'Ted Lasso' Season 3 Is "The End of This Story," But Also Sets Up Spinoffs

Most British dramas do not run on an open-ended format like American ones. It can cause problems, for example, Killing Eve, where the British team behind it was not prepared for AMC to constantly renew the series, and it eventually went off the rails. However, most of the time, this means shows are allowed to come to a satisfying conclusion, for example, Happy Valley, which can then return many years later when the creator conceives of a new story. Ted Lasso, as a hybrid American-British production, was conceived as a closed-ended three-season story. Had it stayed a small-time hit, it would have been left there; however, as Apple's biggest series, its American overlords want more.

Series creator Jason Sudeikis, who plays the titular American football coach Ted Lasso, who takes over British soccer team AFC Richmond, says he's flattered at how much fans want more of the story, but the show was conceived as a three-season arc and the writers stuck to that. However, as an American, he's aware that audiences over here expect them to keep going. So when speaking to Deadline, he hedged: “This is the end of this story that we wanted to tell, that we were hoping to tell, that we loved to tell," he said when asked if the show would continue.

But knowing the pressures from Apple and not wanting to disappoint, he said it would be up to the fan reaction to decide whether or not the show continues. "Maybe 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.'"