Beloved soccer comedy series Ted Lasso, considered Apple TV+’s biggest hit, is the subject of new book by no less than Jeremy Egner, a TV critic for The New York Times. He titled his new tome, released Tuesday, Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way into Our Hearts.
The book, published by Dutton, purports to tell the whole story of the show, from its unlikely conception based on a TV commercial to its surprising, and now ongoing, success. (Production for season four of Ted Lasso kicks off in January.)
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New book tells the whole story of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso
Egner’s new Ted Lasso book, written partly as an oral history of the show and part as an episode guide, should please the series’ many fans, according to reports from the Associated Press and elsewhere.
As a history, the book starts at the beginning. One irresistible anecdote it tells — spoiler immediately ahead! (though you can read it right in the sample on Amazon or Apple Books) — explains how the concept for the show couldn’t get arrested when show creators Jason Sudeikis and Bill Lawrence shopped it around to studios. Nobody showed interest in the idea — except for program executives at Apple TV+, this is. And that was before the streamer was even a thing. It hadn’t launched yet.
However, according to the new book, the Ted Lasso creative team apparently didn’t mind the uncertainty, given Apple’s status as the most valuable company on Earth.
“Whatever misgivings they had about the unproven platform was offset by its parent company’s global dominance and deep pockets,” Egner wrote. “‘Evidently they do more than just television,’ Sudeikis cracked.”
Read the publisher’s summary of the new book:
In Believe, entertainment journalist and Ted Lasso fan Jeremy Egner traces the show’s creation and legacy through the words of the people at its center. Drawing on dozens of interviews from key cast, creators and more, Believe takes readers from the first, silly NBC Premier League commercial to the pitch to Apple executives, then into the show’s writers’ room, through the brilliant international casting, and on to the unforgettable set and locations of the show itself.
The Ted Lasso book is now available on Amazon in hardcover ($32 list) and Kindle ($16.99) editions. You know, in case you need a gift idea for someone impatiently waiting for the now-confirmed season four. Alternatively. you could get them a Ted Lasso Barbie doll.
Purchase from: Amazon or Apple Books
New York Times TV critic Jeremy Egner delves into the show's rise from unlikely conception to massive hit for Apple TV+.
