Since Rocky is a drama about boxing and Ted Lasso is a comedy series about soccer, I’ve never really compared the two. So, I was shocked to learn that drawing a parallel between them actually helped the Ted Lasso team sell their show. However, after thinking about it, this all makes perfect sense. I totally see why Jason Sudeikis was quick to compare his great Apple TV series to one of the greatest sports movies ever made when they were trying to get it off the ground.
Before we get to the Rocky of it all, you need to know that Ted Lasso was co-created by Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly and Bill Lawrence. Once Lawrence, who is also the creator of shows like Scrubs and Shrinking, was on board, this soccer comedy really “got moving,” as Hunt explained on 60 Minutes. It was the Shrinking co-creator who also made an important note about Ted Lasso not really being about soccer, as the Coach Beard actor explained:
