Missing Ted Lasso? Here’s Something to Watch for Each Type of Fan
This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s summer editorial intern PJ Cunningham. Find him on Instagram at @peachycunningham. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
With season 3’s finale appearing to be the end of “Ted Lasso,” fans of the series are likely lost in the media wilderness, looking for another piece of media to recreate the AppleTV hit’s magic.
Fear not, for I came here to save the day much like Coach Lasso himself. Okay, that might be some Jamie Tartt-esque self-aggrandizement, I do indeed have a solution. Here are media recommendations for every type of “Ted Lasso” fan.
Whether you loved this show for the soccer, Jason Sudekis’ humor, British biscuits or even just the positive message and good vibes, I assure you that this content will help you beat the post-binge blues, from shows like “Ted Lasso” to movies and more.
*Minor Ted Lasso spoilers for season one through three… can’t say I didn’t warn you now!
A Show for Everyone
“Ted Lasso” was special for many reasons. Across three seasons from 2020-23, the show follows inexperienced American football coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudekis) changing the fortunes of embattled fictional English soccer club AFC Richmond through unrelenting positivity, inspiring a talented, whimsically-funny squad of players and club administrators to heights no one ever thought was possible. However, the show’s plots and deeper themes focus on more than just sports. Diving deep into relationships, mental health, the evolution of friendship and the power of community, “Ted Lasso” aimed to be a show for everyone.
Therefore, there are many different types of “Ted Lasso” fans. Since Ted himself would want you to understand that each and every one of you are special, I, as his self-appointed messenger, will provide a wide range of media for these different fans.
For Soccer… or uh… football fans.
Soccer, or as Ted learns very quickly, football, is the largest sport across the pond. I am a former player and a lifelong fan, so I was beyond excited when I found out that a show would portray British football, even if it was primarily a comedy. The pinnacle of UK football and largely, world football, is the Premier League, England’s top division of the sport.
AFC Richmond play in both the Premier League, as well as the English Football League Championship, which is actually the second tier of the game in England. If you’re confused on why the second tier is called the championship, you’re not alone, Ted himself has a hilarious exchange with his peers on the subject.
Fans fell in love with the unique nature of English football portrayed in the show, from the deep passion fans have for their local clubs to the scintillating play and goalscoring from exciting characters such as Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández) and Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh).
However, with the show now over, fans like you are probably missing out on the games portrayed in the series. You’re in luck however, as I have a list of actual soccer leagues and tournaments and shows that will make you feel like you never left Mae’s pub and the Dog track.
While both the English Premier League and the EFL Championship are in the off-season, they will return in August. If you can’t get enough off that Brit-style ball, here’s how you can watch these amazing, exciting English leagues:
- Multi-channel streaming services such as Cable TV, Youtube TV and more will have channels that host Premier League games. NBC owns the rights to the Premier league, so it will generally have a few big games hosted on NBCSports, NBC, Telemundo and USA Network.
- However, if you would like to watch any and all Premier league matches, NBC’s flagship streaming platform Peacock carries every match
- For those looking to experience England’s cagey, exciting second-tier just as AFC Richmond did, ESPN+ carries all EFL Championship matches
- ESPN+ also carries the German, Italian and Spanish top flight leagues, for those interested in European football outside of the UK
If you’re anything like Ted and his interesting assistant Coach Beard, you are a bonafide American yank with a soft spot for soccer too. While many see soccer as a foreign sport, there is a robust following of the sport in the states and for good reason. Major League Soccer, America’s domestic league, recently saw global superstar Lionel Messi sign with Florida side Inter Miami, while the U.S. national team is coming off a competitive showing at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, huge wins over rivals Mexico and Canada in the North American Conference League and is currently competing in the North American Gold Cup.
- AppleTV carries MLS matches
- Watch the US try and retain their Gold Cup Title on any multi-channel streaming service like cable or Youtube TV on Fox channels FS1 and FS2
If you liked the fun fictional football, you’ll love the real thing too.
In terms of more TV about the sport, Netflix, the world’s most popular streaming service, provides a great list of its 12 most popular and well-received soccer productions here, including movies, documentaries and shows.
For Fans of Brits & Biscuits
If you’re anything like “Ted Lasso’s” Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), then you love the authentic English biscuits Ted kindly makes her every morning.
While Ted himself came to England for soccer, I believe a lot of fans might actually stay for the baking.
Confused?
Let me explain. Ted’s biscuit baking is far from the only dessert making catching acclaim in Britain. While many fans might only associate the biscuits as a cute gesture of friendship, baked goods are quite the export out of the UK these days. Yet, these biscuits aren’t being served on plates, but instead across the ocean on screens.
Shows like the Great British Baking Show (aka the Great British Bake off) are hits with Americans and others around the globe and for good reason. Filmed in a reality-show style featuring different baking styles and interesting competitors all vying in a unique and challenging competition for the crown of the UK’s best amateur baker.
While it may not have the high-stakes feeling of professional sports or the whimsical nature of a sitcom, the Great British Baking Show combines the wildness and unabashed British cultural spunk that made “Ted Lasso” special.
