Colin Huton
Here’s how important ‘Ted Lasso’ is to Apple: CEO Tim Cook was among hundreds gathered in Westwood last week for the show’s Season 3 premiere. Such occurrences are normally a bit more low-key by the time a series hits its third season. But not “Ted Lasso,” who packed the 1,400-capacity Regency Village Theater followed by a party that drew 700 RSVPs — and yes, Cook was there too, holding court at tony Baltaire’s restaurant. Brentwood.
“Ted Lasso” is a show that is still in its pop culture heyday. That’s why, as the Emmy-winning comedy returns to Apple TV+ on March 15, its fate is on everyone’s mind, including star Jason Sudeikis.
For months, almost everyone involved hinted that “Lasso” would come to an end after these episodes. In a Variety podcast last July, star Brett Goldstein carefully analyzed his words. “It’s written as, in the story that we told will come to its conclusion,” he said at the time. “And that’s how it was always planned. This does not necessarily mean that he cannot continue. But it’s kind of a three-act conclusion to this story.
Additional speculation has been reported that production was tougher this time around, with the Season 3 scripts undergoing heavy rewrites given the expectations surrounding it. The Sudeikis were also taking on more responsibility, taking on full showrunner duties. Talk to VarietySudeikis played down those concerns.
“The rewrites were the same ones we’ve always done,” he says. “If anything, the effort took as long as it did due to the density of the stories. … And so, while we’re flattered by the curiosity of ‘Is This the Final Season’ , the thing is, content-wise, if you go by the length, this season has a season 4 in itself.
Now that most of that work is complete, insiders at Apple TV+ and Warner Bros. TV (which produces) are more optimistic that Sudeikis could bring the series back in some form, even if it means a near-spinoff where Sudeikis, like Ted, only appears briefly. “Lasso” is too valuable to streamer and studio — and continues to be an awards juggernaut — to let go just yet.
“It got to this place where if you did a poster of everyone in ‘Ted Lasso’ it would be fucking huge,” said writer and star Goldstein (aka “Roy Kent”). “You could do a spin-off of each character.”
Sudeikis was careful with his words, teasing that this might be the end without saying it outright. When Variety asked some of the other “Ted Lasso” cast members for their thoughts on the future of the show or spinoff, some stuck their tongues firmly in their cheeks.
Goldstein says he would happily play Roy Kent forever. “I love playing Roy Kent. I pitched Jason an idea for Season 4 that he’s considering,” he says with a deadpan expression. “The problem is that in Season 3, five of the main characters die, so my plan for season 4 is for Ted to come back as a ghost, and it’s called “Ghost Ted”. He haunts the halls, but he’s just trying to inspire. Some people don’t believe in ghosts, and that’s how far the team has come to believe in ghosts…Jason says he just thinks about it.
When asked if he sees spinoff potential for other characters on the show, writer and star Brendan Hunt (“Coach Beard”) also cracks up. “Tina Feyhound – like an animated crime-fighting series where Tina Feyhound protects all the hedgehogs in London from all the mean wood pigeons.
“My main plan is not to see any of their faces in person for at least a year,” Hunt adds of his cast and crew colleagues on “Ted Lasso,” about his plans to continue to collaborate after Season 3. “They’re all very attractive people who are great fun to hang out with. They’re all very good at ordering food out.
Toheeb Jimoh, who plays Sam, says he’s interested in continuing to tell his character’s story.
“Whether that happens or not, I think wherever I go in my career, there’s always going to be a bit of Sam Obisanya with me, and that’s going to be a really tough character to say goodbye to,” he says.
Juno Temple, who plays Keeley, says she still doesn’t know if the show is ending – “I don’t think anyone knows yet.” But if so, she thinks the perfect ending for her character (who broke up with Roy at the end of season 2) is “to be happy on her own, doing what she’s doing before she can to be anyone’s best partner”.
And then there’s Nick Mohammed, whose Nate character went from the underdog that viewers rooted for to the villain aiming to steal Ted Lasso’s thunder. Mohammed hints that a happy ending may not yet be in store for his role.
“The cute answer would be, Nate realizes he’s been a bit of an asshole, and that his actions towards Ted and AFC Richmond were unfounded and unwarranted and he apologizes profusely,” he says. “He is welcomed to the club with open arms. He decides to address the toxic relationship he has with his father, which explains a lot of his deep insecurities. And actually, his dad is really receptive to that and they kind of hit it off again, and then he’s happy. And I don’t know, find a partner and get married, have kids, everything is fine and Ted is like the best man, something like that. It would be my fairy tale.
“Suffice it to say that’s not how it goes,” he adds,
At the premiere of “Ted Lasso”, the press was instructed not to ask about a season 4, as publicists pointed out that no decision had been made. “It will always be driven by the stories,” Sudeikis says, on whether fans hoping for another season should, in Ted’s words, “believe.”