Emmy-winning football comedy, Ted Lasso, returns after three years break
August 3, 2026 9:21 am
R) US actor/executive producer Brendan Hunt, English actress Tanya Reynolds, US actor/executive producer Jason Sudeikis, SVP of Apple John Ternus, CEO of Apple Tim Cook, English actress Hannah Waddingham, English actor Jeremy Swift and English actress Juno Temple attend the premiere of Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso” season 4 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California | AFP
With World Cup excitement still reverberating, Apple TV’s football comedy hit Ted Lasso is returning after a three-year hiatus, and according to the cast, they needed no warm-up to get back on the pitch.
“It felt completely and utterly… effortless. Just ridiculously effortless,” Hannah Waddingham told AFP at a press event alongside co-stars Jeremy Swift and Juno Temple ahead of Season 4’s premiere on Wednesday.
“I think we’ve always felt like a family from day one on this,” added Waddingham, the award-winning British actress who plays Rebecca Welton, the formidable owner of the fictional English football club AFC Richmond.
Swift, who portrays club executive Leslie Higgins, chimed in that the cast “hit the ground running” when filming resumed.
The new season of Ted Lasso, which stars Jason Sudeikis in the title role, shifts the action to the optimistic American coach’s native Kansas, where he has been invited to manage a second-division women’s team.
The move allowed the actors to better understand Sudeikis’s inspiration when he co-created the show, one of Apple TV’s most successful series, said Temple, who plays the charismatic model-turned-publicist Keeley Jones.
“It felt like a really, really special way to come back again, to be slightly out of our comfort zone,” said the English actress. “That was great.”
It was vital to “have this kind of beautiful vacation together in a place that’s both very important to Ted and very important to Jason,” Temple said, describing it as “such a fun experience for all three of us.”
Showcasing women’s sports
Ted Lasso debuted on Apple TV in 2020 and became the platform’s flagship series.
In a teaser for its highly anticipated return, Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt appeared in character as Lasso and his assistant, Coach Beard, during the halftime show of last month’s World Cup final between Argentina and Spain.
In the skit, Sudeikis acted as though he were sending pop superstar Justin Bieber into the match as a substitute.
The change in setting has enabled the series to bring back familiar faces, including Sudeikis, Waddingham, Temple, Swift, Hunt and Brett Goldstein, who plays AFC Richmond captain Roy Kent.
It also creates room to introduce new characters, adding fresh tension and comedic drama.
The focus will be on the emerging team, the challenges it faces and the players competing for influence and playing time.
Faye Marsay, who plays the sharp-tongued centre-back Lizzie, said she felt it was appropriate to use the hit series as a “platform to shine light on the problems in women’s sport and the things that we need to do better.”
The show is not “shoving anything down anyone’s throat,” she said, but it is highlighting challenges facing women athletes, including motherhood and equal treatment.
“I think we do it in a kind of subtle and graceful way.”
Apple TV will release weekly episodes of Ted Lasso until the season finale premieres on October 7.
AFP
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