Ted Lasso

Not Rated, 10 episodes (approx 30 minutes each)

Available on Apple TV+

Where to begin with Ted Lasso…?

Let’s start easy: Ted Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis) is an American football coach who is hired–after a single season coaching (and winning a national championship) at a division 2 college–to be the new Manager of a struggling English Premier League Football (aka Soccer) team, the AFC Richmond Greyhounds.

Ted, of course, knows ZERO about soccer, but he’s a winner.

I’ll be honest; Jason Sudeikis is hit or miss for me, but we’ll come back to him in a moment. I’ll start, instead, with a quick rundown of the first 3 episodes.

Episode 1: After a nasty divorce, the wife of the owner comes away with the team, and promptly fires the long-time, misogynistic coach and hires Ted Lasso. Ted and his assistant coach (Coach Beard, played by Brendan Hunt) fly to London to meet with ownership and the notoriously obnoxious British press, all of whom love them some football (and by that, I mean soccer). Ted’s first presser does not go well, nor does his intro to the team.

Episode 2: Ted, in his incredibly, noxiously, earnest way, tries to learn all he can about his new professional family, starting with owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), who we learn is trying to burn the franchise down in order to torture her ex-husband, who, it seems, only really loves one thing: the team. Not his wife, or his countless mistresses which led to the divorce, nothing. Just the team. Ted’s bribe of cookies (or as the British call them: “biscuits” as Ted points out to her) makes it difficult for Rebecca to dislike him, but vengeance will be hers. After an abortive attempt to manufacture a scandal involving Ted and Keeley, his star player’s girlfriend and high-profile model (Juno Temple), Rebecca believes she knows exactly how to turn the tables in–

Episode 3: …where Rebecca grants reporter Trent Crimm (James Lance), who already hates Ted because he knows nothing about soccer, and–even worse–is an American, of all things, an exclusive “get to know you” interview with Ted, but after spending the day at practice (they call it “training:” thanks, Coach Beard), in the office, at a community outreach event at a local school with team captain Roy (Brett Goldstein), and for dinner at a local Indian restaurant, Crimm’s article makes no bones about the likelihood of Ted’s success (basically zero), but acknowledges his inherent good intentions and decency. Rebecca is not pleased.

There are various sub-plots about the star player being kind of an a-hole, the captain being a player on the back side of a great career, and the team’s “kit-man” (Nick Mohammed), but you get the idea.

Now, yes, you could make some comparison to the great baseball film, Major League, with it’s disgruntled owner, and talented but off-balance players… and I did, as I watched the pilot.

You could, and can, compare it to any fish-out-of-water story (or any stupid American in any country that’s not America story). Again, that’s what I did.

But, thus far, Jason Sudeikis’ Ted Lasso is, despite my own best efforts, making itself incredibly difficult not to root for. His earnest, down-to-Earth attitude and genuine joy of coaching is infectious (as Roy learns in episode 3, as well). The rest of the casting is basically perfect, and the story elements have been refreshed enough by transplanting them to Britain as to make them feel new, even if I know they aren’t.

I’m not going to be doing any further breakdowns of the remaining 7 episodes unless something truly incredible happens… that’s not the business we’re in here at VSMP.

But I will be watching.

My Grade: A