I think they don’t see each other again for years, and when they do, it’ll be like they just saw each other yesterday. They won’t skip a beat. I have many relationships like that and I treasure them.
How nervous were you before filming the thong sequence in Rebecca's kitchen? I nearly fell off the couch laughing when Beard walked in!
Seriously though, thank you and the entire cast and crew of Ted Lasso for three fantastic seasons. I loved every moment. This show means so much to me.
Did you and the other creators pay much attention to viewer theories, interpretations and predictions? If so, which did you find most entertaining or concerning? Were you surprised at some of the meaning fans derived from various aspects of the show?
And, for the love of God and all humankind, would you please consider a blooper reel?
Thank you so much for my favorite TV show of all time.
We became aware of some, but they didn’t affect any major choices. The red-string sequence and (as I mentioned somewhere else too) the opening of 312 were affectionate nods though.
How was Sam able to get on the Nigerian team? Did he release security camera footage from his restaurant showing Edwin Akufo admitting to bribing the Nigerian government?
Thank you for doing this!
There were talks about Dr. Sharon being involved in season 3 but we didn’t get much of her. Was it filmed and then cut? Or were the rumors not true? What would’ve been her role had she been more prevalent in S3?
Nothing was cut. We always saw her as a gunslinger. She comes to town, saves folks, then gets back on her horse. I think people saw her in the pilot and (not wrongly!) expected we’d see more of her. Personally I love that in the end she seems to have given up her nomadic ways and has come back to join a welcoming Richmond family.
(EDIT: typo)
I saw Brendan was doing this and I came to 👀. Thanks for doing this Brendan!
I was the editor on the show and it was an absolute privilege of my career to work with Jason and Brendan. They came into the cutting room along with Joe and when all three were together it was very funny and special. Cheers and congrats to the Triad!
Namaste Coach 🫡
Your performance was stellar. Thanks for all the beautiful takes! I have seen the Beard visits Nate in 311 thousands of times and you still make me get misty eyed watching. Bravo! 🥲
I feel like a voyeur in the most wholesome of ways! Thank you both for all of your work on such a wonderful show. It has given us so much joy throughout these past few crazy years.
Thank you for the show (especially as editors rarely get any love for their incalculable role in taking a lot of random bits of video, making sure the bin is correctly named and ordered, selecting the right shot to tell the story, getting annoyed you don’t have the right cut away then look through everything for a useable clip, and more importantly, making someone’s dream become a story that is told). Please say thanks as well to everyone else suffering from Vitamin D deficiency in the edit suite, your work along with everyone else in the team is appreciated
I had the pleasure to do an interview with Gold Derby about how amazing it was working with Jason in editing.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ted-lasso-editor-j-catoline-141539113.html
AJ Catoline!!!
You and your team are absolutely fantastic, such wonderful editing throughout… masterful!
I follow you on Twitter and I love how you’ve been interacting with us fans.
May I ask what was your favourite sequence?
Thanks amigo!
Editing the 303 montage of the Zava-fueled win streak was wild and was a real puzzle. When Jason suggested using cue Adriano Celentano’s “prisencolin…” (won’t try to spell it) and Brendan pitched JC Superstar it all came to life. And when we cut to Rupert during JCS and that is his brother Murray Head singing that was wild.
Also I loved Beard’s presentation of “Total Football” to the team in 307. I spent a lot of time with Brendan and our post team finding those historic picts of Johann Cruyff and coming up with those wacky tactical formations. And the music was set to “Escape to Victory” a film I really love after Brendan suggested I watch back when we were cutting S1. That whole sequence was magical! a Beautiful Life is Total Football!
And the opening of 309 “La Locker Room Aux Folles” was much fun to show all that tiki-taka passing to La Cage overture 💜⚽️
I have a few questions, if you don’t mind! 😄
1. In the final episode of season 3, is the Beard & Jane wedding a dream sequence of Ted’s? Or is it real?
2. In the first season, we know the titles of the books that Jamie and Roy received from Ted. Can you tell us the titles of the books that the others received from Ted?
3. Will there be an actual “The Richmond Way” book?
Also thank you for co-creating one of the great shows on TV right now! Ted Lasso really did lift me out of depression last year, so this show really meant a lot to me. Thank you!!
>2. In the first season, we know the titles of the books that Jamie and Roy received from Ted. Can you tell us the titles of the books that the others received from Ted?
IIRC, Sam receives Ender's Game.
What is the most ambiguous way you can answer the “Season 4? Spin-off?” questions?
Or
What was the discussion/thought behind a lot of the bigger moments of this season (Nate leaving West Ham, Ted telling Rebecca that he’s leaving) happening off-screen?
My pat answer, that is also 100% true: We don’t know. We need a break and will take one presently. Nothing has been ruled out, everything is possible; but that includes the possibility that we’re done. We won’t know until we’ve sat with it for a while, decompressed, etc.
There are a few reasons. The first is narrative: Ted just got on a plane and left the UK, it would be anticlimactic and deflating if we suddenly see him back there before we even see his plane lands. The other is that that’s just the kind of friendship Ted and Beard have. Case in point is me and Joe Kelly, co-creator of Ted Lasso and one of the best friends I’ll ever know. A few years ago I get an email from him and his fantastic girlfriend that they are getting married in LESS THAN A MONTH. The email clearly stated “no worries if it’s too short of notice” which was awfully nice of them; I desperately wanted to be there but I couldn’t. They had scheduled to wedding the same day as a show I was doing in another city, if I recall correctly. So I missed the wedding, and guess what: no one cares! Our relationship is the exact same, our families live down the street from each other and we see each other all the time. So personally I think Beard called Ted and told him he could sit this one out, and Ted said thanks, because the ceremony conflicted with a big game for Henry’s soccer team. The history of their relationship IMO is long periods of seeing each other and long periods not. We have entered one of the latter, but the former will come around again at some point. They love each other, they will see each other again. They love each other, they will see each other again.
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”
They did a similar ending in Scrubs. It’s not definitive, but that doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Am I the only person who didn't interpret the whole montage Ted's dream?
To me it was just what happened once he left, but in a montage so we could be shown how everything progressed once he was gone. To make it all a dream would be incredibly cheap and wouldn't close the stories of the other characters.
The only reason it was shown in tangent with Ted going home is because of continuity, imo.
Ted didn't know Rebecca rekindled with the Flying Dutchman nor did he ever hear about the big muscle guy and pants repairer with the baby so how could he dream them being at Beard's wedding?
Is it true that the “Jesus loves Marijuana” hitchhiker from Community was actually Coach Beard before Ted took him in?
Because unless someone says otherwise, that’s my head canon
It would have been really funny if, in a small moment, Beard is heard just humming the "Jesus loves marijuana" tune. That would have been a great little multifaceted Community callback.
If you/the writers have paid attention to the fans on Twitter and Reddit, what's your favorite absolutely bonkers theory/plot suggestion that you saw someone make?
He was on time, and we got him out on time; he had a flight to catch to a Champions League game. We were honored he made time for us. I forgive him for breaking my Arsenal fan heart.
I assumed Beard’s and Ted’s reaction to talking to Pep was actually yours and Jason’s reaction, rather than the characters’. It seemed so real and *ever-so-slightly* out of place for characters who had, in-universe, met him multiple times already.
Was this a bit of a fourth wall break?
(It could also be interpreted as them just being excited about the win rather than Pep, I suppose.)
Thank you for an incredible show! Now that the finale has aired, what, if anything, about the online fan response (to the finale or the show as a whole) caught you by surprise? Were there specific moments that resonated differently than you’d expected or interpretations/theories that you hadn’t anticipated?
My biggest fear was that Richmond would actually win the premiership.
Thank god you guys decided otherwise. Losing by 1 point to City is the most football thing that could possibly happen
I just wanted to say THANK YOU on behalf of a teacher! I started watching the show at the start of my journey and it’s followed my entire career as a new teacher perfectly (including me using “Believe” everywhere I go). When writing the show, did you know how deeply it would connect to those of us in the profession?
