‘Ted Lasso’ Producer Brendan Hunt on What It Took to Revive the Series, Why Some Characters Didn’t Return and Whether There’s Another Three-Season Plan

By Michael Schneider

Michael Schneider

Variety Editor at Large

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Give credit to the England women’s national football team — nicknamed the Lionesses — for inspiring the return of “Ted Lasso.” The team won the UEFA Women’s Championship in 2022, right as Jason Sudeikis and company were shooting Season 3 of “Ted Lasso,” and the celebrations around the Lionesses’ victory were infectious.

“We got to watch in real time as the country went from ‘oh right, yeah, sure, women’s football’ to ‘yes! The Lionesses are the greatest ever!’ because they beat Germany in added time at Wembley,” says Brendan Hunt, the “Ted Lasso” co-creator, executive producer and writer who also plays Coach Beard. “Suddenly, the whole country was women’s football crazy in a way that they had not been a mere five weeks earlier. So that really stuck with us. Once we were on break, I think that idea just continued to take hold in Jason’s head.”

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