Jason Sudeikis Rails Against ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 3 Haters: ‘They Don’t Have Imaginations’

Jason Sudeikis has weighed in on the backlash surrounding the third season of “Ted Lasso,” saying those who criticized the direction of the soccer dramedy “don’t have imaginations and they’re not open to the experience of what it’s like to have one.”

Sudeikis was interviewed as part of the new oral history book “Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way Into Our Hearts.” In the book, as reported by TVLine, author Jeremy Egner suggests that Season 3 of “Ted Lasso” enabled “a small but hostile crowd of dissenters” who griped about “how the core cast had been scattered into different storylines” and “complained that the narrative had gotten too diffuse and unfocused.” (Variety called the season “unbearable” in its review.)

Sudeikis, the co-creator and star of “Ted Lasso,” fired back at the criticism. “Much like live theater, the show, especially Season 3, was asking the audience to be an active participant,” he said. And in a reference to Ted Lasso’s “be curious, not judgmental” motto, he added, “Some people want to do that, some people don’t. Some people want to judge — they don’t want to be curious.”

Sudeikis continued, “I’ll never understand people who will go on talking about something so brazenly that they, in my opinion, clearly don’t understand. And God bless ’em for it; it’s not their fault. They don’t have imaginations and they’re not open to the experience of what it’s like to have one.”

The actor, who has won four Emmys for the Apple TV+ hit, said of the characters in the third season, “Everybody’s in better shape than when they started. Like a good Boy or Girl Scout at a campsite, we left it better than we found it. And if you don’t see that in that show, then I don’t know what show you’re watching.”

It was hinted by the show’s creators that “Ted Lasso” would end after Season 3, or that it would possibly spinoff into another series without Sudeikis. But as Variety reported in August, “Ted Lasso” is indeed heading toward a Season 4 greenlight, with Warner Bros. Television picking up the options on original cast members Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein and Jeremy Swift. Sudeikis is believed to be involved in the forthcoming episodes in some capacity as an executive producer.