21 Shows Perfect For “Ted Lasso” Fans

One of Apple TV+’s newer comedies, “Shrinking” follows Jason Segel as a flailing therapist who’s doing a bad job coping after the death of his wife. He has to balance his career and time with his daughter and reconnect with the friends he dropped. The show’s amazing ensemble cast includes Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Ted McGinley, Heidi Gardner, and Michael Urie. Like “Ted Lasso,” “Shrinking” is about the ways we can love and hurt each other, having honest conversations about mental health, and learning to forgive – plus it’s very funny. None of those comparisons are shocking, since some of the “Ted Lasso” creators are behind the project, including Brett Goldstein.

Prime Video’s “A League of Their Own” follows the same sports league many were introduced to in the 1992 movie but uses it to tell different stories of women in baseball. In the period comedy, Abbi Jacobson stars as Carson Shaw, the team’s catcher who runs away from her old life to go play baseball. She very quickly catches feelings for her teammate Greta Gill (D’Arcy Carden). Then there’s Max (Chanté Adams), a super-talented pitcher who’s not allowed to play in the league because she’s Black, but she’s determined to find a way to make baseball her life. The series is heart-warming, romantic, and often very funny, all things we love about “Ted Lasso,” too.

Related: Melanie Field on Being a “Fat Hero” in “A League of Their Own” – and Rosie O’Donnell’s Guidance

“Welcome to Wrexham” is, in some ways, a real-life twist on the “Ted Lasso” story. In the docuseries, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney chart their journey with the Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C., which they bought in February 2021. The club plays in the fifth tier of English football, the National League. The series puts a spotlight on the real Wrexham players, employees, fans, and the special bond they have with the team. Part of that bond is because of their connection to Welsh culture – and the Welsh language.

The first season of the show aired on FX and Hulu in 2022 and Reynolds and McElhenney, who are still dedicated owners, have said season two is in the works.

If you like the sports drama of “Ted Lasso” but want a different angle (or prefer American football to the European version), try “Ballers,” a dramedy centered on an ex-NFL star turned manager. Starring Dwayne Johnson as a character who is definitely very different from the sweet and charming Ted, it’s filled with all the highs and lows of a high-stakes life in professional sports, from the players to the front office. It has a bit more edge than the kindhearted “Ted Lasso,” but if you’re looking for a sports comedy with a sprawling cast and a bit more drama, this is the show for you. Fun fact: Senator Elizabeth Warren said in 2019 that it’s her favorite show.

“Brockmire” has a different angle on the sports-centric redemption story, but “Ted Lasso” fans will still find a lot to love in this sharp-tongued series. Jim Brockmire, our somewhat unpleasant protagonist, is a Major League Baseball announcer who gets demoted to the minor league circuit when he has an enormous and very public meltdown on air after discovering his wife’s infidelity. Yikes. More of a grumpy, blunt Roy Kent than a cheery, positive Ted Lasso, Jim has to try to rebuild his career and his life almost from scratch, all while surrounded by a quirky supporting cast that will definitely make you laugh.

“Ted Lasso” does his best to keep an optimistic outlook, even when things are falling down around him or when that optimism seems woefully misplaced. That’s the same can-do attitude you’ll find in “Detroiters,” a comedy about two best friends who are determined to make it in the advertising business no matter how many times they fail (and they fail a lot). It gets much of its comedy from a similar place as “Ted Lasso”: the contrast between the main characters’ lovable but often foolish overoptimism and the crash-and-burn reality they have to face. You might find yourself shaking your head at the shenanigans in this show, but you can’t help but root for these best friends. Plus, series star Sam Richardson joined “Ted Lasso” as a guest star in season two.

Does “Ted Lasso” have you curious to learn more about how soccer (sorry, “football”) became such an integral part of British culture? “The English Game” has some answers! Set in the 1870s, the series follows the early years of organized soccer in the UK as an elite team of wealthy athletes competes against a working-class team for the championship. “Ted Lasso” has lightly touched on issues of class (although it’s more of a simmer in the background), but “The English Game” drives home who soccer is really for. It’s not hard to draw a line from these determined underdogs to the AFC Richmond team and their devoted, quirky fans.

Europeans have their football, and Americans have theirs, too – and both countries are equally devoted to their beloved teams. If you want a show with a “Ted Lasso“-sized heart and an American twist, “Friday Night Lights” is absolutely the way to go. Coach Taylor is tasked with coaching a high school football team in small-town Texas, where football really is life. After a shocking injury to one of the team’s stars, Coach Taylor and his team face an even bigger uphill climb. But like “Ted Lasso,” it’s ultimately a show about hope and community, even when things seem to be at their darkest. Later seasons also feature a young Michael B. Jordan.

“Ted Lasso” is all about Ted’s unique brand of philosophy in sports; similarly, “The Good Place” often gets heady about big spiritual and philosophical concepts – think life and death, good and evil, who really controls our fate, and how much control we have over our choices. The beloved NBC comedy strikes many of the same heartwarming, sneakily smart chords as “Ted Lasso.” As a quartet of misfits and one mysterious immortal being navigate the strangeness of the afterlife, they learn to process their pasts and actually grow, all with a side of sly humor, unexpected lessons, and lots of heart.

“The League” takes place in the competitive world of fantasy sports, yet ironically, it’s actually darker and more intense than “Ted Lasso” is in the world of professional sports. At the show’s center is a group of friends completely devoted to their fantasy league. Unfortunately, their obsessions with their favorite teams and getting to the top of their “league” take a toll on their real lives. It’s not hard to imagine these loud, competitive pals as the American fantasy-football counterparts to “Ted Lasso”‘s opinionated bar regulars, and it’s a cynical comedy that really steeps itself in the details of the sports world.