If you thought biscuits were fun, just wait. The show is available on Netflix.
For Fan-shionistas
Another unique aspect of “Ted Lasso” that set it apart from other shows was its subtle but very real emphasis on fashion and being secure in one’s chosen look. No character exemplifies this more than the fun and lovable fashionista, media director and influencer Keeley Jones (Juno Temple).
Through her fantastic fits and glowing aura, Jones shows us the importance that fashion can play in self-expression. In a show about letting people shine bright, her character provides lots of positivity and is a role model for those looking to speak through fashion.
Fans are sad to see Keeley and her fashion sense go, however, do not despair. While few can do it like Keeley, there are multiple shows that can inspire future fashion fans everywhere.
Much like Keeley, celebrity fashion icon and drag queen RuPaul uses clothing and design to tell a story about himself. Hit show “RuPaul’s drag race” follows RuPaul as he mentors and judges fellow drag competitors in a competition and reality-style show not dissimilar from other competition based productions like “American Idol” or “The Voice.” RuPaul provides a positive environment for those looking to improve their fashion or use it to self-express. If you think this will fill the vibe void now that Keeley and “Ted Lasso” is gone, stream it today on platform Paramount+.
If “RuPaul’s drag race” doesn’t fit your fashion fancy, or perhaps you want shows that are not about fashion but still feature it in the manner “Ted Lasso” did, Hello Magazine provides 20 Netflix recommendations for a wide-array of shows that feature fantastic fashions.
For Sitcom and Sudekis-lovers
There’s no denying that “Ted Lasso’s” feel good nature and wholesome humor was pivotal to its commercial and critical success. There’s no coincidence that a show that pushed togetherness and positivity did its best during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, where many of us were alone and negative.
As USAToday journalist Drew Weisholtz noted in a 2021 piece, the show’s unrelenting positivity and can-do spirit won fans over in a manner similar to how the titular head coach garnered the love and support of his team and the AFC Richmond community.
However, with fans likely forlorn at the prospect of this happy soccer sitcom being gone, it’s time to roll back the clock and remind fans of the feel-good funnies about other positive comedies they can watch, or more likely re-watch, to bring back the good times.
While both series are off of Netflix and now on NBC’s Peacock, both “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation” provide similar vibes to “Ted Lasso,” as they combine humor with underlying themes of community, friendship and positivity despite less-than-ideal circumstances.
Sure, they might not be new shows, but, much like Coach Lasso did with his players, these two comedy classics will leave you feeling better about yourself, about life and probably hurting from laughter.
However, if you feel that these shows cannot compensate for the lack of Jason Sudekis’s comedy chops so prevalent in the show he created and starred in, there are many different shows and movies starring the same leading man, albeit sans-mustache.
Whether it’s his cameo role as a slacking school principal in 2019 teen comedy “Booksmart,” his most acclaimed work outside of Lasso, or his eight year run on “Saturday Night Live,” Sudekis tends to deliver in the laughs department. Both of these are on Peacock.
My personal favorite Sudekis performance is his leading role in the 2013 comedy “We’re The Millers,” which was recently added to Netflix. In this flick, Sudekis is very different from Lasso, as he plays a duplicitous weed dealer named David Clark with a fake family in way over his head. However, just like Ted, through hilarity, hijinks and some luck, Clark is able to bring his fake family together and teach us all a lesson about loyalty and the power of connection. If that doesn’t sound like Ted Lasso vibes, I do not know what does.
For… JULIE ANDREWS FANS
What? Julie Andrews? Wasn’t this show about soccer?!
BOOM!! EXPOSED… any real fan would know this reference!!
Okay fine, maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but c’mon folks, nothing is more Ted Lasso than Julie Andrews. Just ask Ted, Coach Beard and of course, Coach Roy Kent too.
The fact that the finale episode itself is named “So long, farewell,” and even features a hilarious but also very cute and tear-jerking rendition of the song sung by the entire squad to their coach.
But we don’t have to sing “so long, farewell,” to the great Julie Andrews folks, not at all.
While “The Sound of Music” may only be available to buy or rent on Amazon Prime and Vudu right now, chances are your parents or grandparents might even own a DVD or tape (remember those) of this forever classic musical.
Furthermore, “Mary Poppins” and “The Princess Diaries,” two other Andrews classics, are both available on Disney+.
We can remember how much fun the whole Ted and the AFC Richmond family had while we watch, listen and sing along to all of these timeless films.
SO LONG, FAREWELL
So there you have it folks.
While there aren’t many shows like Ted Lasso, us fans, no matter what we loved the show for, have many options to choose from to keep the magic going.
So, now we know that whenever we need a Lasso-esque pick-up, we can kick out negativity with live soccer.. *aghem* football, bid bye-bye to bad vibes with biscuits, feel freer with fashion, laugh with some classic comedies and of course sing anxiety away with Julie Andrews.
Therefore, I think it’s finally time for me to say so long, farewell.
Have you found any shows like Ted Lasso? Let us know in the comments below!