Ted Lasso may have a chance to move into Season 4 on Apple TV after new quotes from one of the show's producers.
The Apple TV+ series is going out on a high note after earning an astonishing 21 Emmy award nominations for its third - and currently, final - season.
Ted Lasso's past season even broke new streaming records for Apple with over a billion minutes of viewing time the week the finale episode aired, leaving many to wonder if this truly is it for Jason Sudeikis and his band of British footballers.
While Sudeikis himself told Entertainment Tonight that the "idea was to do three years" for Ted Lasso from Day One, with the writing team going into Season 3 wanting "to close up this chapter" of Ted's life, there still is the question of "what if?"
Ted Lasso Season 4 On the Table?
Ted Lasso director/producer Declan Lowney teased in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter that the Apple TV+ show has the potential for a Season 4.
Lowney directed the show's last two episodes, noting how everybody "knew it was the end" while filming took place.
But he also added a "for now" to that quote, teasing that in "two or three years," things could potentially pick up again for new stories:
"Everybody knew it was the end, but it’s also the end for now. (Laughs.) It’s going to be two or three years before anything happens — if anything happens — so let’s try and tie up all these stories properly. I’m trying to remember how the script was delivered, because I’ve a feeling I might have gotten a big chunk of it, and then there’d be more coming — but I didn’t know how much more yet."
He looked at how big of a challenge it was to film the end of the series, although he also gave praise to leading actor Jason Sudeikis for helping to pull everything together in the final episodes:
"I was like, 'There’s a lot of tying up to do!' And then Jason gave me the remaining pages and it was like, 'Ah! That’s what he’s doing here.' But it is very hard to stand back and say, 'Shit, guys … there’s 80 pages here.' We shot it as we went along, and it’s very hard to gauge these things until you put it all together. Six weeks later, something else appears at the other end [in the edit], but it’s also about 10 minutes shorter than it was."
When asked about getting definitive answers for the show's characters, the director noted that he "wasn't privy" to those discussions while also explaining that some of the stars were on tight schedules. With some actors working on Season 3 longer than others, it made the show "a bit harder for everyone to piece it together," although Sudeikis served as the glue for the whole project:
"A lot of those conversations went on behind closed doors between [executive producers] Jason, Brendan [Hunt] and Joe [Kelly]. I wasn’t privy to them. And also, [we had a tight] schedule. Juno [Temple] had [booked] other things, so all her scenes had to be shot in the first 10 days, and then she was gone. We were shooting for weeks and weeks without her. Saying goodbye to her was heartbreaking. But [the shoot] was very out of sequence, and that makes it a bit harder for everyone to piece it together. Of course, Jason’s got it all up there [in his head]."
Speaking with Deadline in September 2022, Sudeikis explained that a Season 4 decision goes further than just him and that he couldn't give a definitive answer, although he was thrilled that the "response has been overwhelming" in the meantime:
"I don’t know, it’s up to more factors than myself. The response has been overwhelming. We have a tremendous group of writers, actors, people in production and post-production, all of those thrown in the jambalaya of possibility. I couldn’t say yes or no. I know this part of the show is what it’s supposed to be. I apologize for not giving you a direct answer because that’s more helpful for headlines. If I knew, I wouldn’t tell you."
But even with that non-answer, Sudeikis made it clear how much he and his team "[get] along with each other...as artists and human beings," quantifying that as the perfect reason to potentially move into Season 4:
"Every single person up here gets along with each other, they support each other, both as artists and human beings. Every single day we show up, it’s just fun. People care about each other. They want to see the best for each other. What a terrific reason to do a Season 4, right?"
What Could Happen in Ted Lasso Season 4?
Looking at the story that could be told in Ted Lasso Season 4, there are certainly more than enough potential plot points to tackle should the team decide to move forward.
While Ted himself is now back in Kansas reuniting with his ex-wife and his son, there are a couple of different important plot points moving forward back in the United Kingdom that could expand into a hypothetical Season 4.
In Ted's absence, Brett Goldstein's Roy Kent is promoted to be the manager of AFC Richmond with Nick Mohamed's Nathan Shelley as an assistant, all while Brendan Hunt's Coach Beard stays behind to join the staff as well.
Additionally, Hannah Waddingham's Rebecca Welton continues her run as Richmond's owner as Juno Temple's Keeley Jones pitches the idea of a women's team, which could be fully evolved if and when the show comes back.
But even with all of these plot points available and ready to be explored, the Ted Lasso team appears content to take a break from this adventure for the time being.
Temple is set to play a key supporting role in Sony Pictures' Venom 3 while Goldstein waits for his second appearance in the MCU as Hercules, with other cast members adding more to their own schedules as well.
On the more positive side, waiting this long to bring Ted Lasso back would almost definitely mean it would return after the ongoing writers/actors strikes, leaving the team with no obstacles on that front when they decide the time is right.
And considering the love for this show coming from both the fans and those making it, seeing a return to Richmond wouldn't come as a huge shock, and it would certainly be a smart decision for Apple on the business side as well.
All three seasons of Ted Lasso are currently streaming on Apple TV+.
