Ted Lasso Season Four – Expectations & First Look

**Brendan Hunt, Jason Sudeikis and Tanya Reynolds in "Ted Lasso," premiering August 5, 2026 on Apple TV.**
Photo Credit: Apple TV+

By Cat Wenz

Ted Lasso is back and I am open to believing again, but I have conditions. When I learned Ted Lasso was returning with a fourth season, I was excited, but also hesitant. Some things belong as cherished memories, not to be tampered with, like eating special foods from your childhood when you are an adult. Watching the first three seasons of Ted Lasso, I laughed, cried, cheered, and felt connected. It resonated with me in a way that few shows ever have, triggering my emotions without dragging me too far down. I did not want it to end. I understood the desire to neatly wrap up the arc rather than stretch it and potentially lose its integrity or have it go flat. We all know shows that went that way. I was satisfied with what it was and was quite prepared to re-watch it for cathartic needs in the future.

**Jeremy Swift, Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple and Jason Sudeikis in "Ted Lasso," premiering August 5, 2026 on Apple TV.** Photo Credit: Apple TV+

News of the fourth season left me skeptical. I needed answers before I could get on-board. What cast members were returning? Was the writing team still intact? Were there significant changes in production and direction? As fast as my fingers could clickity click, I learned all that the internet had to offer on those subjects. While relieved the core team would be returning, I was not ready to give in to excitement just yet. After all, repeating the same ingredients does not guarantee the same result – or the same experience. After my grandmother passed, I made myself a butter and brown sugar sandwich, like she used to make for me as a treat. Same ingredients, but a vastly different experience than my memory promised.

In addition, while the creative team may be substantially the same, I knew season four could not have the exact same ingredients. The original central concept was an American football coach going to England to teach soccer and, in the process, overcome the challenge of learning the game and winning over skeptics. That job was substantially complete. So, what would the new premise and central conflict be and, importantly, what would the subplots be? When the new season was first announced, those questions remained unanswered and, for me, would be critical to the success of season four. While the original premise was engaging and created needed levity, the true heart and soul of the show and its real success was found beyond the core plot. Ted Lasso dealt not only with love, relationships, and heartache, but tackled many heavier issues including mental health, trauma, suicide, and healing. Ted Lasso’s characters faced real-life issues in a myriad of ways, sometimes bravely, sometimes foolishly, but always in a very imperfect human way. Watching fictional characters face hurdles is expected and not new, but making it feel raw and authentic with a comedic backdrop is where Ted Lasso really delivered. The cast, writing staff, and creative team wrapped up hard and poignant life lessons and delivered them to us gently, showing us that even in the hardest of times, our friends will get us through, if we let them. For me, that was the allure. My life experiences do not look like those of any specific Ted Lasso character, yet I have known similar emotions. Shows like Ted Lasso that master storytelling with emotional complexity evoke our own emotions and connect us to them, making the experience feel familiar even if it is not our own.

**Jason Sudeikis in "Ted Lasso," premiering August 5, 2026 on Apple TV.** Photo Credit: Apple TV+

Would Ted Lasso season four deliver as the prior seasons had done in the past? I had to see it to believe. And I have, well, a few episodes, anyway. When I finally fully exhaled, I simply don’t recall. There was definitely a squeal in the first episode when I saw heels and those signature long legs hit the pavement, and possibly some happy tears when Rebecca’s ride-or-die, Keeley Jones, stepped out right behind her. I cheered even as I groaned when Higgins, one of the seemingly most well-adjusted characters, put his foot in his mouth, more than once. I knew then that they were not pulling punches but were again jumping directly into life’s messy experiences. The recurrent patterns and banter were assuring and enchanting, drawing me back into the Lasso world.

Having recently learned the premise behind the return, I understood going in, at least, some of the new challenges and societal issues that would be dealt with. A male coach for a professional women’s sports team provides an array of opportunities. As a woman who spent much of her life in a previously male-dominated profession, I will be carefully watching that play out. Career misogyny, well, misogyny in general, sets my teeth on edge. They have at least five seasoned female writers on their creative team, and I certainly hope they leaned into the collective experiences of those women for context. These particular topics will be harder for me to relax into, as my own lived experiences have left bruises. How it will fully play out remains for me to watch and see. Like many of the Ted Lasso characters, I have learned in my own life that to heal and move forward I have to be willing to give grace to those who are really trying to understand and do the right thing. It can be an awkward process and I am already seeing that play out with the characters in season four as they once again stumble through emotionally charged issues in very human ways. It would not be true to Ted Lasso if every character handled every situation the “right” way or even the same way.

Will this season live up to those before? Will I be satisfied with its outcome? I can’t be sure yet, but I do have hope and am ready to enjoy the ride. I’m pretty sure it will be better than eating a butter and brown sugar sandwich as an adult.