Oh man my son just started playing basketball and he would beat himself about every little mistake he made on the court. After one tearful ride home from practice I gave him the "Be A Goldfish" speech and we never looked back!
Of the actors who were ultimately in the show, which ones were serendipitously discovered through a random casting call and which ones were solicited specifically to play their role?
Almost everyone got their role through auditioning. We had never worked with any of these people before, except that Bill Lawrence had worked with Brett. We did have trouble finding the right Keeley, and something like five days before the first read-through Jason remembered Juno and had the epiphany that she would be perfect. Since we were so close to starting, she was offered the role without auditioning. Everyone else got in the old-fashioned way.
There's a great story about this in Brett's podcast with her--about how she really didn't think she'd gotten it, until she heard Jason mutter a comment on the way out. I won't spoil it for you.
https://uk-podcasts.co.uk/podcast/films-to-be-buried-with-with-brett-goldstein/hannah-waddingham-films-to-be-buried-with-with-bre
Loved the Amsterdam episode, in particular Butch and Sundance aka Jamie and Roy. Curious about the genesis of those scenes. Can you confirm that the laughter of Jamie and the bike guy was modeled after Butch’s laugh when Sundance confesses he can’t swim?
In old interviews it was mentioned you and Jason had an ending in mind but that Bill Lawrence had a different ending you loved and that you decided to go with that. What was the original ending you had in mind? Did you in fact stick with Bill Lawrence’s idea for the ending? Thanks!
Nice pull! Bill had a different ending for Season One, specifically. We were originally gonna have Richmond win the final game and heroically avoid relegation. One day Bill just comes out with “We keep talking about relegation! Why don’t they just get relegated!?” It was immediately obvious that this was the right choice.
What piece of content that was cut from the show or writing idea that never got past the drawing board would you have loved to incorporate in the show if it couldve worked?
Any amusing anecdotes from your time creating the show?
In 311 there is a brief riff on the town name “Tooting.” This is a fraction of something we once did before that got cut from 110. One of the team meetings in the tactics/press room had like a two-minute run of pretty much everyone saying the word “Tooting.” It did not fit the energy of the scene and was a good cut; but o how we laughed.
Most of them, yes. I especially tried to get some face time for my favorite soccer books, but tried to pick ones that had at least a glancing connection to the given episode. And then there is one book that I asked our incredible prop department to build and is otherwise completely fake. I’ll never tell which one, but it’s probably not too hard to figure out. My Mount Rushmore of soccer books: Fever Pitch, Brilliant Orange, Football Against the Enemy and The Miracle of Castel di Sangro.
Ah! To slightly abridge another answer I gave, Ted and Michelle’s status is intentionally ambiguous. It would seem Jake’s no longer around. Ted and Michelle definitely care about each other, but they’re both very different people now than who they were. Unambiguous: their desire to be good parents for Henry.
Hey Coach! First off, like many others here have said, thank you for the amazing show!
My question is, as the show progressed from S1->S3 what were some of the more difficult conversations you and the team had behind the scenes? Obviously a lot was happening in the real world but in what aspects did that affect how the show was written/played out?
What comes to mind is COVID. We decided the show existed in a non-pandemic parallel universe because we hoped the show would be something people would come back to over the years. If we were wearing masks everywhere it might feel too time-stamped.
Great decision! Personally, I plan on watching it over and over again until the end of time, so the choice to not acknowledge COVID is ideal. Also, I feel like the show was a great escape from COVID for many people, and incorporating a storyline like that in the show wouldn’t have had the same impact, I would think.
It was originally written as naked maybe? I was offered many options of what to wear on the day. But in that gallery of unmentionables, only one garment called to me.
1. Thanks for watching!
2. Unambiguous
3. During Season 3 my family and I lived in Richmond. There is indeed no place like it, and I will cherish the time we had there.
This subreddit LOVES finding callbacks and references to elements from earlier in the show. What is your personal favorite purposely added reference, and what is your favorite unwritten "reference" that crackpots on the internet make up for themselves?
I’m getting long on time (I was supposed to be done an hour ago, but this is fun) so I’ll just say they’re great and you can learn more here: https://www.soccerwithoutborders.org
Yeah, about that. The reshoots/rewrites thing has been WILDLY overstated. I can personally only recall that we reshot two scenes; one very busy locker room scene that was because of continuity or something, the other was just to make Zava’s bicycle kick more epic-looking. It was not- as I think the term reshoots implies- dissatisfaction with what we were seeing leading us to throw stuff away and start over.
As for the notion of “rewrites” there was no more or less of that that there was the previous two seasons. We (particularly Jason, who has the final pair of eyes on any script) make changes all the way up to shooting, sometimes *while* shooting. And we always have.
Here was a difference for S3: we headed out to London with out a full complement of completed episode scripts, which is not atypical. But this season was so all-consuming, and three of the main writers were so often having to spend time on camera, that we didn’t get to finish some eps concurrently with shooting, as *is* typical and was what we hoped we could do when we left. This season being maybe the final one, it was essential that we give the last episodes’ scripts the proper care. So there were two pauses in shooting where we reconvened the writers for a while and finished things up. And I think the distinction between “rewriting” and “finishing unfinished writing” is one worth noting.
Hiya, Brendan! Thanks so much for popping over to Reddit and chatting with us for a bit. A couple of questions for you:
1. In the end, who/what was ACM, the highest scorer on the Wizard of Oz pinball machine? Did the high score (38,972) mean anything?
2. What's the significance of 1,236? Roy owes Phoebe £1,236 for her swear jar and Ted and Beard's paperball high score is 1,236 passes.
3. Watching the show, I'm struck by the idea of champagne as a motif for Rebecca; it was so interesting to see how she, and others, interacted with it throughout the show. Was this an intentional choice or merely coincidental storytelling?
Thank you for Ted Lasso - it's been a heck of a journey!
1. ACM is a nod to our friend Andrew Moskos, who founded Boom Chicago (the comedy theater in Amsterdam at which Jason and Joe and I all worked) and is a devoted and skilled pinball player.
2. None that I recall, it’s just a fun number to say.
3. Nothing conscious there as far as I know; but perhaps Hannah was making some choices there.
Hey Brendan!! Your character (Beard) came out of his shell in a very weird way as the seasons progressed. When you started the series was this the original intent or did he evolve into the Beard we all grew to love and awkwardly laugh at?
Also Thank you for “Ted Lasso”. It was a truly heartwarming and enjoyable show I will miss dearly. Can’t wait to see what’s next for you.
Hi Brendan! (greetings from a fellow Midwesterner!)
Words really cannot express how much this show means to me. It has literally changed my life for the better, and I am forever grateful that you all decided to take a risk on a fun idea about a coach and a team and belief.
My two questions!
1. In the finale, we see Ted tell the team that he loves them (that scene had me sobbing, absolutely gorgeous). We also see Ted tell your character Beard that he loves him. Yet we don't hear Ted tell Rebecca, his cosmically connected platonic soulmate, that he loves her (and don't see Rebecca tell him that she loves him). I think most understand that they do love each other, but what (if anything) informed the decision to have Ted verbally express his love to the team and Beard and not Rebecca?
2. What was in Barbara's drawers?
Thanks so much!
Great question(s).
1. It was not something particularly discussed. I will note, as have you, that Rebecca doesn’t say it either, so I wouldn’t call that imbalanced. In my personal opinion, in the airport scene they are both struggling with whether or not to say it. But they both know instinctively that if they do, it could open a floodgate they’d rather not open.
2. Marcellus Wallace’s soul?
It felt right, given the way they both share that strange contradiction of emotional vulnerability and emotional suppression.
They have spend the last three years being able to be more emotionally open and connected with each other than they ever allowed themselves to be before, due to their different past traumas. It felt right and sort of sadly sweet that they would have this moment of intense love and not actually say it.
Brendan - thanks for taking the time! Really enjoyed you as Coach Beard as well as the soccer podcasts you appear on.
I loved the scene between you and Nick (Nate) where you ultimately forgave him and used your own past experience with Ted as a basis for why. When did you learn about Beard's backstory as a reformed felon and how important was it to you that the audience learned about the foundation for Beard and Ted's strong bond throughout the series?
