Television series

Ted Lasso

Name: Ted Lasso
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Sports
Released: 2020
Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt, Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Brett Goldstein

An earnest American football coach with zero soccer knowledge takes over an English Premier League club and wins everyone over with kindness, dumb jokes and biscuits. It's a comfort watch with real teeth — grief, divorce and self-loathing lurk under the mustache — for anyone who wants their sitcom to make them cry a little too.

TVMaze rating

8.1

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The same DNA: a workplace ensemble where relentless optimism is treated as a genuine virtue rather than a punchline, anchored by a leader who refuses to be cynical.

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The Good Place2016

A sitcom that smuggles real philosophy about being a better person inside jokes about frozen yogurt, with the same warm ache underneath the laughs.

But It's high-concept and twisty in a way Ted Lasso never is — you have to buy the premise early.

Schitt's Creek2015

Another show about awful-seeming people slowly becoming decent through community, small-town patience and a lot of earned affection.

But Starts as broad, mean-spirited farce before it finds its heart — early episodes are a hard sell.

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Sunderland 'Til I Die2018

Same club, same country, same season-by-season dread AFC Richmond fakes — this is the unscripted version, right down to boardroom politics and a town that lives and dies by results.

A documentary following an actual struggling English club through relegation battles, boardroom chaos and a fanbase's aching devotion — the real texture Ted Lasso borrows and softens.

But There's no Ted here to fix things with a speech — it's often just sad, slow institutional failure.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine2013

That same trick of making a found-family workplace comedy feel genuinely emotionally rich, with a cast this good at both jokes and sincerity.

But It's a cop show, and if that premise sits wrong with you right now, no amount of charm fixes it.

Superstore2015

Big-box retail as the setting for the same kind of scrappy, class-conscious ensemble comedy, funnier and angrier than it looks at first glance.

But Less sentimental than Ted Lasso — the sweetness is there but it's harder-edged.

Abbott Elementary2021

Underfunded, overworked, deeply lovable people trying their best against a broken system — the mockumentary format gives it its own comic rhythm.

But Mockumentary talking-heads style is a different comic engine than Ted Lasso's straight sitcom pacing.

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From one of Ted Lasso's creators, this therapist dramedy has the exact same balance of grief, jokes, and men learning to talk about their feelings.

But Newer and less polished — it's still finding its footing across seasons.

Welcome to Wrexham2022

Real Hollywood owners buy a real struggling Welsh football club, and the documentary delivers everything Ted Lasso fictionalises: relegation dread, town pride, unlikely hope.

But It's a documentary with real stakes and real disappointments — no writers' room to guarantee a happy ending.

Friday Night Lights2006

Small-town football as the backbone of a community drama that takes sport, faith, and coaching seriously without ever losing its tenderness.

But Much less jokey — this is a straight drama, and the football is American, not soccer.

Hoosiers1986

This is where the whole genre engine comes from — outsider coach, wounded past, team as redemption machine — decades before Ted put a mustache and a Southern accent on it.

The granddaddy of the underdog-coach-heals-a-town formula, a small-town Indiana basketball team whipped into shape by a coach with his own past to outrun.

But Straight-faced 1980s sports-drama sincerity, with none of the modern jokes or self-awareness Ted Lasso layers on top.

The Wrestler2008

Where Ted Lasso asks what happens when an athlete's body and pride give out and lets Roy Kent find grace, this film asks the same question and refuses him any.

Mickey Rourke as an aging, broken athlete clinging to relevance and a fractured relationship with his daughter — the bruised, unglamorous flip side of sports as identity.

But It's bleak, physically punishing to watch, and offers none of Ted Lasso's warmth or forgiveness.