The Subtle Gamble of Ted Lasso

What happens if you actually treat your audience like geniuses?

Image credit: Vanity Fair

If aliens came to earth, what television show would you make them watch to learn about us?

You could show them The Bachelor, but then they’d be wondering why our mating rituals include presenting a plant. The Queen’s Gambit could make them believe that all drugs leave you seeing game pieces on the ceiling. Two episodes of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist may have them on tenterhooks waiting for a spontaneous song and dance.

I’d show them Ted Lasso.

This choice has nothing to do with the actors, the concept, the sport, the characters, the cinematography, or the scenery. It has everything to do with Jason Sudakis’s philosophy about the show.

Although Sudakis sometimes stumbles his way to coherence (the internet lost its mind over his rambling Golden Globe acceptance speech), he was alert enough in this late-night interview with Seth Myers to impart advice every modern creative should hear.

Seth wanted to know — Why is the show so good? Why does it feel deeper than most comedies? What makes it stand out?

To this, Jason remembered a few words that a former teacher once told him:

Treat your audience like poets and…