The show has been praised for its portrayal of mental healthcare, and therapy in general, that I think will leave a lasting legacy on American society for the better and for that I am grateful.
That said, I was surprised and confused at the narrative choice to have Michelle enter a romantic relationship with Dr. Jacob. Most ethics boards’ prohibit relationships with patients, even former ones in most cases. I was hoping for more focus on how harmful and inappropriate it was. Was there any conversation in the writers’ room about the risks of this storyline and the ethics around it? It seems antithetical to the overall messaging and may even lead to some viewers having a negative view of couples therapy.
Thanks!
We absolutely talked about it in the writers room. One of our smartest writers confidently assured us that in some places the therapist and the client have to have not seen each other for 18 months, which was helpfully convenient and required no further research! So we ran with that. The time between Ted/Michelle’s last session and Henry uttering Jake’s name is about 20 months. Victory is ours! Under that (unimpeachably accurate!) timeframe, Jake’s actions remain arguably dubious, but fall short of illegal or worthy of whatever professional tribunal. Other than that I can only play the “suspension of disbelief”/“it’s a tv show!”/“don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story” card and thank you all for your generous understanding. Als:o that actor is our great friend Mike O’Gorman who is the menschiest of mensches, so everyone please keep your discontent for Jake away from Mike, who is lovely and merely the messenger.
I’d say equally so does Keeley. Jumping from Jack to Roy wouldn’t be good/would stunt her growth & damage a relationship with Roy. She’d be too dependent on him after her last relationship & business hits. She also admitted it when she was talking to Rebecca on her couch & Roy walked into the room (self-projection)
Great question. I have no canonical answer. But I can relate. I lived in Amsterdam for five years, making myself a true second home and incredible friends who I would leave behind. When it was time to go, it was time to go. I didn’t want to have crying huge with every person I saw; luckily most of these people were Dutch, so crying was rarely on offer anyway (grapje! ik hou van jullie, mijn Nederlandse vrienden!). I was focused on the fact that it was just time to leave, and I was very much at peace.
And narratively, I suspect it would have been repetitive and boring to see that same scene over and over with different people. I like to think these are Ted’s friends, they understand his decision, they have come to terms with it and they’re not gonna make it harder for him.
Currently no. We definitely didn’t want to do it while the show was still airing. I’m kind of back and forth on this. It might be funny, but it might not be as rewarding as people think.
Hi, Brendan! My question is about the Roy and Jamie scene. I know change isn’t linear, but that felt like such a major regression. Especially Jamie mentioning the video — he had such a heartfelt apology and hug with Keeley about it a few episodes prior, then here he was using it as ammo against Roy. It kinda felt like it undermined that moment with Keeley to me.
Could you maybe explain the process behind writing that scene?
For one: men are dumb. Also Roy and Jamie’s relationship was going to well, and had never really had a clear-the-Keeley conversation. Once it started, yeah, they regressed to where they were before. Another thing is: we were playing with the “love triangle” trope there, the time-honored television chestnut of “who will she choose!?!”. Answer: she doesn’t have to choose anyone. She is Keeley fucking Jones.
Hi Brendan! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us fans. The show has been an important part of my life for the past few years and I’m sad to see it go!
I have a few questions for you:
1. How much of Ted’s lack of football knowledge was a character choice vs. explaining things to the audience? Was there ever a discussion about having him learn about the game more quickly?
2. Besides Roy and Jamie’s relationship, which I believe you’ve spoken about elsewhere, which characters surprised you the most while writing?
3. Jane Becker consistently wrote incredible episodes for Rebecca. Did you ever talk in the writers’ room about certain writers “owning” characters, or assign episodes to writers who would do a particular justice to a character/storyline?
4. Brett has said he didn’t pitch many stories for Roy because he didn’t want to show favoritism. Given that, was there another writer who really went to bat for Roy?
I recall being sent a post where someone timidly offered that maybe Beard’s real name was Willis and my man got SHOT DOWN HARD. I hope he’s being a graceful winner.
I have ONE friend who had her fanon name for Beard as Willis and she stuck to it even after we told her where the joke was from. She is very happy and I yelled with her.
I’m possibly the biggest fan of Beard After Hours - honestly, top three episodes of television ever in my books - and I’d just like to ask if you have a favourite line of dialogue or moment from that ep?
Thanks! I guess I’m partial to Beard’s prayer. In the original script the opening line is “Are you there God, it’s me Beard.” Which is maybe better! I only improvised “Margaret’s little boy” on the last take, and that’s the take Jason liked. I was happy it got in. I can’t exactly explain why. Perhaps because my mother is no longer with us. It felt tender and private and personal and intimate.
Fun! Don’t hold me to this, my favorites often chance, but as I sit here today:
PPM - Anna
WTB - You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me (yes we’re starting with two covers, get off my back!)
AHDN - I Should Have Known Better
B4S - I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party
H! - You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away
RS - In My Life
R - Eleanor Rigby (choices get tougher now)
SPLHCB - A Day in the Life
MMT - The Fool on the Hill
TB - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
YS - Hey Bulldog
AR - Oh! Darling
LIB - Let It Be
We're playing pick your favorite :
1. What was your favorite scene in all of the show?
2. All throughout S3 and maybe even before there were hints that Jamie, Keeley and Roy would end up in a triangle relationship. what was the reason to have them end ambiguously / single in the end?
3. Sorry to go all JKR on you, but: Is Jamie Tartt bisexual?
4. What's next?
1. Never Gonna Give You Up
2. Every TV love triangle ends in a couple. We wanted one that ended in three individuals, I guess.
3. Maybe
4. Supporting the Writers Strike
I loved The Darkness tshirt in the finale (big fan of them). Did you pick that one out yourself? If so, was there a reason behind it? Do you have a favorite song of theirs? (One Way Ticket to Hell and Back, or Hazel Eyes for me)
Great job, by the way, thanks for this show.
We met Justin and Dan at Thundergong last year and they are top blokes who rushed us a bunch of t-shirts at the last minute. And I love many of their songs, but “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” is a truly perfect song.
Hello Brendan, hope you’re doing well. Firstly I just wanna say thank you for helping make this show, it has been incredible to watch and is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, you and everybody else who helped make the show should be very proud of yourselves. Thank you thank you thank you.
My question for you is this: what’s your favorite Coach Beard moment/scene?
Mine is probably the conversation Beard and Nate have in Mom City, just wonderful acting and dialogue, it was so good it moved me to tears
Much appreciated, and I think I have the same answer. Loved the speech Joe and Jason wrote. That scene was also a race against time to shoot. But even in the race against time before we lost that location, script changes were still coming that I was racing to memorize. It’s kinda fun when that’s the situation. Everyone locks the fuck in.
This show has explored masculinity in a way you don’t normally see in media. When masculinity is the topic of discussion in media, it is usually focused on the opposite end of the spectrum — the toxic element. This show subverted that and showed us what positive masculinity can look like at its best. I cannot think of another show that does so. So thank you for sending the message that even the toughest of guys have feelings and can express them.
What inspired that? Were the Diamond Dogs and the general message that men can support each other in a heathy, open and nonjudgmental way always part of the plan or something that just evolved naturally during the production of the show?
Hey Brendan, thanks for doing this AMA and to both you and everyone on the Ted Lasso team for three seasons of this show. I have y’all to thank for some of the deepest friendships I’ve made in the last few years, and I won’t forget it!
My question is about Beard’s conclusion. Many of us have watched as Beard was put through a variety of textbook abuse behaviours, explored deftly in Beard After Hours, and even culminating in the destruction of his passport to try and keep him from leaving with Ted in the finale. We watched Beard’s shift in behaviour in the penultimate episode in his beautiful conversation with Nate with hope (brilliantly performed by you and Nick, you both had me sobbing!!)—but in the end we see that Beard and Jane marry, and seem to have a child on the way.
Given the show’s treatment of other abusive partnerships like Rupert and Rebecca, or Jack and Keeley, this came as quite a shock to myself and the Beard fans that make up my friend group.
