Ted Lasso Is One of the Queerest Shows On TV and It’s Winning Big Because Of It

Ted Lasso (Netflix) is inarguably one of the best and most successful shows on television. It's also become one of the Queerest shows out there. For those who haven't seen it, the Jason Sudeikis vehicle tells the story of an American football coach who gets brought to England to coach a UK football (read: soccer) team. Through constant positive reinforcement and kindness, Sudeikis' Lasso became an emotional salve for viewers who needed a post-Schitt's Creek escape. But what the show has done with its LGBTQ+ characters is a reminder of what a wholly winning show the series has evolved into and why it has such mass appeal.

Ted Lasso has three major characters with Queer storylines. Although it's alluded to in Season 2, Colin Hughes (Billy Harris), the Left Wing for the fictional "AFC Richmond" soccer team, comes out as gay in the third season. They intertwine his storyline with sports journalist Trent Crimm (James Lance), another of the show's gay characters. While they are out in Amsterdam, Crimm sees Hughes with his boyfriend. The writer decides to confide in him that he's also gay, and the two share beers on the waters of Amsterdam in one of the most heartwarming scenes I can remember seeing on TV in ages.

Another of the series' leads is Keeley Jones (Juno Temple). In the first season, Jones is dating Roy Kent (zaddy Brett Goldstein), having previously dated pretty-boy Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster). But in Season 3, Jones develops a major crush on her boss Jack Danvers, played by Queer actor Jodi Balfour. Keeley finally makes her move and the two share one hell of a kiss, and eventually start dating. And this is separate from the times Keeley and team-owner Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddinham) have casually flirted. Sidenote, fun fact: you might recognize Waddingham as the nun in Game of Thrones who walks Cersei down the streets of town shouting, "SHAME!"

#TedLasso stars Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham are our favorite red carpet BFFs. #CriticsChoice

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What's so wonderful about these storylines, is that the characters have been developed into deeply rich characters over multiple years. Their Queerness doesn't need to be their entire storyline, but it sure as hell enriches them! The characters are deeply human and they're as wonderfully written as they are acted. Not for nothing, they also help to shine a light on the world of sports, which is becoming more and more inclusive each year, and even inching towards the end goal of actively working for progress.

Whether you love American soccer or European football, the point is that you love it. It doesn't matter how you love it, or which team you love, but you know that you love it. All TV shows should really have one simple goal: to tell a story that people can connect with. How you fill in those gaps is just a matter of individual tastes. And shows like Ted Lasso are an amazing reminder that at their core, stories like Colin Hughes', Trent Crimm's, and Keeley Jones' aren't only "Queer stories"... they're human stories that happen to be told by Queer people.

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