Ted Lasso

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flyonthewall2983
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Ted Lasso

#1 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:03 am

I'm watching Ted Lasso on AppleTV, and I must say it's quite charming. Never been a huge fan of Jason Sudeikis but he does an amazing job carrying this show, or at least helps carrying it since the other roles stand out on their own quite a bit. For some reason the first episode didn't grab me but I gave the next one a shot and a few days later I'm almost done with the whole season.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: TV of 2020

#2 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:31 am

flyonthewall2983 wrote:
Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:03 am
I'm watching Ted Lasso on AppleTV, and I must say it's quite charming. Never been a huge fan of Jason Sudeikis but he does an amazing job carrying this show, or at least helps carrying it since the other roles stand out on their own quite a bit. For some reason the first episode didn't grab me but I gave the next one a shot and a few days later I'm almost done with the whole season.
Ted Lasso grabbed me from episode one, and although we're only one season in, I feel secure in declaring that this is not only a hilarious and clever show, but one of the most inspirational detailings of the readily accessible power of good-naturedness, and the inherent value of community, that I’ve ever seen. Specifically, we’re gifted an encouraging ethos of selflessness, that it’s better to understand than to be understood, to give than to get, to focus outward instead of inward. Though this isn’t blindly supported, and there’s great care placed into the reality that this attitude has its faults, and limitations, as well as selfish implications in defense mechanisms- but this is itself reframed into the courage to embrace change, and seize opportunities to both empower ourselves against fear and yield futile attempts at control, no matter how the consequences fit with our internal desires for self. The challenges of 'letting go' are documented with grace, especially once certain characters unexpectedly open their hearts to help one another with issues they themselves struggle with- echoing the "miracle of these empty hands" spirit.

The show is an absolute delight in every respect, Lasso operating as a peak-Bogdanovich optimist without the ego, and Jason Sudeikis earns all the accolades that have been so deservedly showered upon him for creating, and then embodying, this beautiful character with a radiant authenticity clearly believed by its host. The supporting cast is right on par with him though, and Nate the Great’s speech in episode 7 made me literally cry with gratitude for the trust, intimacy, and self-betterment only attainable through the supports that help us unlock our own strengths- reciprocally for him, and then ignited by him for others. This cyclical pattern of cultivating and accumulating love is not sourced in the selfish stubbornness of waiting for someone to ‘deserve’ dignity by initiating what we crave before we give, but rather in the courage of 'going first' ourselves, of seeing the good in everyone that is capable of being extracted, and daring to get out of our own way to try. "Be curious, not judgmental," as Lasso stresses with genuine conviction during the dart game, and the subsequent demonstrations of unconditional forgiveness, speak volumes in how they've woven into the spiritual progression of the principals of the show.

Rarely have I seen an artistic work that so perfectly translates my own philosophy of personal and collective growth, and the solution-focused therapeutic practices that authorize us to access our full potential. This is like the bright complement to the pathos in BoJack's poignant sage comprehension of recovery principles extrapolated into all of life circumstances. Like a Bogdanovich film, or Ed, there are so many opportunities for the show to become vicious, and it indeed establishes setpieces for cruelty to transpire, but shamelessly dodges them, usurping expectations with charity and swift bouts of transparent honesty in its narrative structure to fulfill the branded thematic self-reflexivity. It’s a shame Apple TV will probably never release this on blu, for I can see myself watching it repeatedly for the rest of my life.

Edit: I haven't read much about Sudeikis' specific operations in creating his character, but it seems quite autobiographical in several ways... obviously the humble origins growing up in Kansas, but I wouldn't be surprised if his relationship with Wilde and his son were being therapeutically processed given how season one goes. This only adds an additional layer of earnestness to the tone of the show.