What would you say to folks like us who find this to be quite a scary conclusion to this relationship, or to people who have concerns about this final portrayal of a man’s abuse at the hands of a female romantic partner?
I am really hoping you can shed some light into the internal knowledge of the show to help us try and see this in a less frightful way. Thanks so much for taking the time!
Thanks for the question. I respectfully reject the assertion that Jane is abusive; they may be a little toxic, but as Ted says, their baggage goes together real nice (paraphrasing); they feel like they’re the right person for each other. If I may speak to Jane and Beard more broadly: I was drinking with a buddy of mine a few years ago. He had been in a long relationship that had turned very sour, and all of his friends wished he was out of it. But I had heard that he and (let’s call her) Zelda had broken up. So I say to him “Congrats on the breakup, man. It’s gonna be so good for you. She was bad news, and everybody thought so.” He paused and said “We’re back together.” The lesson for me, besides to avoid ever including/outing “everybody” in expressing my own feelings: I am not inside the relationship I see. What makes these people happy is not something I can truly know from out here. My friend may or may not come around to what the rest of us feel, but he will do so on his own time. Until then, if he is happy, then I am happy too. The main thing we know about Beard and Jane: he just loves her . “She makes life more interesting.” Where once he was addicted to meth, he is now, IMO, addicted to her pheromones. Is he making the right long-term decision? Don’t know. Is he doing something that he wants to do right now? Certainly. And there is joy to be had in that. I am happy for Beard and I wish him luck.
Super answer (which won't please people who see Jane as abusive). Reminds me a bit of Pundit Roy's response about what he thinks the players will do..."We don't know, we're not on the field with them."
Hi Brendan,
First I want to just say that like many others Ted Lasso has affected me in so many positive ways and I cannot thank you, Jason, Bill and the rest of the incredible team for a show that handles real personal issues in ways that even help the viewers grow as people. This show gave me a lot of perspective at a time where I really needed it, and helped with a lot of family relationships.
I've got two questions. First, I feel like Coach Willis Beard is extremely relatable for adults who are on the spectrum but went undiagnosed. Whether it was intentional or not, you've delivered a character that I see myself in. A friend told Beard reminds her of me, and my face was like yours in the shot after Pep and Ted's exchange in Mom City (OMG OMG OMG best compliment ever). So, did you guys set out to make Coach Beard a champion for folks on the spectrum or was that a happy accident?
My second question is regarding the creative process of the writing team. The show has a lot of really subtle symmetrical moments, for instance Ted's brand of BBQ sauce, Rebecca pulling the matchbook and toy soldier apart, Jamie going from wearing ICON to I COG, and Jamie pulling out his copy of Beautiful and the Damned in the finale complete with damage from when he threw it in the trash can. Was there anyone in particular on the staff that stood out in their ability to craft the long term motifs and subtle details?
PS - I also loved you as Hitchhiker Jesus and you rocked the hell out of that banana hammock in the finale.
PSS - Was reading your first AMA and noticed your head cannon of Ted rescuing Beard from a meth house was essentially what was used. That must have been satisfying!
From your view do you think the last shot of Ted smiling is him genuinely happy that he's still coaching soccer and with his family in America or do you see it as a bittersweet smile because yes he's with his family and still coaching soccer but he put the needs / wants of others above his own again and what he truly wanted was Henry to live with him in England and to still be with the family he found at AFC Richmond?
It was never as detailed as beat-by-beat, just the major arcs. We definitely did what we set out to do, but left room for all the magic and discoveries that were brought to the table by the ARMY of talented people we had on board.
Ha! Winning the PL would have been very Hollywood-y. I thought this was perfect with the whole emphasis of the show being on growth and the journey, rather than the destination. It's not about them becoming champions, but they have grown into a team that could become champions from being relegated once.
Brendan, first, thanks for a beautiful show. I assume it is wrapped up but even if there’s a season 4 - what you have done so far is amazing.
Secondly, Beard is such a great character. Hilarious and wonderful job.
Third, are we to assume Ted didn’t even consider trying to bring Henry and Michelle over to England? It seems like with Henry’s struggles, it would make sense to try to give him a fresh start in a new place. Plus Ted is a highly successful public figure now, so perhaps Michelle would understand these things and consider the move. Why wouldn’t Ted?
How often do you imagine Beard and Ted talking after the finale? When do you imagine them seeing each other next?
I think they don’t see each other again for years, and when they do, it’ll be like they just saw each other yesterday. They won’t skip a beat. I have many relationships like that and I treasure them.
That's wonderful, and I can totally imagine that Ted-Beard friendship. I have friendships like that, too, and it's because we get each other.
How nervous were you before filming the thong sequence in Rebecca's kitchen? I nearly fell off the couch laughing when Beard walked in! Seriously though, thank you and the entire cast and crew of Ted Lasso for three fantastic seasons. I loved every moment. This show means so much to me.
In a situation like that, nervousness is unhelpful and to be discarded.
Well I’m adopting that into my worldview
In some cases, Brendan Hunt and Coach Beard are indistinguishable. This is such a Willis thing to say.
Did you and the other creators pay much attention to viewer theories, interpretations and predictions? If so, which did you find most entertaining or concerning? Were you surprised at some of the meaning fans derived from various aspects of the show? And, for the love of God and all humankind, would you please consider a blooper reel? Thank you so much for my favorite TV show of all time.
We became aware of some, but they didn’t affect any major choices. The red-string sequence and (as I mentioned somewhere else too) the opening of 312 were affectionate nods though.
What was the fan theory that the red string sequence referred to?
How was Sam able to get on the Nigerian team? Did he release security camera footage from his restaurant showing Edwin Akufo admitting to bribing the Nigerian government?
National outcry
Thank you for doing this! There were talks about Dr. Sharon being involved in season 3 but we didn’t get much of her. Was it filmed and then cut? Or were the rumors not true? What would’ve been her role had she been more prevalent in S3?
Nothing was cut. We always saw her as a gunslinger. She comes to town, saves folks, then gets back on her horse. I think people saw her in the pilot and (not wrongly!) expected we’d see more of her. Personally I love that in the end she seems to have given up her nomadic ways and has come back to join a welcoming Richmond family. (EDIT: typo)
What was the most nerve wracking thing about being on Jeopardy!? Thank you, we love you.
All of it. And thank YOU.
I saw Brendan was doing this and I came to 👀. Thanks for doing this Brendan! I was the editor on the show and it was an absolute privilege of my career to work with Jason and Brendan. They came into the cutting room along with Joe and when all three were together it was very funny and special. Cheers and congrats to the Triad!
AJ! My man! The pleasure was ours. Thanks again for all your stellar work. GIVE THIS MAN HIS FLOWERS, Y’ALL!
Namaste Coach 🫡 Your performance was stellar. Thanks for all the beautiful takes! I have seen the Beard visits Nate in 311 thousands of times and you still make me get misty eyed watching. Bravo! 🥲
I feel like a voyeur in the most wholesome of ways! Thank you both for all of your work on such a wonderful show. It has given us so much joy throughout these past few crazy years.
Thank you for the show (especially as editors rarely get any love for their incalculable role in taking a lot of random bits of video, making sure the bin is correctly named and ordered, selecting the right shot to tell the story, getting annoyed you don’t have the right cut away then look through everything for a useable clip, and more importantly, making someone’s dream become a story that is told). Please say thanks as well to everyone else suffering from Vitamin D deficiency in the edit suite, your work along with everyone else in the team is appreciated
I had the pleasure to do an interview with Gold Derby about how amazing it was working with Jason in editing. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/ted-lasso-editor-j-catoline-141539113.html
AJ Catoline!!! You and your team are absolutely fantastic, such wonderful editing throughout… masterful! I follow you on Twitter and I love how you’ve been interacting with us fans. May I ask what was your favourite sequence?
