Is there a Ted Lasso season 4? Will Apple TV comedy continue after ...
TV
Is there a Ted Lasso season 4? Will Apple TV comedy continue after series 3 finale - and spin-off rumoursWith season three of Apple TV+ sports comedy Ted Lasso about to end, fans are hopeful that the show will return
Ted Lasso is one of the most popular sports comedy shows of the last decade - the series follows the titular character, played by We’re the Millers star Jason Sudeikis, a US college football coach who moved to London to take over as manager of AFC Richmond.
When Ted comes to the UK, Richmond is a struggling Premier League club in urgent need of a turnaround to avoid relegation. The show is like a scripted version of Welcome to Wrexham, a Disney+ documentary series about North American actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney who bought a Welsh football club.
It has long been understood that season three of Ted Lasso will bring the show’s main storyline to an end, and fans of the series are concerned that it will be the final season, with the cast and crew seemingly reinforcing these fears.
However, it remains a possibility that Apple TV will continue the Ted Lasso universe in some form in the future, whether that is with a fourth season of the show that goes beyond the original vision, or a spin-off series following secondary characters.
Will there be a Ted Lasso season 4?
The final episode of the third season was titled So Long, Farewell which sounds pretty final. This episode will conclude the three season storyline that the show’s creators Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly had planned from the start.
However, given Ted Lasso’s huge popularity (it has so far bagged 11 Emmy awards and is one of the most watched shows on Apple TV+) its possible that the series could continue.
Co-creator Brendan Hunt suggested that a new arc is possible even though the series had always been conceived of as a three season run.
The show’s star Jason Sudeikis has been firmer on ending with season three, telling Deadline that he was flattered that fans wanted to see more of the show but that the third season was the end of the story he wanted to tell.
Will there be a Ted Lasso spin-off?
As the show’s main star, Sudeikis, has thrown cold water on hopes for season four, one way that Ted Lasso could continue is through a spin-off following some of the supporting characters.
The prime candidates for a spin-off show include Sam Obisanya, played by Toheeb Jimoh, a midfielder for Richmond AFC and the owner of a Nigerian restaurant, and Trent Crimm (James Lance) a sports journalist working on a book about Richmond.
In fact almost any of the shows other characters - Roy Kent, Nathan Shelley, Rebecca Welton, Jamie Tartt - are strong enough to lead their own spin-off.
So far a Ted Lasso spin-off is yet to be confirmed - watch this space for updates.
The best and worst TV spin-offs
'The art of the TV show spin-off - it's all about the characters', says entertainment writer Steven Ross
Some TV spin-offs work so well that they develop their own fanbase and identity separate from their parent show - Better Call Saul was a monumental success, in some ways surpassing Breaking Bad, because of the phenomenal performances from Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn. Other popular spin-offs include Torchwood (from Doctor Who), The Flash (from Arrow) and House of the Dragon (from Game of Thrones).
But sometimes spin-offs really don’t pan out and are best forgotten about. One of the most egregious examples is Joey, a spin-off from one of the most popular US sitcoms of all time, Friends. Joey, played by Matt LeBlanc, was always a comic relief character, and key part of a strong ensemble. Making Joey the lead was a bad idea and ultimately the show was canned after two seasons. For other clangers see The Cleveland Show (from Family Guy), The Glee Project (from Glee), and Ravenswood (from Pretty Little Liars).
