The rumor on the street is that if Ted Lasso season 4 is indeed happening (Apple TV+ hasn't confirmed the news yet but it seems likely since filming is supposed to start soon), then the show and cast could look quite different. There's been talks that a potential fourth season could be in the works since August 2024, but there hasn't been official news from the streamer about this yet. The company might want to get all details in place before making any formal announcements. Even still, there's some rumors that the story will shift its focus, which we think will lead to some major cast departures.
The main story in the potential fourth season move from the men's soccer, or football, team that we'd been following to instead center on an AFC Richmond women's team instead. It's a really good idea, and not one that's surprising based on what we saw in the Ted Lasso season 3 finale. Keeley (Juno Temple) presented the idea of starting a women's team to Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) in the episode. We didn't see any final decisions being made, so season 4 could explore this storyline.
So what does that have to do with the cast? Well, Ted (Jason Sudeikis) himself has moved back to Kansas to be with his son, leaving Roy Kent (Breet Goldstein) to lead the men's team. Would Ted come back, or would we follow his life in Kansas now? And with the story potentially moving focus to a women's team, would we even see Ted, Roy, and more of the men's team and cast of characters at all, or at least beyond a guest role? That could be unlikely, which makes us as fans a bit worried.
In speaking with Entertainment Weekly recently, Temple shared that she doesn't know any details about a potential Ted Lasso season 4, but has heard the "stunt version" of the ideas floating around and that "it sounds like those cogs are turning." She also added that she'd prefer to make another season rather than a spinoff "because it so feels like a team" and she doesn't want to be a part of a project "if everybody else isn't."
Those feelings are definitely valid, and could be a reason why the ideas of continuing the Ted Lasso story are being thought of as a season 4 rather than a spin-off series. You know, the writers are very smart and could find a way to make it work. Temple's comments are also promising in that perhaps the main cast will indeed return. But everything is up in the air right now, which does make us a bit uneasy.
Though for me, this kind of sounds better as a spin-off idea if I'm being honest rather than tacking it onto the original series and calling it a fourth season. I mean, we've already emotionally said goodbye to the show and it had a great season 3 finale. While there were some loose ends left, it wasn't anything super major. And a spin-off could still address those if the creative team really does want to continue the story.
I'm not completely against it, but it has to be done really well. Ted Lasso is one of the best and most popular shows out there. And a spin-off, or even new season, that might drastically change the cast and story is a big risk. So this really has to be thought out well, and I hope this potential idea won't take away from the original story we all fell in love with.
Ted Lasso is streaming on Apple TV+.