Why would production companies and streaming networks turn a commercial into a TV show or a feature-length film? Have they run out of ideas? Did they not learn their lesson from the failures of the 2007 sitcom “Cavemen,” which is based on the Geico caveman commercials, or the 2018 film “Uncle Drew”? Apparently not. Apple TV+’s debut of the former NBC Sports commercial turned TV series “Ted Lasso” follows these previously failed production patterns but after watching the first two 30-minute episodes, I was hooked.
After the commercials saw success and drew 14 million views on the NBCSportsNetwork YouTube page for the first video in 2013 and seven million in a subsequent commercial a year later, the developers saw an opportunity to stretch it into something bigger. The premise of the show is still pretty simple. Ted Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis with a folksy southern twang) is an American football coach from Kansas City who gets hired to manage an English professional soccer club, AFC Richmond, without any experience in the sport. The players don’t like him, the media outright laughs at his hiring and the fans lampoon him. You might question why he got the job in the first place (like me), but that question is answered rather quickly into the pilot, and it leaves you curious enough to keep watching the storylines play out. The TV show references plenty of overdone America vs. England disparities like the steering wheel being on different sides of the car or calling it a cookie rather than a biscuit. You would expect these quips from the shallow commercials that gave birth to the character, but the show quickly branches out into something much more unrestrained and imaginative.
Don’t come into the show expecting any sort of high-brow and nuanced comedy that has an underlying message, but it will surprise you with explicit jokes, eyebrow-raising jokes and interesting characterization. Sudeikis can be thanked for his work as the show’s charming and funny main character as well as one of the writers and developers alongside Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly.
The jump from short form to long form can be likened to “Saturday Night Live” sketches like Mike Myers and Dana Carvey’s “Wayne’s World” or even John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s “The Blues Brothers.” Sudeikis, who spent 10 years as a writer and cast member at SNL, is comfortable in his role as Lasso. Sudeikis and the rest of the creators give him a complex marital situation and some unsuspecting wit, coupled with his naive and optimistic exterior that the original commercials displayed. They add interesting side characters like the conniving and jealous owner of the club, the egotistical top scorer, the water boy who knows a lot more than he’s given credit for and many more. They craft those characters in a true-to-life world and fill the scenes with an abundance of hijinks.
Based on its origins, “Ted Lasso” has no business being this enjoyable and promising. The commercial turned TV series builds on its premise to create an inspired world with compelling characters. As it goes along, Lasso is trying to win the heart of the audience and the AFC Richmond players. I think he might succeed with both.
Andrew Walsh 