It was this time last year that we first met Ted Lasso, an American football coach (played by Jason Sudeikis) hired to manage London's Tottenham Hotspur Football Club—and manage it very, very poorly—in an amusing short film for NBC Sports' English Premier League coverage.
Well, Coach Lasso is back. And he's better—or rather, worse—than ever.
In this sequel from New York agency The Brooklyn Brothers, Lasso has lost his Tottenham job (he lasted just six and a half hours) and has given soccer broadcasting a try. That goes wretchedly too, though, as Lasso can't get a grasp on the concepts of relegation, the offside rule or really anything requiring a modicum of basic thought.
So, he returns to America, where he creates a "Teeny Tiny England" in his own home, gets drunk with friends in the morning while watching the EPL (games kick off at 10 a.m. ET, or even earlier, on Saturdays) and finds his next great coaching gig. He even catches up with Adweek cover boy (and sometime professional goalkeeper) Tim Howard.
The original film was great, but this one might be even better. It's even more packed with jokes, most of which hit the mark, and Sudeikis has settled even more comfortably into the role of clueless buffoon.
This is one wanker you don't mind spending a little more time with.
NBC Sports' EPL coverage returns for another season on Aug. 16.