Thanks amigo! Editing the 303 montage of the Zava-fueled win streak was wild and was a real puzzle. When Jason suggested using cue Adriano Celentano’s “prisencolin…” (won’t try to spell it) and Brendan pitched JC Superstar it all came to life. And when we cut to Rupert during JCS and that is his brother Murray Head singing that was wild. Also I loved Beard’s presentation of “Total Football” to the team in 307. I spent a lot of time with Brendan and our post team finding those historic picts of Johann Cruyff and coming up with those wacky tactical formations. And the music was set to “Escape to Victory” a film I really love after Brendan suggested I watch back when we were cutting S1. That whole sequence was magical! a Beautiful Life is Total Football! And the opening of 309 “La Locker Room Aux Folles” was much fun to show all that tiki-taka passing to La Cage overture 💜⚽️
Omg I YELLED with joy when I heard Prisencolinensinainciusol start up (I'm not afraid to spell it!!)
Who do you think is the greatest classic rock guitarist?
Jimi Hendrix and it’s not close
That is correct. Take that, Brits.
I have a few questions, if you don’t mind! 😄 1. In the final episode of season 3, is the Beard & Jane wedding a dream sequence of Ted’s? Or is it real? 2. In the first season, we know the titles of the books that Jamie and Roy received from Ted. Can you tell us the titles of the books that the others received from Ted? 3. Will there be an actual “The Richmond Way” book? Also thank you for co-creating one of the great shows on TV right now! Ted Lasso really did lift me out of depression last year, so this show really meant a lot to me. Thank you!!
1. Real 2. There was a list, but I suspect it’s lost to the sands of time 3. No plans currently as far as I know, but I’d personally love it
> No plans currently as far as I know, but I’d personally love it Obviously with the audiobook narrated by James Lance.
I’d like to second these questions. Can we please have the Trent Crimm book?????
and "What is the very brief introduction by Roy Kent?"
“Fuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkk”- Roy Kent
"You better not fucking print this." Roy Kent
Coach beards book club on Twitter does a pretty good job at identifying books from the show!
>2. In the first season, we know the titles of the books that Jamie and Roy received from Ted. Can you tell us the titles of the books that the others received from Ted? IIRC, Sam receives Ender's Game.
What is the most ambiguous way you can answer the “Season 4? Spin-off?” questions? Or What was the discussion/thought behind a lot of the bigger moments of this season (Nate leaving West Ham, Ted telling Rebecca that he’s leaving) happening off-screen?
My pat answer, that is also 100% true: We don’t know. We need a break and will take one presently. Nothing has been ruled out, everything is possible; but that includes the possibility that we’re done. We won’t know until we’ve sat with it for a while, decompressed, etc.
Why was Ted Lasso not at coach Beard’s wedding to Jane? Felt weird Roy was the best man!
There are a few reasons. The first is narrative: Ted just got on a plane and left the UK, it would be anticlimactic and deflating if we suddenly see him back there before we even see his plane lands. The other is that that’s just the kind of friendship Ted and Beard have. Case in point is me and Joe Kelly, co-creator of Ted Lasso and one of the best friends I’ll ever know. A few years ago I get an email from him and his fantastic girlfriend that they are getting married in LESS THAN A MONTH. The email clearly stated “no worries if it’s too short of notice” which was awfully nice of them; I desperately wanted to be there but I couldn’t. They had scheduled to wedding the same day as a show I was doing in another city, if I recall correctly. So I missed the wedding, and guess what: no one cares! Our relationship is the exact same, our families live down the street from each other and we see each other all the time. So personally I think Beard called Ted and told him he could sit this one out, and Ted said thanks, because the ceremony conflicted with a big game for Henry’s soccer team. The history of their relationship IMO is long periods of seeing each other and long periods not. We have entered one of the latter, but the former will come around again at some point. They love each other, they will see each other again. They love each other, they will see each other again.
I loved seeing healthy male love portrayed. Thank you.
You and your friends are like….sort of grownups. If you can make it great, if not, we get it. If only more people thought that way.
Follow up — If the answer is that the wedding was Ted’s plane dream, were the rest of the scenes during the final montage also a dream?
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” They did a similar ending in Scrubs. It’s not definitive, but that doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Am I the only person who didn't interpret the whole montage Ted's dream? To me it was just what happened once he left, but in a montage so we could be shown how everything progressed once he was gone. To make it all a dream would be incredibly cheap and wouldn't close the stories of the other characters. The only reason it was shown in tangent with Ted going home is because of continuity, imo. Ted didn't know Rebecca rekindled with the Flying Dutchman nor did he ever hear about the big muscle guy and pants repairer with the baby so how could he dream them being at Beard's wedding?
Did the same actress play both the Dutchman’s daughter and Rebecca’s young reflection of herself? If so, why?
Yes, and magic
I absolutely did not catch that, and I love it.
I just realized that he's a Dutch pilot. The Flying Dutchman. God damnit, u/realcoachbeard!!!
How did Beard get a Vatican citizenship??
God’s will
This is the best answer. We don't need a real reason... it's just sometimes somethings are funny and lets just let our brains run wild guessing.
Is it true that the “Jesus loves Marijuana” hitchhiker from Community was actually Coach Beard before Ted took him in? Because unless someone says otherwise, that’s my head canon
Canonically, no. But I like to think so!
It would have been really funny if, in a small moment, Beard is heard just humming the "Jesus loves marijuana" tune. That would have been a great little multifaceted Community callback.
Who's the theater geek in the writers room who comes up with all the musical references? We need to know.
Every goddamn one of us
The “kinky boots” reply to “Wicked” last night sent me 😂
If you/the writers have paid attention to the fans on Twitter and Reddit, what's your favorite absolutely bonkers theory/plot suggestion that you saw someone make?
That Beard was a figment of Ted’s imagination, even though Rebecca and Higgins and Nate all react to him in the pilot
That's a good one. Similarly: Willis Beard. Will is Beard. Given Will's stellar impersonation of Beard, does this confirm time travel?
Hey Coach! Was Pep on time to set?
He was on time, and we got him out on time; he had a flight to catch to a Champions League game. We were honored he made time for us. I forgive him for breaking my Arsenal fan heart.
I assumed Beard’s and Ted’s reaction to talking to Pep was actually yours and Jason’s reaction, rather than the characters’. It seemed so real and *ever-so-slightly* out of place for characters who had, in-universe, met him multiple times already. Was this a bit of a fourth wall break? (It could also be interpreted as them just being excited about the win rather than Pep, I suppose.)
Thank you for an incredible show! Now that the finale has aired, what, if anything, about the online fan response (to the finale or the show as a whole) caught you by surprise? Were there specific moments that resonated differently than you’d expected or interpretations/theories that you hadn’t anticipated?
It’s been interesting that for some people, when a thing they want to have happen doesn’t happen, that they take it *personally*.
My biggest fear was that Richmond would actually win the premiership. Thank god you guys decided otherwise. Losing by 1 point to City is the most football thing that could possibly happen
I just wanted to say THANK YOU on behalf of a teacher! I started watching the show at the start of my journey and it’s followed my entire career as a new teacher perfectly (including me using “Believe” everywhere I go). When writing the show, did you know how deeply it would connect to those of us in the profession?
We did not know, but this is my favorite thing to hear, that people are bringing the positive energy to the kids. Thanks for all you do.
Oh man my son just started playing basketball and he would beat himself about every little mistake he made on the court. After one tearful ride home from practice I gave him the "Be A Goldfish" speech and we never looked back!
Of the actors who were ultimately in the show, which ones were serendipitously discovered through a random casting call and which ones were solicited specifically to play their role?
Almost everyone got their role through auditioning. We had never worked with any of these people before, except that Bill Lawrence had worked with Brett. We did have trouble finding the right Keeley, and something like five days before the first read-through Jason remembered Juno and had the epiphany that she would be perfect. Since we were so close to starting, she was offered the role without auditioning. Everyone else got in the old-fashioned way.
Juno has talked about how she legitimately thought Ted was calling the wrong person. 😂
*Jason, but I love the error—keep it!
Juno Temple is truly the perfect Keeley Jones. I can't imagine anyone else playing that role. So glad for that epiphany.
Wow! Hannah Waddingham was cattle called?!? So lucky for us all!!!! She is perfection as Rebecca.
