There, I said it. I started watching this weird, funny little comedy on Apple TV+ over the weekend because Ruth Bador Ginsburg died and it was pretty obvious that nothing good was gonna come of that, and I’d just spent a week researching my QAnon essay over at the Sideboob, and God help me I just needed something nice in my life.
I saw a couple of people tweeting about this show, all of them saying it was 'delightful'. There is nothing delightful in the world these days, so I figured what the hell, I'll give it a look.
Oh my God, I love it so.
And I really shouldn't. It's all about an American football coach who moves to the UK to manage a terrible soccer club. I think it was first developed as a TV commercial. Nothing about this suggests must-see-TV.
And yet… And yet… I cannot stop watching.
It really is delightful. A quick synopsis; Jason Sudeikis plays Ted Lasso an impossibly good-natured, kindhearted, college football coach from Kansas City. For a bunch of reasons I won't go into because SPOILERS, he ends up coaching the worst club in the English Premier League.
It could be a one note joke. It could be cruel. It could be really boring because, you know, soccer. But it is genuinely one of the most heartwarming pieces of television I've watched in ages. I had a lot of feelings about Cobra Kai over the last couple of weeks. It's great. I can't wait for season three. But there is a real darkness and even an element of tragedy to the reboot of the Karate Kid franchise. It doesn't always leave you feeling better about the world.
The characters in Lasso are so well drawn, however, with such care taken for their all too human flaws and frailty, that even when it looks like everything is about to go absolutely tits up, it's possible to keep watching, confident it will all work out in the end.
It really is a TV show for this the worst of timelines. Because in the world of real things, nothing is going to work out in the end.
I can't work out why, but I love this show. I keep waiting for it go too far and become too sickeningly sweet, but it finds a way to pull back when it is right at the edge.
I love that it delivers on one of my favourite traits of good leadership, the ability to find and celebrate the strength in individuals that allows them to bring value to the overall team. I have seen a lot of people in senior leadership positions (including most politicians) that could use some basic leadership lessons from Ted.
Hes just so damn earnest, in a way that only Americans can pull off. If Ted was Australian you know he'd be secretly laughing at you or if he was English it would be a tyranny of manners but Americans just really put it all out there, the good and the bad. I also love that the team captain 'Roy Kent' is a paper thin parody of Manchester Utd captain Roy Keane, right down to the 3 day beard.
It's mad good, right? So many good characters. Even Rebecca has a heart. And I thnk I'm still a little confused about Coach Beard's purpose. He's definitely some kind of manifestation of coaching and life wisdom, but I'm not sure what.
Yeah, Apple TV one streaming service too many. Might buy once Foundation is added but until then I think I have enough subscription streaming services to fill in my copious downtime in Plaguetown.
I can't work out why, but I love this show. I keep waiting for it go too far and become too sickeningly sweet, but it finds a way to pull back when it is right at the edge.
I love that it delivers on one of my favourite traits of good leadership, the ability to find and celebrate the strength in individuals that allows them to bring value to the overall team. I have seen a lot of people in senior leadership positions (including most politicians) that could use some basic leadership lessons from Ted.
Hes just so damn earnest, in a way that only Americans can pull off. If Ted was Australian you know he'd be secretly laughing at you or if he was English it would be a tyranny of manners but Americans just really put it all out there, the good and the bad. I also love that the team captain 'Roy Kent' is a paper thin parody of Manchester Utd captain Roy Keane, right down to the 3 day beard.
And the thing I like about the Lasso character is the fact he has all this sadness inside that he just puts aside, every day.
It's mad good, right? So many good characters. Even Rebecca has a heart. And I thnk I'm still a little confused about Coach Beard's purpose. He's definitely some kind of manifestation of coaching and life wisdom, but I'm not sure what.
I think an American could explain it. In narrative terms he's obviously some sort warrior monk. He knows things. But only those things.
Yeah, Apple TV one streaming service too many. Might buy once Foundation is added but until then I think I have enough subscription streaming services to fill in my copious downtime in Plaguetown.
I wait like a Labrador at a food bowl for each new episode.
Same
Ted Lasso is the series the world needs more than ever.
I started watching it immediately after watching and being struck dumb by the last episode of Cobra Kai. It is exactly what I needed.
Always something to be said for keeping things light. It's been tough lately.