love[s] that central to the show is the positive effect of good coaching both on and off the field. In particular, I like the idea of ‘being a goldfish’, which my soccer team has embraced.” (Ted frequently tells his players to “be a goldfish.” According to Ted, goldfish only have a memory span of 10 seconds. In other words, do not dwell on your mistakes - learn from them and quickly move on.) While Dillon and Dreis appreciate the corny dad jokes that are peppered throughout each episode, as well as “the other funny parts of the show,” like Dries, Dillon “also like[s] how the serious topics are woven into the story, while still making me feel good at the end of an episode.”
Ted Lasso is an exposition of decency and life lessons which, incidentally, the female characters more often learn quicker than their male counterparts. It is well written, if not at times, a little too cleverly, and well-acted. Although Ted learns more about the game of soccer as the episodes pass, the reason to watch Ted Lasso is to inhabit a kindly, humorous covid-free 30-60 minutes where the people, on whole, are more curious than judgmental. For that, this sweet, weird, optimistic show is worth watching.
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