The streaming service Apple TV+ has released the fourth season of Ted Lasso, the sports comedy series starring Jason Sudeikis as an optimistic football coach.
The American and British production premiered its first episode in 2020. The comedy and sports drama features 35 episodes across four seasons, with each episode running between 40 and 45 minutes. The show holds a rating of 8.5 on Kinopoisk and 8.8 on IMDb. Alongside Sudeikis, the series stars Brett Goldstein, Hannah Waddingham, and Jeremy Swift.
Plot Details for Season Four
At the end of the third season, Ted Lasso returned to Kansas after coaching Richmond, a successful English football club that never won a trophy. Lasso now works as a supermarket cashier while maintaining his coaching mindset. He uses practical examples to teach a younger co-worker not to commit minor store thefts, while the entire town displays a good-natured attitude under his influence.
Lasso stepped down from major coaching to avoid missing the childhood of his teenage son, Henry, played by Gus Turner. Henry faces trouble at school after quoting lyrics from the group Public Enemy. Lasso initially turns down businesswoman Rebecca, played by Hannah Waddingham, when she travels to Kansas to ask him to return to London to coach her new women's football team. However, daily routine affects Lasso, and memories of past games encourage him to re-enter the sport. His extended family, including his ex-wife Michelle, played by Andrea Anders, agrees to move to England with him.
Critical Reception and Audience Numbers
Created by Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Brett Goldstein, the show is known for its persistent optimism. While critics praised the first two seasons, their consensus shifted during the third season, which was originally intended to be the final entry. Reviewers cited aimlessness and an excessive focus on secondary characters. Despite critical criticism, mass audience viewership increased significantly. During the third season finale, viewers watched 800 million minutes of the show in a single week, leading producers to extend the series beyond 2023.
Origin and Themes of Masculinity
The series originated from promotional comedy sketches created for NBC Sports. Its first season arrived in 2020 during coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, offering therapeutic value to viewers. The story redefines locker room talk, a phrase popularized in 2016 when candidate Donald Trump made off-camera sexist remarks about married women. Sudeikis and the creative team transformed the locker room setting into a safe space where male characters communicate openly, share feelings, and build healthy relationships.
Unlike projects that associate masculinity with toxicity, the narrative presents healthy masculinity as a central theme. The fourth season places Lasso in charge of a women's football team amidst global events and the growth of artificial intelligence technology.
Comparisons to Other Television Shows
The show belongs to a small group of streaming series focused on human coexistence rather than rivalry, alongside The Good Place, How To with John Wilson, High Maintenance, Sex Education, and Shrinking. The culinary drama The Bear, created by Christopher Storer, presents similar themes through high-stress storytelling and profanity. Critics describe these programs as moving away from postmodern cynicism toward values of openness, curiosity, and team sacrifice.
