On August 14, 2020, Apple TV+ debuted their new sports comedy series, Ted Lasso. The show stars former Saturday Night Live star, Jason Sudeikis as the title character. Ted Lasso is an American college football coach who is recruited to coach (or "manage" in British English) world football, aka soccer, in England. This fish-out-of-water story often has Ted learning the rules of British football while balancing his own life and that of his team.
The show is funny but with an incredible amount of heart that makes every character feel real. Whether fans watched the series week-to-week, binged the season, or are still on the fence, it’s fascinating to learn how this show came to be and some of the behind-the-scenes trivia that makes it one of the best shows on Apple TV+.
Updated on April 2nd, 2021 by Kristen Palamara: Ted Lasso continues to be one of the most popular original Apple TV+ series, and for good reason. It has a fun, well-developed, and refreshing cast of characters and believable yet engaging storylines. The reviews for Ted Lasso are overwhelmingly positive and the show and cast have won several awards for their performances including Jason Sudeikis' recent Golden Globe win for Best Actor. The show is a delight to watch and there are many fun facts about the production, from tie-ins to the casts' previous projects to recipes created for the biscuits that appear on the show.
Musical Theater References
There are countless pop culture references throughout Ted Lasso but some of the best are to musical theater. All the theater references from West Side Story to Oklahoma! are just as fun as any other reference on the show but also have a fun connection that not every viewer may know about.
Hannah Waddingham, who portrays Rebecca on the show, has had an extensive West End career, having appeared in several musical productions including Spamalot and The Wizard of Oz. She also uses her singing talents in the show to surprise everyone when she belts "Let It Go" from Frozen during karaoke.
Jason Sudeikis Does The Same Dance
In the first episode of Ted Lasso, Sports Center introduces Ted as a coach and shows a video of him dancing with his players cheering him on in the locker room. Fans of Saturday Night Live might have recognized the moves as it's almost the exact same dance Jason Sudeikis would do for a recurring skit on the show.
While on the show, Sudeikis appeared on the skit "What Up With That?" in which Kenan Thompson portrayed a host that continually interrupted his guests, including Bill Hader's Lindsey Buckingham, every week, to break out into song and dance with Sudeikis providing impressive back-up dancing.
Ted Lasso Hitting His Head Was Unscripted
Jason Sudeikis revealed in an interview with Drew Barrymore that he hit his head for real in the scene after Rebecca gives Ted a pep talk for an upcoming match. She cheers him up and he's so excited to get started on a new game plan that when he's leaving her office he decides to try to jump off the door but accidentally smashes his head at the top of the frame.
The scene, and particularly Hannah Waddingham's reaction as Rebecca, is jarring yet hilarious and both miraculously stay in character while Sudeikis had to get medical attention for his head injury.
Recipes For Ted Lasso's Biscuits
One of the sweetest storylines of the first season is that Ted continues to try to perfect a biscuit recipe and brings them to Rebecca every morning. Fans love the idea so much that many have created recipes based on the biscuits he makes in the show.
Most notably, the YouTube channel Binging with Babish has created a Ted Lasso's biscuit recipe that fans can try to make at home.
AFC Richmond Isn't A Real Football Club
Although this might be obvious for any fan of football, it's true that Richmond doesn't have a football club called AFC Richmond and the team was created for the show, although the writers drew real-life inspiration from various football clubs.
There's a rugby league in London called F.C. Richmond and a New Zealand-based soccer club called Richmond Athletic FC, but there's no team quite like AFC Richmond from Ted Lasso.
NBC Sports' Promos
In 2013, NBC Sports acquired the broadcast of the Premier League, England’s top-tier football league system. In order to bring some excitement to the broadcast, the network recruited their Saturday Night Live star, Jason Sudeikis, to run some promos as the original character, Ted Lasso.
This was a tactic to attract both loyal soccer fans as well as new viewers. NBC ran another set of promos the following year in 2014 which, like the first, went viral with over 20 million views on YouTube and helped the network create a strong fanbase out of the gate.
Not The First…
Ted Lasso isn’t the only character from an advertisement to get his own show. Back in 2007, a show called Cavemen aired on ABC and was based around the famous Cavemen in the Geico commercials.
