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\u201cTed Lasso\u201d fans who continued to believe will have their faith rewarded: The heartwarming soccer comedy is returning to the pitch.<\/p>\n
Apple TV+ announced on Friday morning that the series, about a folksy American coach hired to lead the fictional AFC Richmond in England\u2019s Premier League, will come back for another season, its fourth. Jason Sudeikis, who created the series with Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly and Bill Lawrence, will return to reprise the title role and serve as an executive producer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all continue to live in a world where so many factors have conditioned us to \u2018look before we leap,\u201d Sudeikis said in a statement. \u201cIn Season 4, the folks at AFC Richmond learn to leap before they look, discovering that wherever they land, it\u2019s exactly where they\u2019re meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTed Lasso\u201d debuted in August 2020 and ran for three seasons. Sudeikis and the other creators maintained all along that there were no plans for more episodes, though they didn\u2019t rule it out. The Season 3 finale in May 2023 ended with Ted returning home to Kansas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
In an interview<\/a> on Travis and Jason Kelce\u2019s podcast, \u201cNew Heights,\u201d<\/a> on Friday morning, Sudeikis said Ted will be coaching a women\u2019s team in the new season.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s daunting, because we told the story we wanted to tell,\u201d he said. \u201cBut there\u2019s more there.\u201d<\/p>\n Apple TV+ did not give a premiere date for the new season or respond to a request for more details.<\/p>\n It is also unclear who else from the main cast will be back. Brett Goldstein, who starred as the surly but softhearted coach Roy Kent, will be back as writer and executive producer, Apple TV+ said in a news release. In August, Deadline reported<\/a> that Warner Bros. Television, which produces the show, had signed deals with three stars to come back if the show returned to production: Goldstein; Hannah Waddingham, who plays the AFC Richmond owner, Rebecca Welton; and Jeremy Swift, who plays the team executive Leslie Higgins.<\/p>\n The show\u2019s other cast members have consistently said they would be eager to return. Most of the original creative team, including most of the show\u2019s writers, will return for the new season. Jack Burditt, a veteran TV producer, most recently of last year\u2019s Netflix hit \u201cNobody Wants This,\u201d joins as an executive producer.<\/p>\n Based on an NBC Sports ad, \u201cTed Lasso\u201d debuted in the thick of the Covid 19 pandemic with few expectations. It went on to become the biggest hit Apple TV+ has ever had, winning 13 Emmys and millions of fans who praised its humor and themes of friendship and empathy. Those awards all came for the first two seasons; the third was much more divisive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cTed Lasso\u201d was widely celebrated as a source of emotional sustenance during the pandemic. News of its return arrives in a similarly acrimonious moment, so perhaps its timing is apt again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n