TV shows we love: Ted Lasso by Jonathan Shkurko

I don’t usually warm up to TV comedy shows, often finding them pointless, repetitive and generally lacking the necessary gravitas crucial to maintain my focus for more than one episode.

However, I am happy to add another gem to a very small list of exceptions. I did not expect to like Ted Lasso quite as much as I did. A series focusing on an American football coach (their football) going to England to manage a struggling Premier League team sounded too farfetched to capture my attention.

However, one night after a particularly tough day at work, the need for something light arose so I gave Ted Lasso a go. Wise decision.

Available on Apple TV, the comedy series revolves around Coach Ted, magnificently played by Jason Sudeikis, who has to come to grips with his ignorance in the intricate world of football – our football.

What he lacks in experience, however, he makes up for in humour and humanity and, to everyone’s astonishment, he wins the hearts of the skepticals around him; players, the club president – a majestic Hannah Waddingham – and viewers such as myself, as I went from hating Lasso’s inexpertise to loving his attitude towards every issue arising at AFC Richmond.

Surrounded by a plethora of quirky, yet somehow believable secondary characters – my favourites are the grumpy Roy Kent and the enigmatic Coach Beard – the series touches on serious themes while still keeping its funny tempo, a rare achievement.

Topics such as grief, pressure, divorce and psychological fragility emerge throughout the two-season run, giving Ted Lasso more depth and complexity than anticipated.

But perhaps the best result lies in the successfully fusing American and British comedy, with a narrative that is staunchly opposed to the cynical standards of our times, endearing the viewer and infecting him with good vibes.

The team’s efforts on the pitch are only a narrative pretext to stage the collective and individual redemption of each character, all with weaknesses and difficulties and, therefore, very easy to identify with.

Season 3, recently confirmed by the producers, cannot come soon enough!