Ted Lasso: What the Show Is About, Why People Love It and What’s New in Season 4
“Ted Lasso” is a show about an American coach who knows nothing about European football being hired by an English club. It sounds like a one-joke premise, yet the series has won 13 Emmy Awards, was named best comedy two years in a row, and its fourth season aired in autumn 2026. Here’s a spoiler-free look at what the show is about, why people love it and what’s new in season 4.
What the show is about
Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) is an American football coach from Kansas. Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham), the new owner of London club AFC Richmond, unexpectedly hires him as head coach of her Premier League team. Ted doesn’t know the rules, mixes up the terms and can’t understand how a match can end in a draw — and that’s exactly why he got the job. What Rebecca is really after becomes clear in the first episodes.
From there it’s less a story about football than about people: aging captain Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), star striker and egomaniac Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), quiet kit man Nate (Nick Mohammed), Keeley Jones (Juno Temple) and the taciturn Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt). Ted almost never shouts — he genuinely believes in people, and that slowly changes the whole team.
Where Ted Lasso came from
The character first appeared in 2013 in promos for NBC Sports, which had just started showing the English Premier League in the US. Sudeikis played an American coach appointed to manage Tottenham Hotspur; the clips went viral, and a few years later the joke grew into a full series. It was developed by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence (creator of “Scrubs”), Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly.
Seasons
| Season | Year | Episodes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2020 | 10 |
| 2 | 2021 | 12 |
| 3 | 2023 | 12 |
| 4 | 2026 | 10 |
That’s 44 episodes in total, 30 to 60 minutes each. Season 3 was meant to be the last one, but in March 2025 Apple announced the show would continue.
Why people love it
- Kind, but not saccharine. The characters make mistakes, fight and go through heavy topics — divorce, panic attacks, difficult fathers. The show doesn’t pretend life is simple, but it shows that being a decent person isn’t a weakness.
- Genuinely funny. The jokes come from characters and dialogue rather than cringe. Roy Kent alone can get a laugh with a single word.
- You don’t need to like football. There aren’t many matches on screen, and you don’t need to know the rules — Ted doesn’t either, at first.
- Memorable details. The “BELIEVE” sign above the locker-room door, the biscuits Ted brings Rebecca every morning, and the darts scene that turned “Be curious, not judgmental” into a widely shared quote.
Awards
- Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2021 and 2022.
- Jason Sudeikis — Emmy for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (2021 and 2022) and a Golden Globe.
- Supporting-role Emmys went to Hannah Waddingham (2021) and Brett Goldstein (2021 and 2022).
- Season 1 earned 20 Emmy nominations — the most ever for a first-season comedy.
In total, the series has won 13 Emmy Awards.
Season 4: what’s new
Season 4 premiered on Apple TV on August 5, 2026: 10 episodes, one every Wednesday, with the finale on October 7. Ted returns to Richmond and takes on the biggest challenge of his career — coaching a second-division women’s team.
Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt and Jeremy Swift (club director Higgins) are back. The new faces are the players on Ted’s team: Tanya Reynolds, Faye Marsay, Abbie Hern, Jude Mack, Rex Hayes and Aisling Sharkey.
As of November 5, 2026, nothing has been announced about season 5 — neither a renewal nor a cancellation.
Where to watch
All four seasons stream exclusively on Apple TV (formerly Apple TV+) with a subscription.
Who will enjoy it
If you like “Scrubs”, “Parks and Recreation” or “Schitt’s Creek”, “Ted Lasso” is almost certainly for you. Start with season 1: it’s the most tightly told, and the characters open up gradually.
