Apple TV+ comedy series Ted Lasso was among the best shows for the streaming platform. However, the third season faced some criticism over the storylines of the core cast. Jason Sudeikis, who plays the title character, shared his strong opinion against the backlash, especially in response to Jeremy Egner’s new book Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way Into Our Hearts.
According to Deadline, the actor responded to Edgar’s comment that “a small but hostile group of dissenters complained” that the core cast was scattered into different storylines. The response also emphasized that Keeley and Nate’s respective character arcs felt too “unfocused.”
In the show’s defense, Sudeikis explained that the narrative change took place due to the creators’ intention to make the audience feel like an active participant. “Some people want to do that, some people don’t. Some people want to judge—they don’t want to be curious,” he said, the opposite of Ted Lasso’s beliefs in Walt Whitman’s quote, “Be curious, not judgmental.”
The actor further lashed out at haters, saying he wouldn’t ever understand why people talk abrasively about something they don’t understand. “And God bless ’em for it; it’s not their fault. They don’t have imaginations and they’re not open to the experience of what it’s like to have one,” he quipped sarcastically.
As for the characters and storylines, Sudeikis believes they have grown for the better over the three seasons and are more potent than where they’d started. “Like a good Boy or Girl Scout at a campsite, we left it better than we found it. And if you don’t see that in that show, then I don’t know what show you’re watching,” he added.
Amid the ongoing controversies, the Emmy-winning show has yet to be renewed for a fourth season. However, according to a report from Deadline, the decision is moving in a positive direction. The sitcom revolves around Sudeikis’s character, Ted Lasso, an American college football coach as he heads to coach London to manage AFC Richmond, an English Premier League soccer team struggling to excel.
