Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso is an American sports comedy-drama streaming television series developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly, based on a character of the same name that Sudeikis first portrayed in a series of promos for NBC Sports' coverage of the Premier League. Lasso tries to win over the skeptical English market with his folksy, optimistic demeanor while dealing with his inexperience in the sport. The first season of 10 episodes premiered on Apple TV+ on August 14, 2020, with three episodes, followed by weekly installments. In October 2020, the series was renewed for a third season. The series has received critical acclaim, with particular praise for its performances, writing, and uplifting tone and themes. Among other accolades, its first season was nominated for 20 Primetime Emmy Awards, becoming the most nominated freshman comedy in Emmy Award history, with Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, and Brett Goldstein winning for their performances, and the series winning the 2021 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Sudeikis originally portrayed the titular character in 2013 as part of a series of television commercials for NBC Sports promoting their coverage of the Premier League, in which Lasso is depicted as the new head coach of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Television producer and Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence was brought in to work on a television series based around the character in 2017. Television, where Lawrence's production company Doozer is based, and which controls linear distribution rights to the series, and NBC subsidiary Universal Television, which is a "passive partner". On August 19, 2020, Apple TV+ renewed the series for a 10-episode second season. On an episode of the Scrubs rewatch podcast Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach + Donald, Lawrence indicated that Ted Lasso will likely be a "three-season show" due to the limited availability of Sudeikis beyond the third season. Lawrence went on to say that the story has a planned resolution within those three seasons. In October 2021, Apple TV+ reached a licensing deal with the Premier League worth as much as £500,000 for the series to feature the league's logos, kits, and the trophy starting from the third season. Actors in the series Brett Goldstein and Brendan Hunt also joined the writing team along with Sudeikis as the second and third members of the main cast to do so. While Hunt and Sudeikis were part of both the cast and writing team from the start, Goldstein was initially a writer and story editor.