Season two is dropping today (23 July 2021) and we managed to catch the first few episodes. We have to say, it's as good as Season One, if not better.
For those of you who've never watched the show or brushed it off as too silly a concept (as many did only to change their minds after watching it), the series starring Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso is a feel good show about a small-time college American football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional football team in England, despite having no experience coaching football.
The show also stars Brendan Hunt as Coach Beard, who arrives in England with Lasso and has more of a clue about the game.
The new season shows more of Richmond FC's (the team Lasso and Beard coaches) struggles, introduction of new characters and a less than perfect side of Lasso.
While 'Ted Lasso' is meant to be a comedy, it's also touching and will have you rooting both for the optimistic coach as well as the floundering team.
The series was developed by Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Joe Kelly and Hunt, and is based on the pre-existing format and characters from NBC Sports.
Rojak Daily was lucky enough to join a media roundtable to speak with Sudeikis and Hunt on developing the new season and shooting during a pandemic, the success of the show and more.
"We missed the snacks"
The pandemic has forced everyone and almost every industry to adapt to the "new normal" way of working. This includes the entertainment industry and it's no easy feat to pull off and entire show considering the kind of collaboration a production needs.
Sudeikis explained that he didn't much issues when it came to editing but it was harder to adapt when it came to writing.
"I hadn't done the level of editing. I worked at SNL live and we'd edit pieces here and there, like pre-taped pieces, but I was learning something on the fly in the situation. The second half of the first season was edited through the screen on zoom with with our amazing post production team.
"And so it was new for them too, but I didn't have any predisposition nor was I precondition to the experience so that was fine by me. And it continues to this day as I've been in the UK while editing and then here in New York, while our editors are for the most part in LA.
"The thing that did change that we did feel, and we're all aware of was having our writers room on zoom," he shared, adding that the team had to be more intentional with their time.
"So, it was smaller amount of times, a lot less snacks, to be honest with you, but there's a certain magic and alchemy that you feel when you're in a room with your friends and strangers," the actor said, with Hunt chiming in with "Yeah, we missed the snacks."
Sudeikis said that group evolved and managed to get the work done but he was looking forward to being back to the those spaces.
Speaking about shooting the show itself, Hunt said that one of the huge difference was the experience of putting on masks and visors between takes and "make up people coming at you getting in your face and they look like they're from science fiction".
The other part that hit him was not being able to hug or hang out with those working on the set.
"But the sad part is, we didn't get to hang out, like season one. We were routinely going for drinks after after work day in Richmond or in Notting Hill or whatever and like seeing London a little bit, but season two is no London to be seen.
"We were in lockdown. And we stayed in lockdown. So when we say goodbye for the day, we said goodbye. And, and that was just, yeah, it's just a different dynamic," Hunt said.
Success of the show and becoming an inspiration
Being an uplifting, positive show, Ted Lasso is almost like a flicker of light in a dark room during this pandemic although the creators didn't deliberately intend for it to be so.
"We didn't set out to inspire people per se. We wanted to make this fun story in this fun show that had a character in it who likes to inspire people but we didn't.. we could not have expected the reaction that it got," Hunt said.
He added that in terms of maintaining the inspiration people were getting from the show, they will continue doing with they originally did, which is continue writing the comedy.
Calling 'Ted Lasso' a "vibe" and not just a character or show, Sudeikis said that it's a philosophy that every human being have in them that life sometimes mutes.
He added that almost everybody who worked on the show in season one as well as two were proud of what they made.
"The first season is an invisible thing until it's not. Everybody's just sort of trusting and going with the flow, and you're trying to follow notes and a tone that's sort of invisible, but you're getting a sense of it depending on how much you're keeping yourself open to the elements.
"So I think people were really, really proud of the show, and that came from within themselves as individuals, and then within the group, and then to have the response to the show both critically and then on social media, and then award wise, that's just sort of like, wow," Sedeiski added.
Although Ted Lasso team didn't expect the kind of response the show recived, Hunt said that he first started feeling good about the show in season one when the crew started laughing during shoot.
Catch season 2 of 'Ted Lasso' on Apple TV+
First episode of 'Ted Lasso' Season 2 is now available on Apple TV+.
If you need a pick me up, we suggest you start watching the show!