Fans Are Now Blaming Jason Sudeikis for Ted Lasso Season 3 Failure
The third season of Ted Lasso took a radical turn in its storytelling approach and has come in for a fair amount of criticism.
Back in the summer of 2020, amidst the pandemic, Ted Lasso emerged as a soothing balm for our mental health. The series unexpectedly charmed us with its comforting ambience, underscored by its protagonist's unwavering optimism and commitment to promoting high morale and cooperation.
However, the third season deviated significantly from the original format, taking on a noticeably self-indulgent tone. Some fans argue that had Jason Sudeikis collaborated with other producers, as he had done previously, the season could have been significantly improved.
Don't get us wrong; the third season is still engaging, albeit in a peculiar way. It is intriguing, yet it feels like something you'd want to quickly get to the end of to relish the anticipated satisfaction. Bill Lawrence, one of the show's creators, who has worked on iconic sitcoms like Scrubs and Cougar Town, revealed in an interview for the Hollywood Reporter that he largely handed over the reins to Sudeikis for this season.
'So, the second year, we ran it together, and I’m only able to do other things now because that guy [Sudeikis] ran the show himself the third year, as it should be. It’s his voice and his world this season,' he said.
Is this season inferior to its predecessors? Perhaps not, but it's akin to drastically altering the content of a popular entertainment magazine and then wondering why readership declined. The narrative remains motivational but seems to expend too much effort with insufficient character development payoffs.
'Lawrence knows what makes economical sitcom storytelling which is present in the earlier seasons,' a Reddit user noted.
Unlike Succession, which employs hour-long episodes to satirically unfold business intrigue, Ted Lasso doesn't necessitate such a lengthy runtime. As demonstrated in Scrubs' 20-minute episodes and the first two seasons of Ted Lasso, Lawrence illustrated that it doesn't take extensive time to present a narrative that is both humorous and profound.
'Scrubs knew how to showcase its A, B and C players incredibly well,' another Redditor added.
Indeed, Scrubs skillfully balanced attention between numerous characters. However, Sudeikis has each character in Ted Lasso existing within a disparate mini-universe that is disjointed and lacks motivation due to its juxtaposition with an entirely distinct story arc.
As we anticipate the final two episodes of Ted Lasso's third season, it seems unlikely that the quality will improve dramatically. Nevertheless, we can hope that the numerous story arcs will finally coalesce and conclude without the burden of unnecessary drama. The next episode will premiere on 24 May.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Reddit.