Apple TV+ prioritizes quality over quantity. The streamer doesn’t have as many shows as Netflix or Hulu, but the shows it does have are often very good, including Silo, For All Mankind, Mythic Quest, Shrinking, Foundation, Slow Horses, Bad Monkey, Pachinko, and Severance. That’s a strong lineup!
But only one Apple TV+ program has won either Outstanding Comedy Series or Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmys: Ted Lasso. The show hasn’t aired a new episode since May 2023, but there’s been murmurs of it coming back for a fourth season. Is there any truth to the rumors? Let’s find out.
Here’s everything to know about the possible return of Ted Lasso for season 4.
Plot
As a refresher: Ted Lasso was created by Jason Sudeikis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly, and follows the titular American college football coach (played by Sudeikis) who is hired to lead an English soccer team. Cultural differences about football vs. soccer — and panic attacks — ensue. The show seemingly wrapped up with a lengthy episode in which Ted moves back to the United States, among other developments, but then came word that studio Warner Bros. Television took a step “toward a season 4 greenlight” by picking up the options for multiple cast members (more on that soon).
From a Deadline report:
The fate of Ted Lasso has always hinged on Sudeikis, who’d originated the character in NBC Sports videos. While being open that they would love to extend Ted Lasso, one of the most acclaimed comedies of the past decade, Apple and Warner Bros. executives have made it clear that it would be up to Sudeikis whether the show would continue.
The season 3 finale may have hinted at a possible direction for the show to go in: what about an AFC Richmond women’s team?
There have recently been reports that “the fourth season of Ted Lasso will focus on the formation of AFC Richmond’s women’s team rather than the men’s team featured in previous seasons.” That poses a lot of questions — namely: how would Ted Lasso be involved? — but it’s an intriguing angle. Especially since women’s soccer keeps getting more and more popular.
Cast
So far, the options have been picked up for the contracts of three original cast members: Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca Walton), Jeremy Swift (Leslie Higgins), Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent). And what would the Muppets-loving actor be most excited to do in a potential fourth season? “Hang out with Phoebe,” he told Collider, referring to Roy’s niece. Aw.
Beyond that trio, Deadline reported in August 2024 that Warner Bros. Television was “expected to start reaching out to Ted Lasso cast members with SAG-AFTRA contracts whose options had expired,” including Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso), Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard), and Juno Temple (Keeley Jones).
“I’ve heard the kind of stunt version of, yeah, potentially, it sounds like there might be a season 4,” Temple recently told Entertainment Weekly. “I don’t know when. I don’t know exactly who, what, why, where, but I think it sounds like those cogs are turning.”
Sadly, as of last year, Jamie Tart actor Phil Dunster’s contract has “not been picked up” due to scheduling issues (he stars in Apple TV+’s Surface). But Nick Mohammed, who plays Nate Shelley, is ready to “BELIEVE.”
Release Date
There are rumors that season 4 will begin filming in “May/June,” which, if true, means the show could return as soon as next year. But nothing is official yet.
Trailer
In lieu of any new footage, check out the show’s first-ever trailer.
