- I'd love to start by asking about the online fandom of the show,
because Ted Lasso has a lot of really passionate fans,
especially when it comes to supporting their favorite canon
or Non-canon romantic pairings like Keeley and Roy or even Ted and Rebecca.
So I'd like to know what does the writers room think of these different pairings
and do fan perceptions of these pairings ever change the arc of the show?
- It's a great question.
- No, I mean, the one rule always has to be, no matter how much the fandom
gets excited about this thing
or that thing, and we cannot let it affect what we're trying to do,
no matter how intensely and articulately.
Some fans argue their points.
- We're very aware of these things and some of them are truly amazing and wonderful.
But, you know, Jason had a
very clear vision of what the story is, and
the story hasn't wavered based on
fan reactions or, you know, things like that.
So it just becomes like a it's a kind of two headed thing.
One, It's amazing and it's fun to see and lovely.
And on the other hand, you have to block it out to be able to
creatively fulfill the vision.
- It's just all of a piece of the incredible reaction to this show.
You know, people
people just care about it and they have emotions about it,
and their emotions take them to unpredictable places.
And all I can do is be thankful and respectful
of their desires, while certainly not
doing anything to actually consummate them.
- You know, there's so many great pieces of fan art or memes or just reactions.
Was there any one in particular that really stood out to you
and made you think like, “Oh, this is real,
this is happening?”
- There's a woman on Twitter called Dr. Em
and she makes these videos
that are like edits of Ted Lasso and set to music.
And they usually have a theme or a sort of mini-arc in them.
And they are incredible, genuinely.
They're very special because they're really well edited and really good.
But you can also see the love that's going into them.
They’re so thoughtful.
- *bleep*-ing hell.
*bleep*-ing hell.
The *bleep*!
And the only downside is I always think like she's a doctor,
I worry she's letting people die while she's making these edits.
I’m like, you have to stop editing and go save some lives.
- The world needs more Ted Lasso edits.
It's her mission.
- One of the first ones that came out is kind of the one that, like,
hit me the most because it was still like this new world of like, “Wait, people do
what?” A woman in the Midwest made a needlepoint of all the characters.
And I thought it was so cool and impressive.
And I mentioned it to my partner.
And my partner, unbeknownst to me,
tracked this woman down.
And this woman wasn't selling these things.
She was doing it on Etsy.
She was just doing her own thing.
But my partner convinced her to make another one for me.
So I had this little needlepoint beard that I really care about.
- Apart from the needlepoint, which is very cool.
What is another one of the coolest things
you've gotten to do or experienced as a result of the show's success?
- I will always cherish that I got to play Jeopardy because of this show.
- Let's go over to Brendon.
- I wanted to play Jeopardy all my life.
In fact, a couple of years ago, I actually finally passed the test
and got into the actual contestant pool.
This was after we'd filmed season one, but before it had come out.
So...and when you get in the contestant pool,
then you have to wait a year and a half
and maybe they'll call you maybe they won't.
And it doesn't help if you keep leaving the country for months at a time.
And they finally didn't select me.
And I'm like, “Oh, well,
I guess I'll never be on Jeopardy.” And then they called me.
That was a literal dream come true.
- Hands down, it was Sesame Street.
- Hello, there!
- Tamir and I
are baking cookies.
Sesame Street is the best day of my life.
You don't walk onto set until you start.
As in, you do your makeup, you do costumes, you do all that.
So you don't see it before you start filming.
And they have a box of tissues by the door because most people burst into tears
when they arrive on Sesame Street.
And it's just so *bleep*-ing wonderful.
I was really nervous because I was like, “If this is bad,
this is going to ruin my childhood.
It is going to like, I'll be really upset
that I went Sesame Street and it was *bleep*,” you know?
It was so good.
And they were such wonderful people working there.
And they clearly make that show with so much love and it's,
you know, relatable to to what we try and do with Ted Lasso.
It’s that similar *bleep*-ing
feeling of like, “Oh, everyone here really, really cares about this
and they really get that this is important to people.” And it was lovely.