Season 4 will test how much we still love ‘Ted Lasso’

Did we need a fourth season of Ted Lasso? Perhaps not, but we are here anyway.

The newest adventures of the relentlessly optimistic soccer coach dropped last week with its first episode. The return of Ted Lasso hasn’t sparked the same excitement as in years past, possibly because most of us were under the impression that Season 3 would be the end of the beloved series, especially since Jason Sudeikis had hinted as much.

But with Ted Lasso being one of Apple’s biggest subscription draws, and Sudeikis reportedly paid over $1 million per episode, why not run it back? The risk is minimal. Some people will continue to love Ted Lasso and its positive vibes, overlooking any dip in quality. That’s how adored the show is. Ted Lasso debuted at the height of the pandemic, when we were all starving for something to feel good about.

The first two seasons were as feel-good as TV gets, with memorable characters and beautiful moments. The third season wasn’t as great, but it was still good enough for what was intended to be a three-season arc. To a cynic, a fourth season could be seen as a superfluous cash grab. Show business is, after all, a business.

The first trailer for ‘TED LASSO’ Season 4 has been released.

The new season follows Ted Lasso as he returns to coach a women’s football team.

Releasing August 5 on Apple TV. pic.twitter.com/txFnwinWS1

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 28, 2026

Episode 1 wasn’t the smoothest start. It felt like running into your college friends after years apart, unsure how to act. The chemistry was missing. However, in all fairness, this episode was about setting the stage for the stakes of this fourth season, in which Rebecca travels to Kansas City to try to convince Ted to coach Richmond’s women’s team. Also, since we all know that Ted is going to take the job, there’s no drama here.

This episode was merely an excuse to reverse the fish-out-of-water dynamic from the inaugural season of Ted Lasso. Instead of Ted adjusting to England’s cultural differences, we have Rebecca, Keeley, and Higgins discovering Kansas City, Missouri; Kansas City, Kansas; the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and Gates Bar-B-Q. For the most part, these scenes aren’t great, with the notable exception of the moment when a flustered Higgins visits the museum. That’s the funniest part of the episode. 

Episode 1 was just a 45-minute setup for a season that has room to improve. We suspect it will once the audience becomes more familiar with the new characters we haven’t yet been introduced to. 

Will these characters and their storylines resonate as the previous ones did? There’s something to be said for both familiar faces and fresh blood. Ted Lasso is making the more challenging choice, but with similar packaging. Because it’s Ted Lasso, we believe. Or at least, we want to believe. Ted Lasso was an easy show to fall in love with.

Staying in love with this show may not come as easily. But that should be part of the fun of Season 4.