September 26, 2021

#20: We need more stories like Ted Lasso.

Nearly every story takes its protagonist through a story arc as the characters move through the story’s plot. Sometimes the protagonist learns an important lesson, and in other stories, the protagonist overcomes a personal flaw. Through Star Wars, Luke Skywalker learns to believe in something bigger than himself in the pursuit of that truth destroys the Death Star and saves the day. In Toy Story, Woody overcomes his jealously of Buzz Lightyear and finds happiness through the process. We learn about many of our beloved characters as their stories are put through this type of story arc.

Those of you who know me best, know that I can be a bit of a contrarian. Something is universally loved? There’s a good chance, I’ll poo-poo it. This, ultimately, causes me to miss out on some wonderful, fun, and/or powerful story experiences. (Thor: Ragnarök, I’m sorry I wrote you off as just another “Marvel movie.”) AppleTV+’s Ted Lasso is the latest victim of my contrarian nature.

Over the last year and half, it was a guarantee that every time I saw my younger brother he’d eventually ask, “Did you watch Ted Lasso yet?” When I would inevitably displease him with my, my brother would respond, “I can’t believe you. You’ll love this show!” And, with every interaction, my heels dug in a little more.

That is until I finally gave in and watched the first episode.

Charmed by it, watched another. And then another, and another, and another, until I consumed the whole first season and endlessly annoyed my wife by quoting Roy Kent in a piss-poor British accent. While I’m admittedly late to the Ted Lasso party, the show’s admiration is almost ubiquitous, and in television’s golden age of anti-heroes, that’s saying something.

Think back upon the most popular shows of the last fifteen years. Many of them are populated with protagonists that are morally compromised: Tony Soprano was a mafia-man; Walter White was a drug lord; Frank Underwood is as corrupt as they come; Dexter murdered people; Nancy Botwin sold drugs; Marty Byrde launders money; Don Draper is completely selfish and narcissistic; and the list goes on and on. These characters go through their own arcs and either overcome or succumb to their inherent flaws. Reader, what you won’t find are many examples of recent characters and stories like Ted Lasso.

Jason Sudeikis’s titular character is extremely likeable, hopeful, and optimistic at his core. The show itself shares many of these traits and stands in contrast with many of its peers. Ted Lasso, however, doesn’t really have a traditional story arc throughout the show’s first season. Sure, he grapples with his divorce, but Ted ends the season as the same hopeful and optimistic person he started as.

How did Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, and the rest of the show’s creators make us fall in love with a character as optimistic as Ted without using a conventional story structure? The answer: the creators use Ted’s morals and lack of growth to their advantage by employing a different structure: the flat arc.

In her book Creating Character Arcs, author K.M. Weiland further describes this type of story arc. “The flat-arc protagonist will be confronted with tremendous opposition. He will at time be shaken. His commitment to the Truth will be tested to the breaking point — but he will never waver from it. He will experience little inner conflict and will not change significantly as a person.” Weiland goes on to say that even though the protagonist doesn’t change, everyone around him or her will. This has Ted Lasso written all over it. When Ted arrives in the UK, he’s instantly met with hostility from everyone he meets, but he never waivers on his methods and ability to bring a team together. Little by little, his optimism and hopefulness turns the Manchester world into true believers. The supporting characters all have their own arcs and become better people because of Ted’s influence.

Ted Lasso isn’t the only story to use this story arc. In fact, Back to the Future’s Marty McFly fits the definition of a flat arc protagonist perfectly. What makes Ted Lasso so lovable and so infectious are the values and beliefs he exudes. While we enjoy stories that focus on our beloved anti-heroes, those types of characters tend to show us the worst in humanity. Ted Lasso presents us with a hopeful image of who we can be and the positive change we can make. It gives humanity something to aspire to.

In a world we all can all benefit from a little more kindness, we need more stories like Ted Lasso.

Thanks for reading.