The series only lasted 1 season and had a total of 13 episodes. However, unlike Ted Lasso, the show was met with harsh critical reception, being listed as one of the 25 worst TV shows ever by the Chicago Tribune and the TV Guide Network.
Mumford & Sons
While watching the pilot episode and certainly by the theme song, which debuts in episode 2, viewers will notice a familiar sound. London-born Marcus Mumford, the lead singer of Mumford & Sons, is the show's music composer along with Tom Hove. Marcus met Jason Sudeikis when Mumford & Sons played SNL for the first time back in 2012.
The two stayed in touch and Jason actually starred in the band’s music video for their song “Hopeless Wanderer” along with fellow actors Ed Helms, Jason Bateman, and Will Forte. Sudeikis personally called Marcus to write the music for the show, which Marcus excitingly accepted, especially since his hometown team, AFC Wimbledon, is right next to the show's fictional team, AFC Richmond.
Olivia Wilde
Marcus Mumford wasn’t the only person from Sudeikis’ SNL days to have an effect on the Ted Lasso series. In fact, it was his former partner, Olivia Wilde, who had the idea for the show back in 2015.
Sudeikis and Wilde met at an SNL finale party where they hit it off. Sudeikis credits her for the idea of turning this promotional character into a successful and ultimately heartwarming streaming series.
Jürgen Klopp
While Ted Lasso is an original character, Sudeikis has mentioned that some story beats for the character in the Apple TV+ series were inspired by Jürgen Klopp, the real-life Liverpool FC manager. Unlike Lasso, Klopp grew up playing football and is known as one of the best managers in the world.
The story that inspired the series the most is that back in 2018, to strengthen team morale, Klopp took his Liverpool FC team to a night of karaoke and bonding. This is perfectly portrayed in the series’ seventh episode, “Make Rebecca Great Again.”
Zach Braff
Producer Bill Lawrence is known as the creator of Scrubs, Cougar Town, and more. He helped Jason Sudeikis develop Ted Lasso and even got his friend and star of Scrubs, Zach Braff, to be a part of the project.
Lawrence said in an interview, “I suckered Zach into directing an episode 'cause he was in London.” Braff is credited with directing the second episode in the series, which featured AFC Richmond in their first match.
Reunited
Ted Lasso didn’t come over from the U.S. alone — he brought his trusty assistant coach, Coach Beard. Actor Brendan Hunt does an amazing job playing the quirky, lovable character, and fans may recognize him from a couple of Sudeikis projects.
In fact, Hunt and Sudeikis have acted in two films together: We’re the Millers and Horrible Bosses 2, and Hunt also appeared alongside Sudeikis in the original NBC promos. The two actors have stayed friends and it’s great to see Hunt use his comedy chops in a role more front and center.
Footballers’ Wive$
Hannah Waddingham plays the AFC Richmond owner, Rebecca Welton. But this isn’t the first time the actor has starred in a TV series about football. She had a one-episode cameo in the British drama series, Footballers’ Wive$ that, like Ted Lasso, followed a fictional Premier League Football club.
The series centered around the players and their wives, as the name suggests, and ran from 2002 to 2006 with a total of 5 seasons. Waddingham appeared in the show’s season 4 finale as Hazel’s new squeeze, Jools, an international tennis pro.
Keeley and Keeley
Those who have watched the show can’t help but fall in love with the strong-willed and lovable Keeley Jones. The character is played by actor Juno Temple, who has been acting since 2000 and known for her roles in Atonement (2007) and Maleficent (2014).
However, she isn’t the only Keeley on the set of Ted Lasso. Keeley Hazell, who has a small part in Sudeikis’ Horrible Bosses 2, plays Bex, the young girlfriend of AFC Richmond’s ex-manager, Rupert.
Renewed For Two More Seasons
Fans of the show will be happy to know that Apple TV+ renewed the show for a second season, only five days after its premiere, and it's been renewed for a third season as well. No spoilers, but the first season has an exciting ending that leaves the characters with plenty of room to grow.
While it might be a while until shows can ramp up production again, Ted Lasso is one of the hidden gems on the Apple TV+ service and will surely grow with positive word of mouth from both critics and fans.