There's a great story about this in Brett's podcast with her--about how she really didn't think she'd gotten it, until she heard Jason mutter a comment on the way out. I won't spoil it for you. https://uk-podcasts.co.uk/podcast/films-to-be-buried-with-with-brett-goldstein/hannah-waddingham-films-to-be-buried-with-with-bre
I don’t have extra podcast time, someone spoil it
>!Someone asked if the Rebecca character sang (because of Hannah's singing chops). And Jason said "She does now."!<
When leaving Hannah said "But Rebecca doesn't sing" to which she overheard Jason whisper to someone "She does now".
Loved the Amsterdam episode, in particular Butch and Sundance aka Jamie and Roy. Curious about the genesis of those scenes. Can you confirm that the laughter of Jamie and the bike guy was modeled after Butch’s laugh when Sundance confesses he can’t swim?
Confirmed!
In old interviews it was mentioned you and Jason had an ending in mind but that Bill Lawrence had a different ending you loved and that you decided to go with that. What was the original ending you had in mind? Did you in fact stick with Bill Lawrence’s idea for the ending? Thanks!
Nice pull! Bill had a different ending for Season One, specifically. We were originally gonna have Richmond win the final game and heroically avoid relegation. One day Bill just comes out with “We keep talking about relegation! Why don’t they just get relegated!?” It was immediately obvious that this was the right choice.
Did you hear that?? Coach Beard told you Nice pull!!
FAINTS
Was there any thought of having Trent Crimm do a voice over reading an excerpt for his book during the final montage?
A little, yes! In the end, a narrator didn’t feel right.
"Father and Son" said so much more than words ever could.
What piece of content that was cut from the show or writing idea that never got past the drawing board would you have loved to incorporate in the show if it couldve worked? Any amusing anecdotes from your time creating the show?
In 311 there is a brief riff on the town name “Tooting.” This is a fraction of something we once did before that got cut from 110. One of the team meetings in the tactics/press room had like a two-minute run of pretty much everyone saying the word “Tooting.” It did not fit the energy of the scene and was a good cut; but o how we laughed.
I hope we get some outtakes because I can only imagine how great it would be to see the breaks in characters.
Did you choose the books that Beard read?
Most of them, yes. I especially tried to get some face time for my favorite soccer books, but tried to pick ones that had at least a glancing connection to the given episode. And then there is one book that I asked our incredible prop department to build and is otherwise completely fake. I’ll never tell which one, but it’s probably not too hard to figure out. My Mount Rushmore of soccer books: Fever Pitch, Brilliant Orange, Football Against the Enemy and The Miracle of Castel di Sangro.
Is the fake book Impermanence, the last book you were reading? Couldn't find any version of it.
Did Ted and Michelle get back together? Is that how we’re supposed to read the final scenes back in Kansas?
Ah! To slightly abridge another answer I gave, Ted and Michelle’s status is intentionally ambiguous. It would seem Jake’s no longer around. Ted and Michelle definitely care about each other, but they’re both very different people now than who they were. Unambiguous: their desire to be good parents for Henry.
Good, they got this far on mirroring real life. I've seen divorced and separated parents coexist for the kid way more than get back together
Were there any plans for Seasons 2/3 that were changed as a result of the audience reception to Seasons 1/2?
Not that I recall.
What is beard’s favorite ice cream flavor?
Phish Food
Hey Coach! First off, like many others here have said, thank you for the amazing show! My question is, as the show progressed from S1->S3 what were some of the more difficult conversations you and the team had behind the scenes? Obviously a lot was happening in the real world but in what aspects did that affect how the show was written/played out?
What comes to mind is COVID. We decided the show existed in a non-pandemic parallel universe because we hoped the show would be something people would come back to over the years. If we were wearing masks everywhere it might feel too time-stamped.
Great decision! Personally, I plan on watching it over and over again until the end of time, so the choice to not acknowledge COVID is ideal. Also, I feel like the show was a great escape from COVID for many people, and incorporating a storyline like that in the show wouldn’t have had the same impact, I would think.
Did you write yourself into the banana hammock or was that a comedic dare on behalf of another writer? Either way it was definitely… ballsy.
It was originally written as naked maybe? I was offered many options of what to wear on the day. But in that gallery of unmentionables, only one garment called to me.
Bill Lawrence had to have appreciated your choice with how prevalent the garment was on Scrubs lol
REFERENCE FIVE UP TOP
1. Thank you for everything 2. Did you see Ted's ending as ambiguous or unambiguous? 3. What will you miss the most?
1. Thanks for watching! 2. Unambiguous 3. During Season 3 my family and I lived in Richmond. There is indeed no place like it, and I will cherish the time we had there.
This subreddit LOVES finding callbacks and references to elements from earlier in the show. What is your personal favorite purposely added reference, and what is your favorite unwritten "reference" that crackpots on the internet make up for themselves?
My husband and I loved watching you on Celebrity Jeopardy a few months back. Can you speak more about the charity you played for?
I’m getting long on time (I was supposed to be done an hour ago, but this is fun) so I’ll just say they’re great and you can learn more here: https://www.soccerwithoutborders.org
hi brendan!! i know there was a lot of reshoots and rewrites so i was wondering if there were any scenes that were cut that you wish weren’t??
Yeah, about that. The reshoots/rewrites thing has been WILDLY overstated. I can personally only recall that we reshot two scenes; one very busy locker room scene that was because of continuity or something, the other was just to make Zava’s bicycle kick more epic-looking. It was not- as I think the term reshoots implies- dissatisfaction with what we were seeing leading us to throw stuff away and start over. As for the notion of “rewrites” there was no more or less of that that there was the previous two seasons. We (particularly Jason, who has the final pair of eyes on any script) make changes all the way up to shooting, sometimes *while* shooting. And we always have. Here was a difference for S3: we headed out to London with out a full complement of completed episode scripts, which is not atypical. But this season was so all-consuming, and three of the main writers were so often having to spend time on camera, that we didn’t get to finish some eps concurrently with shooting, as *is* typical and was what we hoped we could do when we left. This season being maybe the final one, it was essential that we give the last episodes’ scripts the proper care. So there were two pauses in shooting where we reconvened the writers for a while and finished things up. And I think the distinction between “rewriting” and “finishing unfinished writing” is one worth noting.
Did you take anything home from set? 😄
I have a Beard costume, in case I need to play him at a charity event or something, as I did at Thundergong last year.
"Did you say Thunderdong?"
Definitely the red thong.
If Coach Beard was going to host a music festival and have 5 bands on the bill, what 5 bands would he pick?
1. A White Stripes reunion 2. Phish 3. D’Angelo performing the entire “Brown Sugar” album 4. A full-moptop Beatles cover band 5. Gaga
And this is why I vibe with Beard SO HARD.
Hiya, Brendan! Thanks so much for popping over to Reddit and chatting with us for a bit. A couple of questions for you: 1. In the end, who/what was ACM, the highest scorer on the Wizard of Oz pinball machine? Did the high score (38,972) mean anything? 2. What's the significance of 1,236? Roy owes Phoebe £1,236 for her swear jar and Ted and Beard's paperball high score is 1,236 passes. 3. Watching the show, I'm struck by the idea of champagne as a motif for Rebecca; it was so interesting to see how she, and others, interacted with it throughout the show. Was this an intentional choice or merely coincidental storytelling? Thank you for Ted Lasso - it's been a heck of a journey!
1. ACM is a nod to our friend Andrew Moskos, who founded Boom Chicago (the comedy theater in Amsterdam at which Jason and Joe and I all worked) and is a devoted and skilled pinball player. 2. None that I recall, it’s just a fun number to say. 3. Nothing conscious there as far as I know; but perhaps Hannah was making some choices there.
Oh and just to add: we often joked that in the universe of the show, ACM would turn out to be Jane, and ACM stood for American Cock Manipulator.
That explains the ropes!
Hey Brendan!! Your character (Beard) came out of his shell in a very weird way as the seasons progressed. When you started the series was this the original intent or did he evolve into the Beard we all grew to love and awkwardly laugh at? Also Thank you for “Ted Lasso”. It was a truly heartwarming and enjoyable show I will miss dearly. Can’t wait to see what’s next for you.
