Culture Crash: The Apple TV Sports Comedy, “Ted Lasso”

When Apple launched its TV+ service in 2019, there were reports that CEO Tim Cook was internally pushing for quote-“aspirational TV,” as opposed to, I assume, a lot of the dark TV of the previous decade or so, which saw shows like Breaking Bad, Narcos and Ozark climb their way to the top of Twitter trends and Emmy categories with a lot of violent crime revolving around drugs.

So the network leaned into shows like For All Mankind, which imagines a more invigorated space race, and into partnerships with people like Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. But to my mind nothing has more successfully lived up to Cook’s ideal of so-called aspirational TV than the popular sports comedy Ted Lasso.

Ted Lasso follows the story of an American football coach who takes a gig as a soccer coach in England, despite the fact that he knows little to nothing about the sport. Unlike the antiheroes of decades past, though, Ted Lasso isn’t driven by a need for acclaim or wealth, he’s driven by a can-do attitude and an undying love for his family. While backstabbing does happen in Lasso-land, it is always a gut punch to audiences and not something to quietly revel like audiences may in darker shows.

Ted Lasso, played by Jason Sudeikis, is relentlessly positive and full of eye-roll-inducing puns, and the show adopts his demeanor. It might be annoying if it weren’t written, cast and acted so pitch-perfect. You just can’t help but like Ted, wish him the best, and stand alongside him as he  builds those around him up instead of tearing them down.

Anyway, I like crime dramas as much as anyone and Breaking Bad is my favorite show of all-time. Still, there is something undeniably refreshing about watching Ted Lasso. The show’s very bingeable first season is now streaming, and its second season is underway with new episodes coming every Friday on Apple TV+.