Coach Beard confirms Ted Lasso will end with Season 3
The show was originally supposed to be a trilogy – but is Ted Lasso ending with Season 3 as its creators intended? Brendan Hunt, who co-created the show and plays the delightfully enigmatic Coach Beard, just dropped a surprise, unfortunate confirmation of some news that fans have been secretly dreading.
The reason for the uncertainly has been, of course, Ted Lasso‘s success. The show debuted on Apple TV back in 2020 to good reviews but not much buzz. As the pandemic took hold of our lives, though, Ted Lasso‘s booming positivity and upbeat humor gave us all an Animal Crossing-esque sense of happiness in a dreary, deadly world.
The show’s popularity soared throughout 2020 and 2021. And just as Season 2 was airing, it cleaned up at awards shows on both sides of the Atlantic. Both its co-creator and star Jason Sudeikis and its executive producer Bill Lawrence suggested that there might be more than three seasons’ worth of story to tell. And at last year’s Emmys, Sudeikis and Lawrence confirmed the expanded episode order they’d gotten for Season 2 was in place for Season 3, as well.
So, no matter when Ted Lasso was ending, it was clear Apple wanted to cash in with some extra episodes. But the question remained: Is Ted Lasso ending after Season 3, or could Sudeikis – who’s also spoken about how hard it is to live away from his children in London for six months a year – be persuaded to stay on?
Fortunately, we now have an answer to those questions, and from a fairly unimpeachable source. But it might not be the answer the show’s fans hoped to hear. In a recent interview for Teddington Nub News, an independent publication out of Richmond, London (where Ted Lasso is both set and films), Brendan Hunt was both asked and answered The Question.
However, I need to point out that Hunt’s original answer was a definitive Yes, Ted Lasso is ending with Season 3. Then, shortly after the interview went live, the answer changed rather significantly. Here’s the original exchange, in which Hunt begins by saying “That’s a tough question but I can say this will be the last series.”
And here’s the current complete exchange, via Teddington Nub News. I’ve put a couple of sentences in bold to emphasize the difference:
We totally understand you don’t want to give any secrets away from Series Three BUT can you give us a couple of teasers about what’s in store? Any big shocks? And when will get to see it? And what was happening in Amsterdam? And is this the last series……
That is a tough question and I really can’t say for sure that this will be the last series and I know there’s been lots of speculation. You do feel it has a life span but it still feels as if it is growing. Originally, it was always intended to be a three series show. There are lots of stories to unravel and settle one way or another in Series Three but when it does finally end all I can say is that we will take great care in landing the plane in a proper and loving way. As for our stint filming in Amsterdam what can I say? All I will say is that it was a time when things were not going particularly well for AFC Richmond. I can’t say anymore. It has been the greatest experience of my life. We got to go to London for three days originally to make the NBC commercial and nine years later it’s where I live! It has been life-changing for my life and my family and I will never have another job like it!
Comparing the two answers, it sounds like Hunt maybe let the cat out of the bag without Apple’s OK. I think the first answer is the truthful one and we’ll get a more nuanced explanation from Sudeikis once the cast starts doing heavy press for Ted Lasso Season 3.
And while I do love the show, it’s almost a relief to think that Ted Lasso will end on its creators’ terms and not drag out indefinitely, SVU-style. Plus, it means that maybe we’ll get more Jason Sudeikis-Olivia Wilde drama. Finally, I maintain that Ted Lasso ending only confirms that we’re about to get a Roy Kent-centered spinoff.
(Photo credit: Apple TV)
John Sharp is Starcasm’s chief editorial correspondent-at-large. E-mail him a hot tip.
