“Ted Lasso” has been renewed for a third season at Apple.
The news comes ahead of the start of production on Season 2 of the comedy series, which was announced in August. Production is slated to begin in early January in London.
The series stars Jason Sudeikis as the titular Lasso, a small-time college football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience coaching soccer. The series also stars Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Phil Dunster and Nick Mohammed.
In addition to starring, Sudeikis serves as executive producer, alongside Bill Lawrence via Doozer Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television. Doozer’s Jeff Ingold also serves as an executive producer with Liza Katzer as co-executive producer. The series was developed by Sudeikis, Lawrence, Joe Kelly and Brendan Hunt, and is based on the pre-existing format and characters from NBC Sports.
The Ted Lasso character originally appeared in an NBC Sports video in 2013 to help promote the fact that NBC Sports would begin broadcasting English Premier League games. It proved so successful that NBC brought the character back the following year to serve as an analyst.
The show has proven popular with critics, with the first season scoring an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety‘s Caroline Framke praised the show upon viewing it, writing, “Above all odds, ‘Ted Lasso’ chipped away at my skepticism until there was none left — just like the character himself does to everyone he meets.”