Leave us. We’re in mourning. After three seasons and dozens of sugary biscuits, Ted Lasso has come to an end. We’re pretty sure we’ll never again listen in on a meeting of the Diamond Dogs or anxiously wait for a table at Taste of Athens because the Apple TV Plus comedy series has reached its conclusion.
But the Ted Lasso season 3 ending need not be definitive. There might yet be a Ted Lasso season 4, but, to be honest, the titular protagonist’s story has been told neatly and completely, to the extent that a fourth season of Ted Lasso might feel like overkill – even for one of the best TV series on our screens.
That doesn’t stop us from speculating about a spin-off series, though, does it? We’ve spent three years falling in love with the Ted Lasso cast, and we can’t just let one of the best Apple TV Plus shows die. We don’t need season 4, but we would love to see these spin-offs expand the Lassoverse instead. There’s a vacant spot for the best comedy series on Apple, and we have some ideas to fill it.
AFC Richmond women’s team
This one might actually happen because the show set it up very clearly in Ted Lasso season 3 episode 12. Keeley approached Rebecca with a pitch document for an AFC Richmond women’s team.
Our minds immediately went to a potential spin-off series led by Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham – their luminous chemistry could power a country, let alone a TV series – which would introduce a cast of female players to work their way up towards the Women’s Super League.
Frankly, this has everything you could want from a spin-off – strong links to the original series, as well as an entirely new environment and ensemble. Anything that lets us watch Temple and Waddingham together gets a free pass from us.
The fans in control
Rebecca sold 49% of AFC Richmond at the end of Ted Lasso season 3, and we saw shares being awarded to some of the club’s most devoted supporters. Fan ownership is a hot topic in the football world, and it would be fascinating to follow the ways in which this would play out for Richmond.
We’ve had plenty of enjoyable trips to the Crown and Anchor pub during three years of Ted Lasso, and we’d love to see its rooms play host to high-stakes meetings about the future of the club. Die-hard fans Paul, Baz, and Jeremy – along with pub landlady Mae – have largely been comedy fools on Ted Lasso, but how will they handle actual responsibility? Albeit only one share’s worth of responsibility each.
Colin, the role model
Colin’s sexuality was a powerful storyline in Ted Lasso season 3, with the team accepting him when he came out as gay. During the climactic pitch invasion on the final day of the season, Colin proudly kissed his boyfriend, Mike, fulfilling the wish he had explained to Trent Crimm earlier in the season.
Colin had also told Trent he “didn’t want to be a spokesperson”, but the character will now be forced into that position, having shown his relationship with a man in front of TV cameras. A spin-off series focused on Colin could explore the ways in which coming out changes his life, both for good and for bad.
Just a year after Jake Daniels became the first active male professional footballer to come out since Justin Fashanu in the ‘90s, this spin-off could tell a very important story.
Trent Crimm’s difficult second book
Initially introduced as an antagonistic journalist in the first season of Ted Lasso, Trent Crimm became a member of the core team in season 3 when he decided to write a book about Ted and Richmond. He even ended up barking his way through Diamond Dogs meetings and helped Colin with insecurities around revealing his sexuality.
With Ted gone and Trent’s book out in the world, the guy with the best hair in journalism will have to work out what comes next. Actor James Lance has given us so much nuance and fun with developing Trent that we’d love to see him as the lead in an All the President’s Men-style journalism tale or as a fly-on-the-wall in another sporting setting.
He’s also William Shatner’s favorite journalist, according to one tweet, which is a tantalizing prospect.
Sam Obisanya vs. the government
The story of Sam Obisanya got a little lost in the second half of the season, but Ted Lasso season 3 episode 7 put the lovable Nigerian player in the spotlight.
He found himself in a war of words with the right-wing home secretary Brinda Barot – likely a stand-in for real-life British home secretary Priti Patel – when he responded to her inflammatory rhetoric about refugees. This led to thugs smashing up Sam’s restaurant, with the footballer shocked that those who cheer for him at the weekend can also abuse him away from the pitch.
Unfortunately, this storyline was never further explored, but Toheeb Jimoh’s performance was so strong that this premise could be the driving force for an entire spin-off series. Given the way real-world footballers like Marcus Rashford, Tyrone Mings, and most recently, Vinicius Jr. have won plaudits for speaking out about huge issues related to politics and discrimination, there’s real ammunition for a Sam-centric series in which he uses his platform for good.
So there you go, Apple TV Plus. That’s five ideas for how to continue Ted Lasso, and we won’t even charge you for them. All we ask is you send us a year’s supply of Ted’s biscuits. We’ve tried out the Ted Lasso biscuit recipe, and we just can’t get enough.
For more from the world of Ted Lasso, we’ve answered some of the burning questions after the finale, including: ‘What happened to Rupert in the Ted Lasso finale?’, ‘Do Roy and Keeley end up together in Ted Lasso?’, and ‘What does “be a goldfish” mean in Ted Lasso?’.
You can also find out about the unlikely origin of Ted Lasso’s success and read our Phil Dunster interview for pearls of wisdom from the man behind Jamie Tartt.