Ted Lasso
Our Review
The show that proved kindness could be a premium-cable hook. Jason Sudeikis’s mustachioed American football coach taking over an English Premier League club is a fish-out-of-water setup so old it has barnacles — and somehow it became the warmest thing on TV. Season 1 is a perfect ten hours: Ted’s relentless optimism isn’t naive, it’s armor, and the show slowly lets you see the cracks (the panic attacks are handled with rare care).
The ensemble is deep — Brett Goldstein’s Roy Kent is an all-timer, and Hannah Waddingham’s Rebecca gives the show its real dramatic weight. The trouble comes later: season 2 drifts into very special episode territory, and season 3 bloats to feature-length installments with subplots nobody asked for (say nothing of the Nate arc’s whiplash). But at its best — the darts scene, the Christmas episode, Roy and Keeley — this show is a masterclass in making cynicism look stupid.
Verdict: Watch it. Believe in it a little less after season 1, but watch it.