Ted Lasso: What the Must Watch reviewers think
Every week, the Must Watch podcasters review the biggest TV and streaming shows.
This week, Hayley Campbell and Scott Bryan share their thoughts on Ted Lasso.
The Apple TV+ comedy stars Saturday Night Live’s Jason Sudeikis as an American Football coach who heads to the UK to manage a struggling London soccer team.
Have you been watching it? What did you think? Leave your comments below...
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(Photo: Apple TV+)
Scott says: "It becomes this brilliant, lovely, thoughtful, comedy drama"
“I was really worried about this one just because the story consists of a character moving from the US to the UK and I was thinking, ‘oh it’s going to be stereotyped, there’ll be big red buses, Tower Bridge, there’s going to be lots of references to tea and the Queen.'
"All of that happens in the first five minutes, which had me even more worried. It then becomes this brilliant, lovely, thoughtful comedy drama that looks into all of the various differences between the US and the UK. For example, our British cynicism about absolutely everything versus the US enthusiasm for things.
“I was pleasantly surprised by how well it’s been crafted. It’s a football comedy but it’s not really a football comedy. It’s more about a workplace comedy about the cultural difference between our two nations. There are only three episodes out at the moment and they’re dropping one a week, so I don’t know whether it will have enough energy to sustain itself for the first 10 but I would say from what I’ve seen so far, it is a Must Watch.”
(Photo: Apple TV+)
Hayley says: "It's very watchable... it just isn't my bag"
“This one was a little bit too much of a heart-warming sports comedy for me. But I'm hardly going to complain that it's good at being exactly what it set out to be.
“It is very well cast: Hannah Waddingham who we know best as ‘The Shame Nun’ in Game of Thrones, is excellent as the spiteful owner of the club. She dominates every scene she is in, and it's still amazing to think that it’s her inside that nun outfit. Nick Mohammed can’t help but be hilarious even if he is just standing there; I just wish he was in it more. Juno Temple is really good as one of the footballer’s girlfriends as well.
“However, I thought the main character, Ted Lasso, wasn’t half as interesting as some of the British supporting characters around him. It has a lot of good lines, some well-observed differences between America and the UK, and I think it's ultimately very watchable, but it just isn’t my bag. It’s not awful and there is definitely an audience out there for it.”
(Photo: Apple TV+)
Ted Lasso is available now on Apple TV+.
Must Watch is available as a podcast every Monday evening from BBC Sounds, or through your podcast app.
This week, the team are joined by Nick Mohammed from Ted Lasso. They also review Lovecraft Country on Sky Atlantic and Harry Hill’s World of TV on BBC Two.
Plus, how Have I Got News For You is bringing back studio audiences and the latest cast announcements for the Crown’s final two seasons.