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Murdoch
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Re: TV of 2021

#3 Post by Murdoch » Fri Jun 24, 2022 10:59 pm

I just subscribed to Apple TV and am catching up with Ted Lasso. I can see the appeal, it's filling the wholesome Parks and Rec void, albeit with a few fucks thrown in. Sudeikis is likeable, if occasionally grating in his fast-paced wide-eyed quips. It's TV empty calories, there's little tension or stakes, even when the team loses, and the sport at the center of the show is basically just in the background by season 2. Despite having no interest in the sport, I was hoping that the concept of American football coach going to England to become a European football coach would get more play. Instead, the show settles into being a basic workplace comedy by its second season. I had too high expectations for a fusion of P&R with Friday Night Lights, but the writing is nowhere near as strong as those shows.
Last edited by Murdoch on Thu Jun 01, 2023 5:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: TV of 2021

#4 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Jun 25, 2022 12:35 am

Ted's staple pop culture references felt a bit forced in S2, and the show definitely strayed from its tighter focus into riskier and looser terrain, but I think that's a strength, or at the least a necessary redirection. The first season's forward momentum (including its constant subversion of sprawling side-narrative arcs by diffusing the problems almost as soon as they were teased) was unsustainable without giving into some of those B-stories and allowing them to develop in novel ways. I like how honest the show is about how our emotional psychological parts affect us, while giving its characters more credit than most shows or films do at tapping into their potential to work through their baggage. I didn't like S2 as much at the first, but I admire it for going for something different, and the Coach Beard After Hours/Into the Night ep was inspired even if the bulk of the show's fanbase raised hell over its departure in tone!

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Toland's Mitchell
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Re: TV of 2023

#5 Post by Toland's Mitchell » Sun May 14, 2023 5:57 pm

I'm six episodes into this season of Ted Lasso. Anybody here watching?

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therewillbeblus
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Re: TV of 2023

#6 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun May 14, 2023 6:44 pm

Toland's Mitchell wrote:
Sun May 14, 2023 5:57 pm
I'm six episodes into this season of Ted Lasso. Anybody here watching?
Touched on this a bit in the Shrinking thread, but that show is really progressing where Lasso is regressing. The last episode was okay with a good message from Roy, but everything has become incredibly predictable and overly dramatized, which seems to violate what made the series so novel and inspiring to begin with. Namely, how it subverted nearly every opportunity to dwell in what would typically be season-long arcs of conflict with a simple message that we play a role in the inflation of our problems, and maybe problem-sizing is a technique we should all use a bit more often. I appreciated the second-season pivot into looking at the flip side of that: how minimizing problems too much prevents us from doing the deep work, but I don't think the show is actually interested in depth and change, at least not in the way it thinks it is. Nearly every episode feels like a slog, full of tired humor and obvious flags for where we're headed, and I can't imagine it sticking a landing after abandoning its ethos for an, ironically, more simplified path of becoming like every other show.

The episodes are also so bloated and don't seem to possess a skilled organizational grasp to justify their length. They often feel exhausting and vapid.

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Toland's Mitchell
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Re: TV of 2023

#7 Post by Toland's Mitchell » Sun May 14, 2023 11:33 pm

I'm not the biggest champion of the series, but the charm and good nature of Ted Lasso has kept me watching despite its problems. I agree the subplots and joke attempts are hit-or-miss as of late, and the show was probably better when its episodes were 30 minutes instead of 60. Still, whenever I think I'm growing tired of it, it pleasantly surprises me with a knockout episode. Season 3 has thwarted my expectations twice with the sudden appearance and disappearance of the Zava character (although currently being three episodes behind, I suppose it's possible he could suddenly reappear but I doubt it). That said, my most recent episode was the one in Amsterdam, which I liked quite a bit. The satire on the team's groupthink was effective, wherein most of the team never left their hotel on their one curfew-free night in Amsterdam. I also liked Leslie's story that evening, taking his son to a jazz club. And then there was Ted, who spent the evening alone, looking inside himself, questioning his current purpose in life. Ultimately, he came up with a new plan for the team during a drug-induced hallucination. This left me skeptical that the show may take a well-trodden path from here, given there are only six episodes left. However, Lasso has surprised me before, so I won't rule out surprising me again. And even if does take the path I suspect, in the words of Trent Crimm, "I can't help but root for him."