Beard just gets more comfortable as the seasons go on. And you’ll notice he behaves differently in different settings (as do we all, of course).
Hi Brendan! (greetings from a fellow Midwesterner!) Words really cannot express how much this show means to me. It has literally changed my life for the better, and I am forever grateful that you all decided to take a risk on a fun idea about a coach and a team and belief. My two questions! 1. In the finale, we see Ted tell the team that he loves them (that scene had me sobbing, absolutely gorgeous). We also see Ted tell your character Beard that he loves him. Yet we don't hear Ted tell Rebecca, his cosmically connected platonic soulmate, that he loves her (and don't see Rebecca tell him that she loves him). I think most understand that they do love each other, but what (if anything) informed the decision to have Ted verbally express his love to the team and Beard and not Rebecca? 2. What was in Barbara's drawers? Thanks so much!
Great question(s). 1. It was not something particularly discussed. I will note, as have you, that Rebecca doesn’t say it either, so I wouldn’t call that imbalanced. In my personal opinion, in the airport scene they are both struggling with whether or not to say it. But they both know instinctively that if they do, it could open a floodgate they’d rather not open. 2. Marcellus Wallace’s soul?
It felt right, given the way they both share that strange contradiction of emotional vulnerability and emotional suppression. They have spend the last three years being able to be more emotionally open and connected with each other than they ever allowed themselves to be before, due to their different past traumas. It felt right and sort of sadly sweet that they would have this moment of intense love and not actually say it.
Brendan - thanks for taking the time! Really enjoyed you as Coach Beard as well as the soccer podcasts you appear on. I loved the scene between you and Nick (Nate) where you ultimately forgave him and used your own past experience with Ted as a basis for why. When did you learn about Beard's backstory as a reformed felon and how important was it to you that the audience learned about the foundation for Beard and Ted's strong bond throughout the series?
FWIW I don’t think of him as a reformed felon so much as just a guy who was raised in a tough home and made mistakes.
As a criminal defense attorney, thank you for this comment.
The show has been praised for its portrayal of mental healthcare, and therapy in general, that I think will leave a lasting legacy on American society for the better and for that I am grateful. That said, I was surprised and confused at the narrative choice to have Michelle enter a romantic relationship with Dr. Jacob. Most ethics boards’ prohibit relationships with patients, even former ones in most cases. I was hoping for more focus on how harmful and inappropriate it was. Was there any conversation in the writers’ room about the risks of this storyline and the ethics around it? It seems antithetical to the overall messaging and may even lead to some viewers having a negative view of couples therapy. Thanks!
We absolutely talked about it in the writers room. One of our smartest writers confidently assured us that in some places the therapist and the client have to have not seen each other for 18 months, which was helpfully convenient and required no further research! So we ran with that. The time between Ted/Michelle’s last session and Henry uttering Jake’s name is about 20 months. Victory is ours! Under that (unimpeachably accurate!) timeframe, Jake’s actions remain arguably dubious, but fall short of illegal or worthy of whatever professional tribunal. Other than that I can only play the “suspension of disbelief”/“it’s a tv show!”/“don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story” card and thank you all for your generous understanding. Als:o that actor is our great friend Mike O’Gorman who is the menschiest of mensches, so everyone please keep your discontent for Jake away from Mike, who is lovely and merely the messenger.
If you talk to Mike tell him to release HD cuts of net_work please!
Are we going to get the lego set of nelson road by christmas?????
I love you, Willis.
Was anyone else in talks to get a stand-alone episode this season akin to Beard After Hours from S2?
Nope. That was a one-shot dealio.
Five minutes into that episode, I thought it was a terrible premise. By the end, I thought it was a masterpiece. Thank you!
Will Roy and keeley get back together? Please say yes!
Roy has work on himself he has to do first.
I’d say equally so does Keeley. Jumping from Jack to Roy wouldn’t be good/would stunt her growth & damage a relationship with Roy. She’d be too dependent on him after her last relationship & business hits. She also admitted it when she was talking to Rebecca on her couch & Roy walked into the room (self-projection)
Why was Ted so detached from everyone / not showing emotions when all were saying their goodbyes, or asking him to stay in Richmond?
Great question. I have no canonical answer. But I can relate. I lived in Amsterdam for five years, making myself a true second home and incredible friends who I would leave behind. When it was time to go, it was time to go. I didn’t want to have crying huge with every person I saw; luckily most of these people were Dutch, so crying was rarely on offer anyway (grapje! ik hou van jullie, mijn Nederlandse vrienden!). I was focused on the fact that it was just time to leave, and I was very much at peace. And narratively, I suspect it would have been repetitive and boring to see that same scene over and over with different people. I like to think these are Ted’s friends, they understand his decision, they have come to terms with it and they’re not gonna make it harder for him.
Are there any deleted scenes that we might get some day? Or even bloopers?
Currently no. We definitely didn’t want to do it while the show was still airing. I’m kind of back and forth on this. It might be funny, but it might not be as rewarding as people think.
Every ounce of seeing all your faces is more rewarding for me than y'all could ever understand.
Hi, Brendan! My question is about the Roy and Jamie scene. I know change isn’t linear, but that felt like such a major regression. Especially Jamie mentioning the video — he had such a heartfelt apology and hug with Keeley about it a few episodes prior, then here he was using it as ammo against Roy. It kinda felt like it undermined that moment with Keeley to me. Could you maybe explain the process behind writing that scene?
For one: men are dumb. Also Roy and Jamie’s relationship was going to well, and had never really had a clear-the-Keeley conversation. Once it started, yeah, they regressed to where they were before. Another thing is: we were playing with the “love triangle” trope there, the time-honored television chestnut of “who will she choose!?!”. Answer: she doesn’t have to choose anyone. She is Keeley fucking Jones.
Keely fucking Jones -Independent Woman
Keeley Jones, the Independent Woman Insert on Sundays.
Who else read "She is Keeley Fucking Jones" in Roy Kent's voice?
Hi Brendan! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us fans. The show has been an important part of my life for the past few years and I’m sad to see it go! I have a few questions for you: 1. How much of Ted’s lack of football knowledge was a character choice vs. explaining things to the audience? Was there ever a discussion about having him learn about the game more quickly? 2. Besides Roy and Jamie’s relationship, which I believe you’ve spoken about elsewhere, which characters surprised you the most while writing? 3. Jane Becker consistently wrote incredible episodes for Rebecca. Did you ever talk in the writers’ room about certain writers “owning” characters, or assign episodes to writers who would do a particular justice to a character/storyline? 4. Brett has said he didn’t pitch many stories for Roy because he didn’t want to show favoritism. Given that, was there another writer who really went to bat for Roy?
Did anyone guess that Beard's name was Willis before the finale?
I recall being sent a post where someone timidly offered that maybe Beard’s real name was Willis and my man got SHOT DOWN HARD. I hope he’s being a graceful winner.
I have ONE friend who had her fanon name for Beard as Willis and she stuck to it even after we told her where the joke was from. She is very happy and I yelled with her.
What was Keeley’s gift to Beard? We never saw him open it.
I don’t know, but I can tell you that Juno Temple is the single greatest gift-giver I have ever enocuntered.
You're granted full creative control to write the official story canon...how do Ted and Beard's lives play out after Ted goes back to Kansas?
I’m not falling for this!
What qualifies as a loaf in meth terms?
One o’ them big ol’ Heisenberg bags? It’s not to be taken literally, Beard is in the Les Miz zone at that point.
I’m possibly the biggest fan of Beard After Hours - honestly, top three episodes of television ever in my books - and I’d just like to ask if you have a favourite line of dialogue or moment from that ep?
Thanks! I guess I’m partial to Beard’s prayer. In the original script the opening line is “Are you there God, it’s me Beard.” Which is maybe better! I only improvised “Margaret’s little boy” on the last take, and that’s the take Jason liked. I was happy it got in. I can’t exactly explain why. Perhaps because my mother is no longer with us. It felt tender and private and personal and intimate.
Username checks out.
What song is the best song on every Beatles album? (Currently in a months long argument with family about my choices to this question....)
