‘Ted Lasso’ Revs Up for Season Two with Red Carpet Premiere

It’s been almost a year since audiences first got to experience Ted Lasso on Apple TV+, and after the first season scored a whopping twenty Emmy nominations last week, it’s definitely the right time to launch season two. The highly-acclaimed and seemingly universally-beloved series premieres this coming Friday, July 23^rd, with one new episode dropping every Friday after that.

Many of the big stars of the show were present on the rooftop of the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, CA last Thursday to celebrate the return of the show. The red carpet was actually blue, designed to look like a soccer field, and attendants helping direct guests to the right place were dressed in the signature AFC Richmond blue jerseys. Jason Sudeikis wore a black shirt listing the names “Jadon & Marcus & Bukayo,” a show of support for three English footballers targeted with racist abuse after the team lost to Italy.

Awards Radar caught sight of Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca), Brett Goldstein (Roy), Brendan Hunt (Beard), Jeremy Swift (Higgins), Cristo Fernández (Dani), and Juno Temple (Keeley), who was easy to spot with her bright pink hair. Awards Radar had the chance to chat with a few staples of the series and some other guests there to show their enthusiastic Ted Lasso love.

Series creator Bill Lawrence, when asked about another famous comedy hit of his, Scrubs, jokingly redirected the conversation: “Let’s talk about Scrubs. It’s a Scrubs night. It’s the twentieth anniversary. That show’s a thousand years old, man.” Talking about the similarities between the two shows, he continued, “It’s a cliché, but getting to work with your friends. I’m generally, on this show, working with writers and actors that I hang out with anyways. Scrubs, Zach came and directed one. They’ll be some cast members floating through here eventually. To actually have a job where you work with the people you dig is so rare.” His tease for season two was particularly entertaining: “A lot of shoot-outs. A lot of action set pieces. Nah, man. It would be too lame if we tried to completely reinvent it. We knew what the three years of this show were when we started. Jason and I think this one’s The Empire Strikes Back before you get to Return of the Jedi, and I think people are really going to dig it. A lot more soccer people floating in and out. It’s fun.”

Producer Bill Wrubel was also optimistic about what’s next to come for the show: “I gotta tell you – I think season two is better than season one. I don’t mean that to be like, season one was bad, I just think that as a writing staff, we had so much fun talking about the characters for season two. The writers knew the actors better, the writers knew the characters better, the writers knew each other better, and I just think some of the big story loops that we came up with, and Jason’s vision was bigger and bolder, and we just got on board. I’m really excited.”

One lesser-known cast member, Moe Jeudy-Lamour, who plays backup goalie Thierry Zoreaux, stopped by to chat with Awards Radar. Speaking about his favorite part of working on the show, he expressed “Dude, it’s overwhelming. It’s amazing. Working on a show like this, nominated for twenty Emmys. The first season, we just felt like a family. We all worked together, just like that, everyone’s loving, it’s beautiful.” He couldn’t say as much about season two as the behind-the-scenes talent: “Lot of football, lot of jokes, lot of mustache. That’s all I’ll say.”

Writer Ashley Nicole Black, who also works on and stars in A Black Lady Sketch Show, previewed that season two will have “more of everything you love. I think it’s a really fun season. I think you’re going to be really excited.”

Other stars stopped by to tell Awards Radar why they love the show. Actress Sophia Bush declared “Come on, it’s the feel-good show of at least the decade. It’s happy, it’s positive, uplifting. I’m also a maniac soccer fan, I mean, I’m an owner of a soccer team! This is my kind of show.”

Actor Todd Stashwick, who spoke highly of his friend and 12 Monkeys costar Waddingham, explained that “The thing about this show is that it’s always a slow-cooker, and it’s always surprising. I couldn’t tell you other than that I’m looking forward to how they’re going to surprise me with the turns and the characters and the emotional arcs. That’s the thing about this show, ultimately, it’s hilarious, fall-down-funny, but its heart is as big as anything. It’s great.”

And actress and comedienne Fortune Feimster expressed that “Honestly, I root for so many of the characters. It’s such a positive show, and it came out in the thick of the pandemic when you just wanted to feel good and smile and laugh, so I just, I love it all. I’m really excited to see the new season because these are characters you think about that stay with you, and you want to know what happens to them.”

Stay tuned for much more Ted Lasso coverage, including a review of season two and a Previously On… piece looking at what’s happened so far, and watch season two on Apple TV+ when it premieres this Friday.