Ted Lasso has been a cultural fixture for nearly six years now, and it remains one of the most watched shows on streaming. Its fourth season, which wraps Wednesday, has kept audiences coming back despite some serious problems the show refuses to fix. The show’s creators and cast keep broadcasting the message they’ve always wanted to send, and audiences keep showing up for it. Here’s why the show still works, and what’s wrong with it.
What the Show Is About
The series began as a sitcom centered on an American football coach who takes over a position at a British soccer club. Its creators, including star Jason Sudeikis, aimed to counter the pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic and the first Trump administration. Their goal was to mend the national conversation, however briefly, by placing a good-natured American football coach before a team of English soccer players.
Nielsen numbers prove the show succeeded: three of Apple TV’s top four most-watched seasons belong to Ted Lasso. The third season sits among the 15 most-watched streaming seasons since 2020. Season 4 ranks as one of the 10 most-watched streaming series of 2026, though Nielsen figures for its last three episodes remain outstanding.
Ted’s Ignorance Problem
Sudeikis didn’t want Ted to be spiky when he turned the character from an NBC promotional video into a sitcom lead. He did keep Ted’s ignorance of soccer, though. That ignorance is the show’s original sin, according to the review.
Across the first 43 episodes, Ted changes in some ways, but his ignorance of the game hasn’t shifted. He’s still unaware of how soccer is played, the rules that govern it, and the structures that dictate the league. In Season 4, that ignorance is harder to hide, especially when Ted is working with women’s players who face particular disadvantages.
“For a sport that asks you to be light on your feet, women’s football sure does seem to have a lot of weight around it.”
The Sam Problem
Season one built its story around Roy Kent, Jamie Tartt, and Sam Obisanya, giving each of them a full character arc. Sam was the third member of Richmond men to receive such an arc, and he kept that position through the whole run of the series. In season 4, Gemma Jay, played by Abbie Hern, takes over the role previously held by Jamie, and she gets more material to work with than anyone else on the team. No other character earns the kind of focus that turns them into a lead in their own subplot.
These female characters are reduced to mere traits instead of being given full humanity. Shannon (Shannon Hayes), Lizzie (Faye Marsay), Boots (Jude Mack), Niamh (Aisling Sharkey), Siobhan (Rex Hayes), Mady (Annelise Heywood), and Margy (Mercedes Assad) all get lines, but the show fails to define them through soccer.
The Soccer Problem
Burditt, the new co-showrunner, noted in the Hollywood Reporter’s July cover story that Season 4 saved time and money by reducing the amount of soccer games filmed. That seems strange for a show about a soccer team. The lack of actual soccer doesn’t help define the characters.
What Works Anyway
The show’s popularity hasn’t waned too much. Audiences still crave the message that Sudeikis, Burditt, the writing staff, and the cast have sought to broadcast. The show’s ambition of kindness hasn’t abated in the revived version.
The Verdict
The review’s honest reaction is discomfort. The show has a clear weakness in its central character’s ignorance and a clear neglect of its female players, and it hasn’t fixed either problem. Yet the show remains one of the most watched on streaming.
Key Facts
- Three of the four most-watched seasons of television in Apple TV’s history are Ted Lasso seasons, per Nielsen
- The third season ranks among the 15 most-watched streaming seasons since 2020
- Season 4 is one of the 10 most-watched streaming series of 2026, with Nielsen data on its final three episodes yet to be released
Several returning characters mean the show’s creators still have plates to spin. Whether they can actually fix the problems remains an open question. The audience, however, continues to watch.
See the video the story is built around at Decider.
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