The Reel Review
Jason Sudeikis stars in this AppleTV+ series about a small time American football coach hired to coach a struggling English Premiere League football team. There’s just one hitch – Ted Lasso has never coached this “soccer” version of football. The underdog sports comedy is based on a character Sudeikis created for ads in 2013 and 2014 to promote NBC’s coverage of English Premiere League soccer.
Written by Sudeikis and Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence, Ted Lasso‘s corny fish-out-of-water jokes, predictable storylines and even several characters are eerily reminiscent of the 1989 film Major League. But there is something so charming and heartfelt about this goofy sports series that you just can’t help but like it.
Armed with a slew of folksy aphorisms, Sudeikis and his ensemble cast create some heartfelt and likable characters – in particular, Hannah Waddingham (the infamous shame nun in Game of Thrones, Sex Education) as the would-be villain, Brett Goldstein (SuperBob) as the aging football star and Juno Temple (Dirty John, Maleficent) as the D-list celebrity girlfriend of one of the players.
The show is more subtle humor than laugh out loud moments – its charm is in the way it draws you into liking and caring about its characters, and making you think that just maybe there is hope for humanity after all. Ted Lasso is the sweet series we all need right now. And who knew? Hannah Waddingham can sing!
REEL FACTS
• The music in Ted Lasso is from Marcus Mumford of the band Mumford & Sons. Mumford and Jason Sudeikis are friends.
• Hannah Waddingham was the infamous shame nun Septa Unella in eight episodes of Game of Thrones in 2016.
• This☝️is one of the 2013 comedy bits on NBC Sports Network featuring Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso.
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