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therewillbeblus
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Re: TV of 2023

#8 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun May 14, 2023 11:58 pm

I can’t stand him by this point. The show isn’t even interested in him anymore but it thinks it is, yet provides no development or introspection into his inertia. It’s always better when it’s focused on other characters. Few things bother me more than his dynamic with his ex-wife, who just nods and gives no acknowledgment when Ted anxiously fails at half-initiating real fair concerns to her
SpoilerShow
like forming an unethical romantic relationship with their couples therapist, who’s now the stand-in dad back home… both parents come forth with the most toxic qualities around this and yet the worst one they share is the lack of transparent recognition about the situation or one another’s feelings or responses (she literally smiles and says goodnight after he tries to say anything vulnerably, setting a boundary right after saying she’s open to talking). That’s one way to fuck up your kid- but of course the show genuinely thinks that can be resolved with a Beatles analogy and spending a moment singing apparently

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Roger Ryan
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Re: TV of 2023

#9 Post by Roger Ryan » Mon May 15, 2023 7:49 am

I'm frustrated with the way Ted Lasso keeps negating what it set up in the first two seasons for no good reason.
SpoilerShow
The most obvious example is the abandonment of any friction with Nate who ended the second season full of repressed anger towards Ted, accepting the offer to coach for a competing team which would logically set up the conflict being extended to the playing field. Instead, we got one half-baked scene in which Ted diffuses Nate's anger and the rest of this season has been cuddly Nate successfully dating the restaurant hostess. Perhaps worse than that is bringing the distant ex-wife into the show with the therapist boyfriend in tow... only to imply that she may want to return to a relationship with Ted.
I did like the episode set in Amsterdam, however, if only because it had a few good laughs which this show isn't delivering much of anymore.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: TV of 2023

#10 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue May 23, 2023 10:29 pm

Toland's Mitchell wrote:
Sun May 14, 2023 11:33 pm
I'm not the biggest champion of the series, but the charm and good nature of Ted Lasso has kept me watching despite its problems. I agree the subplots and joke attempts are hit-or-miss as of late, and the show was probably better when its episodes were 30 minutes instead of 60. Still, whenever I think I'm growing tired of it, it pleasantly surprises me with a knockout episode.
This show was losing me big-time, and halfway through tonight’s longest ep yet, I was ready to give up on the show completely. But then it circled back to its simple ethos of rehabilitation and forgiveness in ways that were revealing and cathartic, and held this side by side with complex IFS therapy unloading (itself a balance of making space for conflicting feelings). The show recycled back into what made it special to begin with, adding in the messy truth of that simplicity not being ‘enough’ as exemplified by the second season and a half. Here we are, near the end, and they pulled off the hat trick. It’s still not great and has worn it’s welcome, but I’m glad they followed through on the promise rather than just letting it go, as we seemed to be heading in

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Toland's Mitchell
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Re: TV of 2023

#11 Post by Toland's Mitchell » Fri May 26, 2023 3:21 pm

^Glad to hear the Ted Lasso is improving during its home stretch.

I had just seen Ep. 6 (the Amsterdam one) on my last post, and was a disappointed to read the responses from RR and TWBB who were/are more caught up than me. At the point I had left off, the internal conflicts of the show, mainly Ted-Nate, Richmond-West Ham, Ted's family struggles, were still feeling strong, and I wrongly assumed they would pick up after the epiphanous Amsterdam episode. I've now seen episodes 7 through 9, and oof, what a mess they were. As mentioned, these episodes avoided the central conflicts we had been primed to see unfold, casually brushed them aside and replaced them with other subplots that felt under-baked to a degree (E.g. Keeley's new job and romantic relationship, Sam's new restaurant, Nate and the hostess). I'll make an exception for the Collin-Isaac conflict, which I found was the one subplot that properly followed through. Still, episodes 7 through 9 of this current season was perhaps the worst 3-episode stretch in the series. But there's no point in quitting now since the finale is next week, and I'll be fully caught up by then. And once again, it's nice to hear (both from TWBB and peers IRL) that episodes 10 and 11 are an improvement.

