Ted Lasso’s Time Has Passed. Is a Renewal Necessary?

The surprising news was revealed in late August: Ted Lasso is likely returning for a fourth season.

We were shocked to learn contracts for three key actors had been picked up for a new season. Apple, however, has not yet made an official announcement. 

The show put Apple TV+ on the map and even got some Americans to care about soccer for the first time. It finished its third season in May of 2023 with a final episode that looked and felt like a series finale. 

Apple did not advertise or announce it as a final season or final episode. However, trade industry reporting stated that star Jason Sudeikis wanted to wrap up the series in three years. 

The series ended with most of the characters having happy endings that gave them closure. Ted Lasso (Sudeikis) quit as coach of AFC Richmond to return to the United States, for a reunion with his son.

Even the co-creator, Bill Lawrence, is the creator of Apple’s currently airing series Bad Monkey. This indicates that the creative team has moved on, too. 

But now, it appears Ted Lasso will be back. No timetable has been revealed about when production might begin or when the show might return. 

I don’t mind that the show wrapped up the way it did or was somewhat uneven in quality, especially in its third season. The reported exclusion of Jamie Tartt due to actor Phil Dunster’s unavailability isn’t quite a dealbreaker either. 

My main beef with Ted Lasso’s return is that the show was associated with a very particular time, and that time has passed. If it returns, it will arrive in a very different world.

The History of Ted

The Ted Lasso character first appeared in a series of NBC commercials in 2013, when that network first obtained the English Premiere League’s rights.

Seven years later, the concept of a folksy Midwestern football coach taking over an English soccer club was adapted into a TV show. 

The exact timing of Ted Lasso’s debut is essential to understanding its appeal: The show landed on Apple TV+ in August of 2020 when the pandemic was still raging, most people had been stuck at home for months, and there was a great need for positivity. 

And positivity is what Ted Lasso — the show and the character — provided.

Ted Lasso was nice and supportive and modeled an upbeat version of masculinity at a time when most people watching could have used a little bit of positive reinforcement. 

There was even a term for it, “Nicecore,” which referred to shows and movies centered on people being good to each other. 

Things had improved, COVID-wise, when the second season landed in the summer of 2021, but we were not exactly out of the woods regarding the pandemic. 

After reports of turmoil and reshoots, it took until the summer of 2023 for Ted Lasso to return for a third season.

And even then, it felt a bit like a show out of time, partly due to some baffling creative choices, especially the show’s decision to keep critical moments off-screen. 

Sure, the show managed to stick the ending, even if we’ve now learned it wasn’t the ending after all. 

Too Much Nicecore

However, a problem emerged, even going back to the second season. It was that the Ted Lasso writers seemed to have a built-in bias in favor of the characters growing, everyone improving, and everyone getting along.

Parks and Recreation had a similar problem towards the end of its run. The writers loved all the characters so much that there was rarely any lasting conflict. 

In a way, it goes back to the beginning. The original premise of Ted Lasso was similar to that of the movie Major League — it appeared that Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) had hired Ted to tank the team and screw over her hated ex-husband.

Still, the show decided early on that they liked Rebecca and she wouldn’t be a villain. Roy Kent had an edge but slowly grew and became friendlier. So did Jamie Tartt.

Zava, the arrogant superstar player who arrived at Richmond in the third season, suddenly disappeared, never to return. 

Even Nate (Nick Mohammed), who emerged towards the end of the second season as the series’ main villain and antagonist, got a way-too-quick and way-too-easy redemption. 

A Long Wait

If Ted Lasso does indeed get to a fourth season, it will have to be written and produced, and that takes time; there’s a chance we might not even see it until 2025 or even 2026. 

We don’t know what American culture and attitudes will look like then, but we’re already pretty far removed from the cultural moment that Ted Lasso arrived in when it debuted in 2020.

And there’s a good chance we’ll be even further removed by the time the show returns. 

Does that mean Ted Lasso can’t succeed?

It certainly can, and I’d love to be wrong.

But if it comes back as a nostalgia play, it will be nostalgia for the summer of 2020, which not many people are all that eager to remember. 

What do you think? Are you eager to see more of Ted Lasso? 

Share your thoughts in a comment below.