Ted Lasso’s ‘Nate’ Drops Oblique Hint of More to Come
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It’s been nearly a year since the star of Apple’s most popular comedy show hung up his cleats, but there might be a glimmer of hope for fans hoping to see more of Ted Lasso.
When Ted Lasso debuted four years ago, Jason Sudeikis’ portrayal of the eponymous character — an affable and somewhat bewildered American college football coach called across the pond to head up an English Premier League soccer team — quickly captured our hearts. Initially hired by a bitter divorcee in an attempt to torpedo her ex-husband’s much-loved team, Lasso turns out to be charming and delightful enough to win over even his most vocal opponents.
The show resonated with viewers in a way that few recent comedies have and became a landmark series for Apple. Season 2 brought in record viewers, became the most nominated freshman comedy series in Emmy Awards history (beating out 2010’s Glee), and walked away with a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, plus three others.
Needless to say, many folks were disappointed when the third season turned out to be the end. However, even as producers prepared to wrap Ted Lasso, most of the stars remained cagey about whether it was truly over. Sudeikis said it was “the end of this story that we wanted to tell” but stopped short of ruling out future stories featuring Lasso.
By all accounts, Ted Lasso was written for three seasons from the very start. While it’s hard to say whether Apple or Warner Bros ever had any concrete plans to continue the show beyond that in some way, it’s hard to believe they haven’t explored the possibility.
If such discussions are occurring, they’re being held very quietly, as we haven’t heard a peep from any of the usual sources about a new season of Ted Lasso. The only thing we’ve heard recently is news that the series is coming to Blu-ray on July 30 — and it will be packaged as Ted Lasso: The Complete Series.
While a title like that would seem to signal the end, one series regular is teasing that there could be more. Earlier today, 9to5Mac spotted a tweet from Nick Mohammed, aka Nate Shelley, offering a subtle hint that “The Complete Series” may not be so complete after all.
It’s hard to say whether Nick knows more than he’s telling here. He could just be playing with fans, but, as 9to5Mac’s Zac Hall points out, that would be “too cruel.”
While Apple doesn’t share numbers directly, most analysts peg Ted Lasso as still at the top of the streaming charts on Apple TV+. It’s also one of very few Apple TV+ shows to come out on physical media and by far the most successful.
Still, it would be impossible to continue Ted Lasso without Ted Lasso, which means Sudeikis would have to be on board. However, he has something in common with the character he plays, as he also left his son behind in the US to shoot Ted Lasso in London. That’s something he reportedly wasn’t too thrilled about and may be unlikely to return unless the new season was set closer to home.
This means it’s also possible what we might be seeing instead is a spinoff series that takes place in the Lasso-verse. The series certainly left us with a few angles for that, including continuing the story of AFC Richmond with Roy Kent taking the helm from Ted to take the team to win the Premier League title or focusing on the AFC Richmond Women’s Team that Keeley proposed at the conclusion of season 3 — something that actress Juno Temple obliquely hinted at in an interview with Deadline last year.
However, Haddah Waddingham (“Rebecca Welton”) told The Hollywood Reporter in November that there’s no word of a spinoff, and she wouldn’t want to do one without Ted anyway, adding that “I can’t imagine really a world where Rebecca exists without Ted because they are each other’s inspiration.”
