It’s been almost a year since the final episode of Ted Lasso‘s second season aired — and for the show’s continuing pop-cultural presence to prompt comparisons between its title character and basically every American coaching or otherwise running a team in the world of English soccer. Following a host of wins at this year’s Emmys and reports that the upcoming season will be its last, countless Ted Lasso viewers have wondered just when they might see that third season.
It’s a question that doesn’t have a clear answer — but if a recent behind-the-scenes report from Matthew Belloni at Puck is any indication, the answer sure sounds like a case of later rather than sooner. Belloni points to a comment made by the show’s star and co-creator Jason Sudekis at the Emmys, when he said that season three would air “at some point.”
Belloni’s article explores the different factors that have caused Ted Lasso season three to take longer than one might expect, especially for a show that’s largely built around interpersonal dynamics and relationships. One reason he points to is a change in showrunners — Bill Lawrence, best known for his work on Scrubs, filled that role for the first two seasons, with Sudekis taking over this year. That, in turn, led to a number of scripts being rewritten.
Ted Lasso‘s heightened popularity may have also inadvertently led to some delays for the upcoming season. In late 2021, the show announced that it had signed a licensing deal with the Premier League allowing for wider use of different teams’ kits and logos on Ted Lasso. In his article, Belloni cites an example of how the show’s wider levels of access may have led to further delays — namely, that the sanctions against then-Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, and Abramovich’s subsequent sale of the club, delayed the filming of part of the season.
Also, it turns out Ted Lasso is a more effects-heavy show than you might realize — with stadium sequences in particular involving a lot of work done in post-production.
There’s a lot covered in Belloni’s article, including some informed speculation about whether a season four is out of the question. If you have been waiting patiently for the next season, might I recommend co-star and writer Brett Goldstein’s podcast Films to Be Buried With to tide you over? Given that Goldstein has interviewed a number of his castmates on the show, there’s also no small amount of behind-the-scenes looks at Ted Lasso to be found there — along with a lot of great conversations about films and television to boot.
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