Ted Lasso is an American comedy that premiered in 2020 on Apple TV+. It stars Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso, an American football college-level coach who gets hired to manage a fictional Premier League football club – AFC Richmond. The show delivered Jason Sudeikis his first ever Golden Globe this year and for good reason – the show has a lot of interesting characters but Ted Lasso’s infectious optimism is what makes this show brilliant. It is funny but not rib-tickling funny but in a year where all of us lost hope and positivity, it brings optimism in large doses and it cheers you up from the inside and you pray for the second season to come soon.
The plot is fairly simple – Hannah Waddingham plays Rebecca Walton, a recently divorced woman who is the new owner of AFC Richmond through her divorce settlement. As the club meant the most to her cheating husband, she plans to destroy it from within using Ted Lasso, an American football coach who knows nothing about European football and throws him off the deep end in the Premier League. However, Ted Lasso’s infectious optimism slowly makes the fans, the players and eventually ice cold Rebecca to appreciate and admire their new coach.
Juno Temple stars as Keeley Jones, the model girlfriend of the club’s star forward, Jamie Tartt, who plays his role of a talented but obnoxious young footballer who thinks himself to be greater than his teammates. There are also other footballers who usually portray stereotypical football team characters like the grumpy, older club captain, the foreign outsider trying to settle into a new country and the extremely optimistic and talented gem that the new coach happens to discover once he recovers from an injury.
Brendan Hunt stars as Coach Beard, Lasso’s taciturn long-time assistant and friend who supports Ted’s optimism and also calms him down at times. Another interesting character who becomes a close member of Ted’s inner circle is the team’s kit man, Nathan Shelley who lacks confidence but knows a lot about football. Ted calls him “Nate the Great” and he becomes more involved with the coaches as time passes, eventually becoming an assistant to Ted. But the show is driven by Jason Sudeikis – it’s his baby and he cherishes it to the fullest. His infectious optimism and positivity, though annoying initially, especially since we all have converted to the cult of pessimism after the year 2020, becomes the reason you want to keep watching the show.
The humor is light-hearted but appropriate. The show also touches on deeper issues like divorce and insecurities but doesn’t shy away from them. It humanizes them instead of making these a joke and that’s the magic of the show. The premise is simple. The acting is solid and all the actors give it their all but if there was a show being carried by one actor, it is this one. Ted Lasso provides us with one of the most deserving Golden Globe award winners we’ve had in a while in Jason Sudeikis and the character and the show are extremely likeable and leave you wanting more.
JAY’S VERDICT
Watch Ted Lasso to lift yourselves out of the gloom of Covid-19 and let the extreme optimism fill your heart.
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