Ted Lasso Season 1 (2020)

An American football coach taking charge of an English Premier League team sounds like the setup for a comedy. It is a comedy. But Ted Lasso doesn’t end there. This series, released on Apple TV+ in 2020, uses sport as a backdrop while telling a story that is really about how people treat each other. Co-created by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, and Brendan Hunt, it has the unusual origin of beginning as a promotional character for NBC Sports before developing into a full dramatic series.

What it’s about — A coach who knows nothing about football takes charge

Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is a coach who has been running an American college football program. Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), who wants to destroy her ex-husband’s club, hires Ted — a man with no experience or knowledge of English football — as manager of AFC Richmond. The broad arc of Season 1 follows the situations that arise as Ted leads the club while barely knowing the rules of the game. But the heart of the story is how Ted’s boundless optimism and goodwill transforms the cynics around him.

Direction — Balancing comedy and emotion

Season 1 runs 10 episodes of around 30 minutes each, making it easy to watch without commitment. The direction strikes the right balance between comedic timing and emotional resonance. It never strains for laughs and never forces the heartfelt moments. Characters’ gradual transformations are carefully stacked episode by episode, and when you look back at the end of those 10 episodes you sense you’ve traveled quite a distance. The world-building that makes the fictional city and club of Richmond feel real is also impressive.

Performance & characters — Wounds hidden behind warmth

Jason Sudeikis, who is also a producer on this show, portrays Ted’s warmth alongside the wound that warmth conceals in equal measure. Being an optimist doesn’t mean being relentlessly cheerful — the scenes that quietly reveal where that optimism came from give the character real depth. Hannah Waddingham’s Rebecca begins as a cold and calculating figure but emerges through Season 1 as the most three-dimensional character in the ensemble. Brett Goldstein’s Roy Kent and Jeremy Swift’s Higgins are also outstanding supporting performances that the season cannot do without.

What the work says — Believing in people over winning

What Ted Lasso says at its core is that process matters more than results, and people matter more than winning. The approach of a football manager who prioritizes helping his players become better people over teaching them how to win directly challenges the grammar of competition-first sports drama. The message that sincerity gets through in a world full of cynicism may sound awkward, but this series knows how to deliver it convincingly.

Ratings & reception

IMDb gives it 8.8 — very high. After Season 1’s release, it received multiple Emmy nominations in the Comedy Series category, and Jason Sudeikis won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Critics particularly praised the series’ ability to handle comedy and emotional resonance simultaneously, and its form of positivity that never slides into cliché.

What falls short

Without some knowledge of football or English culture, certain jokes will go over your head. Season 1 also functions more as an introduction to the full series — the characters’ stories deepen properly from Season 2 onward. The short episode length does mean the series ends quickly, which can leave you wanting more.

Verdict

Ted Lasso Season 1 shows that warmth can carry real force in a cynical world. It looks like a sports drama but is really a drama about human relationships and growth. The humor Ted delivers every episode doesn’t feel cheap because it comes from a genuine place — the result of Sudeikis personally creating and inhabiting this character. If you want the experience of laughing through it and then realizing at some point that your heart has warmed, this is the one to reach for. Rating: ★4.0.

Recommended for

• Viewers who want comedy and emotional resonance at the same time
• Anyone looking for a short-episode series to watch with a light heart
• People who want a sports drama that requires no knowledge of sports to enjoy