Beneath its wacky sitcom hijinks, “Ted Lasso” also happens to be a very poignant and sometimes all-too-real look at mental health and family dynamics. That’s what “One Day at a Time” does, too, by balancing an old-school sitcom style with a very contemporary approach to topical issues. As the Alvarez family and their friends go through life, they also deal with issues of PTSD, racism and colorism, gender and sexuality, substance abuse, divorce, and more. Like “Ted Lasso,” it’s a show that wears its heart on its sleeve and reminds us that these issues can’t be swept under the rug – and that we can get through anything.

A goody two shoes with a can-do personality takes over a team that has a much less sunny outlook and is spectacularly unsuccessful, then transforms their lives. Are we talking about “Parks and Recreation” or “Ted Lasso?” Both! Leslie Knope and Ted Lasso are clearly cut from the same cloth with positive attitudes, determination, and unstoppable optimism that can’t help but improve the lives of everyone they meet – even if things sometimes get worse before they get better. They’re also both surrounded by wonderful supporting casts full of quirky characters who perfectly balance out their sunny optimism with wit, realism, and a bit of vinegary cynicism.

“Ted Lasso“‘s story of an outsider being brought into a high-profile role with sky-high stakes also applies to “Pitch,” a short-lived but much-loved baseball drama. Ginny Baker is the first woman player in Major League Baseball, and the show follows her struggles with her teammates, fans, the higher-ups of baseball, and more. There’s all the behind-the-scenes maneuvering and high-stakes competition you love but with more of a dramatic style. As a bonus, Mark-Paul Gosselaar plays a proto-Roy Kent, the grumpy but secretly awesome veteran player who resists change and knows his career is nearing its end but develops a grudging admiration for Ginny.

“Ted Lasso” followed “Schitt’s Creek”‘s footsteps at the 2021 Emmys, picking up outstanding comedy series the year after “Schitt’s Creek” dominated at the awards. But the two shows have a lot more in common than just their award records. Just as Ted Lasso is out of his element when the show begins, the spoiled members of the Rose family find themselves in a new and intimidating environment, far from everything and everyone they know. Although they don’t exactly start out with a Ted-like chipper attitude, they eventually come to love their new home and undergo incredible growth as people. Fundamentally, it’s a deeply kind but never-condescending show about finding yourself and your people, and that’s exactly what “Ted Lasso” is, too.

“Scrubs” and “Ted Lasso” have one very important and obvious thing in common: they both come from the pen of series creator Bill Lawrence. Both shows also feature a group of messy misfits who start out as colleagues and eventually become a family in their own way, getting into mischief and reflecting on life along the way. “Scrubs” is definitely a little less subtle than “Ted Lasso” in its style of humor and just as clearly a product of its time, but it’s easy to draw a line from the Sacred Heart Hospital crew to our faves at AFC Richmond.

If you enjoyed Roy Kent’s brief stint as a commentator on “Ted Lasso” (or if your favorite character is secretly Trent Crimm, formerly of The Independent), “Sports Night” should be the next sports-themed show in your viewing queue. Instead of focusing on the athletes and coaches like “Ted Lasso” and many other sports shows do, the dramedy puts the ambitious, dedicated staffers at a sports network front and center. A classic underdog story with some surprisingly big emotional journeys, it’s also a show about how sports are more than just entertainment: they can reflect life and change lives, too.

At first glance, this tongue-in-cheek comedy about a misfit staff at a struggling news network may not seem to have much in common with “Ted Lasso.” At its heart, however, they actually share quite a few things. There’s a complex exploration of parent-child dynamics (between an ambitious producer and her mom who joins the network as an “intern”), a grumpy/sunshine slow-burn romance, hilariously bizarre hijinks, a rich and cruel villain, and a team of wacky coworkers who fail as often as they succeed. It’s easy to write this one off as a less successful “30 Rock,” but let it surprise you the same way “Ted Lasso” surprised many of us, and you won’t be sorry.

Unlike “Ted Lasso“‘s AFC Richmond crew, “Mythic Quest” focuses on the competitive world of e-sports rather than actual sports, but the underdog story arc remains the same. As the team at a video game studio works overtime to try to keep their most popular title updated and relevant in a fast-changing world, their mismatched personalities clash in very funny situations. Like “Ted Lasso,” there’s a business-minded leader initially out for personal gain, a cast full of memorable characters, and plenty of opportunities to lightly (or not so lightly) poke fun at the “sporting” world that they belong to. If you think e-sports aren’t serious business, this show will make you think again.

One of the most important elements in “Ted Lasso” is the unorthodox mentorship between Ted and his players. He wants them to be the best players they can be, but he’s even more concerned about making sure that they become the best people they can be. There’s more than a hint of that in “Cobra Kai,” the continuation of the iconic “Karate Kid” franchise, now with its young protagonists turned into coaches for a new generation. Just like “Ted Lasso,” there’s plenty of drama from clashing training styles and personal conflicts, as well as the looming threat from other “teams” that forces everyone to reevaluate their priorities.

Even though “Ted Lasso” is technically about a men’s soccer team and all the personalities on that team, it still has strong, interesting, and complicated women. We think Rebecca and Keeley would absolutely love the women of “GLOW.” Based on true stories of a pro wrestling league for women, “GLOW” takes a similar tactic as “Ted Lasso,” balancing out traditional “sports” storylines with a more in-depth focus on character. As these underdogs fight back against outdated stereotypes, both about their sport and bigger issues like gender, community, and sexuality, you’ll feel that whole roller coaster of emotions that you loved about “Ted Lasso.”