Am I alone in thinking Dr. Sharon is sorely missed in this season?

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therewillbeblus
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Re: TV of 2023

#12 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri May 26, 2023 3:44 pm

She is, but that would require more attention on Ted, who's easily become the least interesting character. I like the idea that Ted is doing his work with her off-camera, that we don't need to be invited to because it's not affecting the system (i.e. resulting in panic attacks that impact other characters) and is just the long-term private therapeutic work. The 'less sexy' stuff that makes up the bulk of therapy (read: not constant "breakthroughs") which isn't exactly prime entertainment. But her presence would definitely enrich Ted's characterization.

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Murdoch
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Re: TV of 2023

#13 Post by Murdoch » Wed May 31, 2023 11:34 pm

Ted Lasso's series finale was a nice return to form for the show, which really dragged this last season.

The season's plotlines mostly were filler and the writing felt rudderless as it jumped from one place to the next (Keely starts her own PR firm, Rebecca goes to Amsterdam and has a fling, the prospect of an exclusive super league rears its head only to peter out instantly). There are some inspired moments, like Ted's son's visit and Nate's disillusionment with Rupert, but I got lost in all the various characters and their conflicts, and I sorely missed what brought me to the show to begin with - a fish-out-of-water about an American coaching football.

What kept me coming back to the show, despite its cloying tone, was the depth it explored its central character's underlying anxiety and the game itself (the latter unfortunately became an afterthought as the show went on). I think each successive season struggled to keep momentum, and the roughly hour-long episodes were all in desperate need of trimming. It was a bloated mess by the end. I think it will always be a show I remember enjoying more than I actually did, and that's purely because of the good faith bought by the show at its best.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: TV of 2023

#14 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed May 31, 2023 11:58 pm

The penultimate episode was a pleasant enough full circle effect, but this was the most flashy “We Are Not Coming Back, Got It?” series finale that could possible be conceived. It felt concocted by a focus group combing through every superfan tweet to ensure mass satisfaction. The Sound of Music bit almost made me bail, Rupert’s evil villain cape blowing in the wind during his evil entrance and folding back into a normal coat during his emasculated exit made me laugh (as did the Cat Stevens song about fathers and sons unironically playing over reunions of fathers and sons), and the way the show constantly nudged us with exhibitions of the new BF’s inappropriate apathy as a gateway to what’s next in the parents’ union was irritating for so many reasons not worth wasting breath on (but, for starters, after refusing to show any willingness from either parent for three seasons, that’s how it’s earned?!) The moment when the melodramatic tension broke as the team worked to actually put the sign’s puzzle together was funny and inspired, but that’s as much charity as I can throw its way. Even the Rupert burns and Diamond Dogs advice and team spirit pump ups felt hackneyed scraps left on the floor of earlier episodes’ writing rooms

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Roger Ryan
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Re: TV of 2023

#15 Post by Roger Ryan » Thu Jun 01, 2023 8:47 am

therewillbeblus wrote:
Wed May 31, 2023 11:58 pm
... It felt concocted by a focus group combing through every superfan tweet to ensure mass satisfaction...
That was the feeling I got from the finale as well. The opening scene was fun misdirection, but the episode soon abandoned any attempt at realistic character interaction to go big and predictable in ensuring every plot point was tied up in a pretty audience-pleasing gift box (like the underwhelming goodbye gift Keeley gives to Ted and Beard). Only the non-resolution of the Keeley/Roy/Jamie situation felt suitable (although not earned since the romantic tension among the three got so little attention paid to it during this last season). My eyes were rolling when we were treated to a series highlight reel mid-episode, but the cascading twists and reveals delivered during the closing montage, meant to provoke cheers from the viewing audience, really soured me. Much like the entirety of the third season, the ending was all mechanics and no heart.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Ted Lasso

#16 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jun 01, 2023 10:14 am

They even seemed to consult the IMDb all-time list to churn out an example of “perfection” that their audience would connect with! (Real talk: everyone I know in real life who has remained a Ted acolyte would probably nod along with that Shawshank hyperbole)

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