Main Street News

He’s Back!

And, not a moment too soon.  

It really doesn’t matter if you were caught up in World Cup frenzy this past summer, or if you are eagerly awaiting the women’s version coming up next year.  Soccer may or may not be your sports passion, but Ted Lasso back to the coaches’ box on Apple TV+, this time for the Lady Greyhounds, is a reason to celebrate.  

Our long television nightmare is over!

Jason Sudeikis claims he did not consciously join with an amazing creative team to launch the first season of the multi-EMMY Award winning series with the notion of creating a character and culture that could help relieve some of the pain and angst of the Covid epidemic.  But, he did.  Could it be that now, at a time of deep divisions and gathering anxiety, the celebrated fourth season of this wonderful series is simply what we need, now?  Time will tell.

In the first three seasons of this classic, Sudeikis and the core team of regulars – Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Juno Temple and Jeremy Swift became very much a part of our weekly “water cooler” conversations.  They’re all back.  

The season 4 inaugural, shot in Kansas City, allowed the introduction of Grant Feely as Coach Lasso’s son … now aged a few years and, apparently, in possession of better soccer skills than his predecessor, Gus Turner.  Replete with locations at Kansas City’s Gates Bar-B-Q, a visit to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and CPKC Stadium for a KC Current game, the fix is in.  Ted is going to be invited to return to coaching (from being an assistant manager at a supermarket – a title that arcs all the way to the final scene of episode 10) – this time for the newly formed women’s team, the Richmond Lady Greyhounds, owned by Rebecca Welton (Waddingham).

The ten episode season is now available on Apple TV.  If avoiding the week by week release schedule is your pattern, then you’re in luck.  Blitz away – two or three episodes at a sitting.  Coach Beard is back, replete with hair and beard that reflect the ending of his Stonehenge wedding and his need to be paired with Coach Lasso.  His tonsorial journey is also a 10 episode story arc.

Tanya Reynolds has been introduced as the enigmatic coach Alice Chilton who has a big part to play in the unfolding season. And, that’s Tracy Ullman playing an outrageous power broker with money to burn and a penchant for totally erratic behavior.  

Is someone trying to buy Richmond out from under Rebecca?  Will Roy Kent and Keeley find each other?  Will Coach Beard and Jane reconnect once again?  Can this group of passionate misfit players ever come together and be a team?

Each episode cleverly explores another aspect of what it’s like to become a female athlete trying to compete at a professional level.  For those who follow the Premier League – England’s top professional men’s football/soccer league, the notion of Billions (that’s with a “B”) being in play, one episode of the current series presents the opposite fate of the Lady Greyhounds including working as “Door Dashers” to make ends meet … but the revelations are telling and very motivational to the team.

The journey is exciting, emotional, peppered with the rapid, casual humor signature of the series (you may want to watch each episode twice so as to not miss any of the quick asides) and a bit controversial, as the new focus of the series is women’s sports … a topic of high interest for many in this era of WNBA stars, continued fascination with women’s professional soccer, the World Cup team and the return of women’s professional baseball.

During a predictable slow down of theatrical film releases into the winter, the allure of streaming shows heats up.  We can be lured back to LA as Colin Farrell completes season 2 of his extraterrestrial charm as “Sugar.”  We can become caught up in the elegant, barely believable high-energy exploits of luminous Anya Taylor-Joy as “Lucky” with steely co-star Annette Bening.  We can dive into season 3 of “Lioness” and resume being engaged in the exploits of Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman.

And, thankfully,  we can simply be caught up in the warmth, fun, charm and clever life affirmations of “Ted Lasso.”  With typical panache the series manages to tie most of the sustaining threads into neat bows in the final episode … most, not all.  Woven throughout with very human challenges, the intrigue of well constructed sub-plots, several breakthrough moments when characters become people, the conclusion of season 4 leaves just enough open questions to fuel loyalists with the overwhelming desire to find solace in the rumors circulating that by embarking on the journey of the Lady Greyhounds in season 4, Ted Lasso may find the motivation to create another three series arc … making the anticipation for seasons 5 and 6 almost tolerable.

And, candidly, if winter nights grow long, returning to start over with the first season and a “blitz” that takes one all the way through all four seasons is a warm, lovely, often hilarious way to invest some quality viewing time.