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Ted Lassoed My Heart (And I Don't Care Who Knows It)

By: LJ Livingston

By LJ LivingstonPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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The Super Bowl is coming up. Want to know how I know? My book club is choosing a date for our next meeting, and the organizer mentioned that we can't meet on February 7th because that is the day of the Super Bowl. My first thought was, 'wait, the Super Bowl is still a thing?' closely followed by my admission that, of course, it’s still a thing. Lots of people love sports and sports games. In case I'm not making it clear, I am not one of those people.

So, when I saw the preview for Ted Lasso, my immediate thought was 'hard pass', and I moved on with my life. I only reluctantly decided to watch it after Brene Brown talked about it on her podcast. I gulped the whole first season down in one sitting… and then I rewatched it… four and a half times… and counting.

Ted Lasso is a small-town American football coach who moves to England to manage a Premier League Football Club. See how I seamlessly integrated soccer lingo like a pro? Just wait until I sneak ‘into touch’ into a sentence later. One of the many things I can be thankful for after obsessing over this gem of a show.

Developed by Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, Joe Kelly, and Brendan Hunt, Ted Lasso is based on a series of commercials on NBC Sports from 2014. In the commercials, Ted Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis) comes across as a dim-witted cartoonish cross between Ned Flanders and Mike Ditka. If I’d seen these before watching the show, it’s unlikely I would have watched it, even with Brene Brown’s recommendation. There are so many cringy moments in the commercials. Between Ted’s typical football-coach-insults, blatant avoidance of learning anything at all about the sport he’s coaching, and inability to read a room or recognize when people are making fun of him, the commercials show a one-dimensional caricature. Watching a whole show inspired by this dunce of a man could easily be considered a guilty pleasure that perhaps I should be embarrassed to admit is bar none, the best show I have ever binged.

In an interview with Seth Meyers on Late Night, Jason Sudeikis talks about how the first commercial was a huge success, so NBC asked him to do a second commercial, but they didn’t have the budget to send him back to the UK. Sudeikis recalls his thought process at the time, saying, “Well then, maybe he just loved his brief time there and fell in love with the sport. And it was that, like, childlike enthusiasm that really unlocked it for me and made it really fun to play. And I just think him being relentlessly stupid would be impossible. Our big rule in the writer’s room was like ‘he’s seen Sports Center.’ He knows, like, the ball has to go in the net.” He continues in the interview to quote Del Close as saying, “Treat your audience as poets and geniuses, and they’ll rise to the occasion.” And the Ted Lasso production team did just that.

The Apple TV series presents a stark contrast to the cringy character from the NBC Sports commercials. This Ted Lasso is a refreshing and instantly endearing character who I’ve decided I want to be when I grow up. He is still goofy and eternally optimistic, but he’s also witty and charming. He still comes into the gig without knowing anything more than the average American about the sport, but he is eager to learn. People still make fun of his Midwest-style do-gooder personality, but he understands what is going on and chooses to be unbothered. He creates an environment free from ego and lives boldly, out loud, and authentically. He embraces his vulnerabilities, and this mindset spreads infectiously and intentionally to every person he comes into contact with, no matter how seemingly insignificant they are to his story. From a cab driver to a street performer to a grumpy journalist, every person is worthy of his attention and respect. The team he walks into is one plagued by conceit, jealousy, and individualism. The example he sets allows for an environment of mutual support, growth, and love, where even the most disposable player can feel like part of the team, gain confidence, and shine.

Ted may be the main character, but just like in his fictional life, the limelight is equitibly shared with the supporting roles. The antagonists are even created with such depth that we can easily empathize and understand their actions, and cheer on their transformations. One of the most fulfilling relationships we get to witness is between Ted and Coach Beard (played by Brendan Hunt). Joining Ted in England as his Assistant Coach, Beard compliments Ted’s enthusiasm and optimism perfectly with a hearty dose of realism and an incredible breadth of knowledge. If Lasso is the fish out of water, Beard is the friendly and familiar sail that guides him through uncharted waters. He is always reading and learning, and he humbly shares his knowledge, sans ego, or resentment. The love shared between them is a beautiful reminder that men can be vulnerable and sweet with each other.

The cast is rounded off marvelously with characters like Keely (played by Juno Temple), who teaches us how to choose a healthy relationship over a toxic one; Higgins (played by Jeremy Swift), who shows us that our past mistakes do not have to dampen our current character; Roy Kent (played by Brett Goldstein), who experiences a challenging changing of seasons and teaches us that we are so much more than the box we’ve always fit into; and Rebecca (played by Hannah Waddingham), who learns how to be brave and come back to herself after surviving a psychologically abusive marriage.

Deep and meaningful messaging is present throughout, but Ted Lasso is a comedy at heart. The slightly distasteful, utterly corny comedy that drove the NBC Sports commercials transforms into endearing aphorisms and dad-worthy-puns that collide brilliantly with classic British banter. Cheesy punchlines are somehow executed as refreshing, unexpected, and clever, while life lessons crescendo into the most satisfying belly laughs.

The greatest lesson I’ve learned from Ted Lasso is that one person has the power to bring out the best in everyone around them when they choose to share their joy and hope freely, and no one is into touch. While production on season two has just begun, Apple has already renewed for a third season, so more binging will soon be in order. In case you’re not yet convinced to binge it with me, I’ll leave you with a quote from the most impactful moment of the season:

“Guys have underestimated me my entire life. And for years, I never understood why. It used to really bother me. But then one day, I was driving my little boy to school and I saw this quote by Walt Whitman and it was painted on the wall there. It said, 'Be curious, not judgmental.' I like that. So I get back in my car and I'm driving to work, and all of a sudden it hits me. All them fellas that used to belittle me, not a single one of them were curious. They thought they had everything all figured out. So they judged everything, and they judged everyone. And I realized that their underestimating me... who I was had nothing to do with it. 'Cause if they were curious, they would've asked questions." -Ted Lasso

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About the Creator

LJ Livingston

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