Could we be getting some extra time with Ted Lasso after all?
Ahead of the season three premiere of the Apple TV+ series on March 15, star and co-creator Jason Sudeikis acknowledged the show's inevitable conclusion now that it's reaching the end of its three-season arc. And he's well aware that fans are clamoring for more.
"This is the end of this story that we wanted to tell, that we were hoping to tell, that we loved to tell," he told Deadline in an interview published March 6. "The fact that folks will want more and are curious beyond more than what they don't even know yet—that being season three—it's flattering."
However, Sudeikis can't help but wonder if fans will change their mind after the whole season is out.
"Maybe by May 31, once all 12 episodes of the season [have been released], they're like, 'Man, you know what, we get it, we're fine. We don't need anymore, we got it,'" he continued. "But until that time comes, I will appreciate the curiosity beyond what we've come up with so far."
Ted Lasso season three will follow AFC Richmond as they deal with the fallout of Nick Mohammed's Nate the Great abandoning them for another club. While co-star and writer Brett Goldstein suggested in June that the show would end with season three as initially planned, Apple TV+ has not confirmed an upcoming series finale.
Still, Sudeikis is aware that people want more from his cast—which also includes Hannah Waddingham, Phil Dunster, Anthony Head, Cristo Fernández, Toheeb Jimoh, Brendan Hunt and Juno Temple—and he's prepared to give it to them.
"We've set the table for all sorts of folks… to get to watch the further telling of these stories," the SNL alum explained. "Again, I can't help but take the question as flattery for what all of us that were working on the show has tried to do. It's really kind of folks to even consider that because you never know what's gonna happen when you make things. The fact that people want more, even if it's a different avenue is lovely."
In fact, even the cast isn't quite done with the Ted Lasso universe, as Jimoh wants his own spinoff for his character, Sam. And he even has some ideas.
"I keep trying to pitch this to them," the actor exclusively told E! News in August. "People keep laughing. But I'm being serious, bro. I want a show with Sam in the restaurant on Apple TV. Let's make it happen!"
See if Ted Lasso scores a hat-trick with its third season, premiering March 15 on Apple TV+.
But until then, read up on everything we know about season three, below...
In a photo released by Apple TV+ on Jan. 18, Nate and Ted (Jason Sudeikis) are pictured together inside at an elevator at the West Ham headquarters, with West Ham owner Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head) ominously looming in the distance.
In an exclusive conversation with E! News in August, Mohammed was prepared for Nate's dastardly turn.
"I knew quite early," he said. "Jason had pretty much, broadly speaking, outlines for Nate in seasons one, two and three. So I've always known where it's heading."
On Feb. 14, Apple TV+ released even more details about the season. "Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) steps up as assistant coach," the streamer teased, "alongside Beard (Brendan Hunt). Meanwhile, while Ted deals with pressures at work, he continues to wrestle with his own personal issues back home, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is focused on defeating Rupert and Keeley (Juno Temple) navigates being the boss of her own PR agency."
While major changes have come to AFC Richmond and its rambunctious cast of characters over the course of its first two seasons, Ted Lasso editor Melissa McCoy assured fans that their favorites aren't going anywhere.
"Everybody is back and in new ways," Melissa told The Hollywood Reporter's Behind the Screen podcast in August 2022, "but that feels very authentic to Ted."
Indeed, the third season of Ted Lasso will introduce some new characters—and they're coming for spots in the AFC Richmond lineup.
"We have new blood on the team," Melissa revealed, "and that invigorates what's happening in the locker room."
Something tells us Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) won't be thrilled.
Short answer: It's still a mystery!
In June, Brett Goldstein, who also writes on the show in addition to playing Roy, insisted that the third season would be the show's last. "We are writing it like that," he told the UK's Sunday Times. "It was planned as three."
Meanwhile, Hannah Waddingham told E! News that same month that co-creator Sudeikis had made no indication that the plan had changed.
"I asked him recently," she said. "And he went, 'Yeah, I think so, for now.' And I was like, 'OK.'"
If season three really is the end of the road for Ted Lasso, could the story continue in spinoff form?
Toheeb Jimoh, who plays AFC Richmond midfielder Sam Obisanya, certainly hopes so! As it turns out, Toheeb already has an idea for Sam, who revealed plans to open a Nigerian restaurant at the end of season two.
"I keep trying to pitch this to them," Toheeb exclusively told E! News in August 2022. "People keep laughing. But I'm being serious, bro. I want a show with Sam in the restaurant on Apple TV. Let's make it happen!"
The third season of Ted Lasso premieres March 15 on Apple TV+.
Put the tea on.