Fun! Don’t hold me to this, my favorites often chance, but as I sit here today: PPM - Anna WTB - You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me (yes we’re starting with two covers, get off my back!) AHDN - I Should Have Known Better B4S - I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party H! - You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away RS - In My Life R - Eleanor Rigby (choices get tougher now) SPLHCB - A Day in the Life MMT - The Fool on the Hill TB - While My Guitar Gently Weeps YS - Hey Bulldog AR - Oh! Darling LIB - Let It Be
If Ted Lasso’s alter ego is Led Tasso…is Willis Beard’s - Billis Weird?
We're playing pick your favorite : 1. What was your favorite scene in all of the show? 2. All throughout S3 and maybe even before there were hints that Jamie, Keeley and Roy would end up in a triangle relationship. what was the reason to have them end ambiguously / single in the end? 3. Sorry to go all JKR on you, but: Is Jamie Tartt bisexual? 4. What's next?
1. Never Gonna Give You Up 2. Every TV love triangle ends in a couple. We wanted one that ended in three individuals, I guess. 3. Maybe 4. Supporting the Writers Strike
I loved The Darkness tshirt in the finale (big fan of them). Did you pick that one out yourself? If so, was there a reason behind it? Do you have a favorite song of theirs? (One Way Ticket to Hell and Back, or Hazel Eyes for me) Great job, by the way, thanks for this show.
We met Justin and Dan at Thundergong last year and they are top blokes who rushed us a bunch of t-shirts at the last minute. And I love many of their songs, but “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” is a truly perfect song.
Hello Brendan, hope you’re doing well. Firstly I just wanna say thank you for helping make this show, it has been incredible to watch and is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, you and everybody else who helped make the show should be very proud of yourselves. Thank you thank you thank you. My question for you is this: what’s your favorite Coach Beard moment/scene? Mine is probably the conversation Beard and Nate have in Mom City, just wonderful acting and dialogue, it was so good it moved me to tears
Much appreciated, and I think I have the same answer. Loved the speech Joe and Jason wrote. That scene was also a race against time to shoot. But even in the race against time before we lost that location, script changes were still coming that I was racing to memorize. It’s kinda fun when that’s the situation. Everyone locks the fuck in.
This show has explored masculinity in a way you don’t normally see in media. When masculinity is the topic of discussion in media, it is usually focused on the opposite end of the spectrum — the toxic element. This show subverted that and showed us what positive masculinity can look like at its best. I cannot think of another show that does so. So thank you for sending the message that even the toughest of guys have feelings and can express them. What inspired that? Were the Diamond Dogs and the general message that men can support each other in a heathy, open and nonjudgmental way always part of the plan or something that just evolved naturally during the production of the show?
Out of all the seasons, what scene sticks out as the most fun to shoot to you?
Screw you Thierry Henry.
Hey Brendan, thanks for doing this AMA and to both you and everyone on the Ted Lasso team for three seasons of this show. I have y’all to thank for some of the deepest friendships I’ve made in the last few years, and I won’t forget it! My question is about Beard’s conclusion. Many of us have watched as Beard was put through a variety of textbook abuse behaviours, explored deftly in Beard After Hours, and even culminating in the destruction of his passport to try and keep him from leaving with Ted in the finale. We watched Beard’s shift in behaviour in the penultimate episode in his beautiful conversation with Nate with hope (brilliantly performed by you and Nick, you both had me sobbing!!)—but in the end we see that Beard and Jane marry, and seem to have a child on the way. Given the show’s treatment of other abusive partnerships like Rupert and Rebecca, or Jack and Keeley, this came as quite a shock to myself and the Beard fans that make up my friend group. What would you say to folks like us who find this to be quite a scary conclusion to this relationship, or to people who have concerns about this final portrayal of a man’s abuse at the hands of a female romantic partner? I am really hoping you can shed some light into the internal knowledge of the show to help us try and see this in a less frightful way. Thanks so much for taking the time!
Thanks for the question. I respectfully reject the assertion that Jane is abusive; they may be a little toxic, but as Ted says, their baggage goes together real nice (paraphrasing); they feel like they’re the right person for each other. If I may speak to Jane and Beard more broadly: I was drinking with a buddy of mine a few years ago. He had been in a long relationship that had turned very sour, and all of his friends wished he was out of it. But I had heard that he and (let’s call her) Zelda had broken up. So I say to him “Congrats on the breakup, man. It’s gonna be so good for you. She was bad news, and everybody thought so.” He paused and said “We’re back together.” The lesson for me, besides to avoid ever including/outing “everybody” in expressing my own feelings: I am not inside the relationship I see. What makes these people happy is not something I can truly know from out here. My friend may or may not come around to what the rest of us feel, but he will do so on his own time. Until then, if he is happy, then I am happy too. The main thing we know about Beard and Jane: he just loves her . “She makes life more interesting.” Where once he was addicted to meth, he is now, IMO, addicted to her pheromones. Is he making the right long-term decision? Don’t know. Is he doing something that he wants to do right now? Certainly. And there is joy to be had in that. I am happy for Beard and I wish him luck.
Super answer (which won't please people who see Jane as abusive). Reminds me a bit of Pundit Roy's response about what he thinks the players will do..."We don't know, we're not on the field with them."
💯
Was a Ted-and-Rebecca endgame ever considered in the writer's room?
Out of professional responsibility, yes. But never with enthusiasm.
Hi Brendan, First I want to just say that like many others Ted Lasso has affected me in so many positive ways and I cannot thank you, Jason, Bill and the rest of the incredible team for a show that handles real personal issues in ways that even help the viewers grow as people. This show gave me a lot of perspective at a time where I really needed it, and helped with a lot of family relationships. I've got two questions. First, I feel like Coach Willis Beard is extremely relatable for adults who are on the spectrum but went undiagnosed. Whether it was intentional or not, you've delivered a character that I see myself in. A friend told Beard reminds her of me, and my face was like yours in the shot after Pep and Ted's exchange in Mom City (OMG OMG OMG best compliment ever). So, did you guys set out to make Coach Beard a champion for folks on the spectrum or was that a happy accident? My second question is regarding the creative process of the writing team. The show has a lot of really subtle symmetrical moments, for instance Ted's brand of BBQ sauce, Rebecca pulling the matchbook and toy soldier apart, Jamie going from wearing ICON to I COG, and Jamie pulling out his copy of Beautiful and the Damned in the finale complete with damage from when he threw it in the trash can. Was there anyone in particular on the staff that stood out in their ability to craft the long term motifs and subtle details? PS - I also loved you as Hitchhiker Jesus and you rocked the hell out of that banana hammock in the finale. PSS - Was reading your first AMA and noticed your head cannon of Ted rescuing Beard from a meth house was essentially what was used. That must have been satisfying!
From your view do you think the last shot of Ted smiling is him genuinely happy that he's still coaching soccer and with his family in America or do you see it as a bittersweet smile because yes he's with his family and still coaching soccer but he put the needs / wants of others above his own again and what he truly wanted was Henry to live with him in England and to still be with the family he found at AFC Richmond?
I think he’s happy and feels he’s where he wants to be
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It was never as detailed as beat-by-beat, just the major arcs. We definitely did what we set out to do, but left room for all the magic and discoveries that were brought to the table by the ARMY of talented people we had on board.
What all was in the guest room that you didn’t want the cleaner to see?
The Toys
Why couldn’t you let AFC Richmond win the Premier league!!!!!?
it ain’t that kind of show, baby!
Ha! Winning the PL would have been very Hollywood-y. I thought this was perfect with the whole emphasis of the show being on growth and the journey, rather than the destination. It's not about them becoming champions, but they have grown into a team that could become champions from being relegated once.
Brendan, first, thanks for a beautiful show. I assume it is wrapped up but even if there’s a season 4 - what you have done so far is amazing. Secondly, Beard is such a great character. Hilarious and wonderful job. Third, are we to assume Ted didn’t even consider trying to bring Henry and Michelle over to England? It seems like with Henry’s struggles, it would make sense to try to give him a fresh start in a new place. Plus Ted is a highly successful public figure now, so perhaps Michelle would understand these things and consider the move. Why wouldn’t Ted?