Hat-trick or own goal: Does Ted Lasso deserve a fourth season?

There are two schools of thought on Ted Lasso: either it’s the perfect comfort watch, or it’s a sugary mess. After a resoundingly successful first season in 2020 – which resulted in 20 Emmy nominations – the football comedy has begun to divide the field, creating discord between viewers that even Jason Sudeikis’ endlessly cheery moustachio’d coach can’t mend.

As it prepares to return for a fourth season, we asked two of our reporters to explain how they really feel about Ted.

THE CASE FOR TED

Yes, Ted Lasso is absurd. A show about a relentlessly upbeat American football coach taking charge of a struggling English team? On paper, it sounds like a rejected pitch from the early 2000s. But that’s the charm of Ted Lasso. The show isn’t trying to be a gritty sports drama or a hyperrealistic depiction of English football. Instead, it’s an earnest, full-hearted reminder of just how far kindness can take you (I’m going the full Ted Lasso here).

And yet, for some, this is precisely the problem. The cynics – let’s call them the Roy Kents of the world – roll their eyes at Ted’s unwavering cheeriness, dismissing the show as sentimental fluff. “Real football isn’t like this,” they grumble. Well, neither is real life, and that’s the point.

For decades, prestige television has been dominated by darkness: antiheroes, corruption, moral ambiguity – these are the flavours critics love. We’ve celebrated the likes of Breaking Bad, The Sopranos and Succession, all shows built on deeply flawed protagonists and the messes they create. But why should Ted Lasso be held to a different standard? If we can have endless shows about brooding men making bad decisions, surely there’s space for one about a guy who genuinely wants to make people better.

There’s no hiding from the fact Ted Lasso is cheesy at times. But it’s also more than just biscuits and “Believe” signs. The show has tackled mental health, masculinity, immigration, and the weight of expectations. Season three delivered a powerful portrayal of panic attacks, a thoughtful exploration of father-son dynamics, and a footballer coming out with the support of his teammates.

It’s fair to admit the final episode of Ted Lasso felt conclusive. Ted, after a season of growth and reflection, returns to Kansas to be with his son, while Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) embraces her role as AFC Richmond’s owner. The team achieves a historic season, even if they fall just short of the Premier League title.

Could it have ended there? Probably. But if you let it, the show – much like Ted’s Midwestern drawl – has a way of sneaking up on you with warmth. “Be curious, not judgmental”. “Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong”. Even when you’re not quite sure what he’s talking about, you somehow get it.

And if, like me, you’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time perfecting your Jamie Tartt impression, another season might just be the excuse you need to refine it a little more. Although rumour has it Phil Dunster (who stars as Tartt) will not be returning to the series for the new season.

Details on the next chapter remain scarce but it’s been confirmed Jason Sudeikis will reprise his role as the ever-optimistic coach – this time, leading a women’s soccer team.

In the grand buffet of television, there’s room for everyone – your dark, brooding prestige dramas, your razor-sharp comedies, your chaotic reality-TV. But there’s also room for something warm and hopeful. Hannah Hammoud

THE CASE AGAINST TED

Look, the lockdowns were a dark time. If you weren’t crying over your sourdough starter, you were probably failing to learn the ukulele. Given the oh-so-sad state we were in, it’s not surprising a vanilla soft-serve show like Ted Lasso so easily coaxed us. It was the soothing, happy-go-lucky, “don’t think, just feel” series we needed in the midst of the dumpster-fire world around us.

But that was back in 2020. Our sourdough kits and ukes got the message – we haven’t touched either of them in years. Ted Lasso, on the other hand, did not.

Don’t get me wrong, there was a time when I enjoyed this show. Hearing Coach Lasso say things such as “If you care about someone, and you got a little love in your heart, there ain’t nothing you can’t get through together” felt as good as a warm hug. I happily sang the “Jamie Tartt doo-doo-doo-doo-dooo” chant. I craved Ted’s homemade shortbread (and Keeley’s wardrobe). There’s nothing inherently wrong with a sugary, comfort-food show. But what happens when you consume too much sugar? You get a cavity.

I felt the onset of decay while watching the third season. Simply being a nice show with a few chuckles here and there was enough during the lockdowns but my post-lockdown self needs more depth. Instead, every character becomes an even more saccharine caricature of themselves.

Any of the season-one friction between Ted and Rebecca Welton, the club’s owner who initially wanted the club to fail, to humiliate her ex, has completely vanished. Then there’s Ted and Nate, who famously deserted him for a rival team. All of a sudden, Nate is “good” again and welcomed back to AFC Richmond with open arms. Where’s the vitriol, the revenge or at least the awkward tension? Oh, right, none of that can exist in Ted Lasso’s world of rainbows and butterflies.

But you know what it really should get a red card for? Not being funny. In season three, for example, as some kind of sick team-building exercise the players are linked during training by string tied to each of their penises. It’s embarrassing even just writing that out. What was once a harmless comedy has descended to penis jokes that don’t even land.

Worse, it inexplicably takes on hefty topics such as sexuality, misogyny and childhood trauma later in the series, seemingly at the expense of any gags. Perhaps if it had anything thought-provoking to say about these issues it would have been all right, but no – the scene where the players decide that sharing compromising videos of women is bad? Wow, guys, revolutionary …

Ted Lasso has fallen into the same trap as so many other films and TV shows, where somehow more always means better (I’m looking at you, Shrek. We don’t need a fifth film). The show was only written with a three-arc structure in mind, and the final episode of season three – which is literally called “So Long, Farewell” – ties up every loose end, including sending Ted all the way back to the US to be with his son (don’t get me started on how incongruous this is after his three-season development). Yet it’s coming back, and with an entirely different football team, no less. The writers realised they had drained the original team of anything interesting, so bring in a new one to suck the life out of.

I don’t care how comforting the show was during lockdown, its over-the-top sugariness is now just cringe or, even worse, outright creepy. It’s time for Ted Lasso to be benched – permanently. Nell Geraets

Do you think Ted Lasso should return to the pitch for season four? Let us know in the comments below.

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