Emmy Experts Typing: Will ‘Ted Lasso’ get a ‘So Long, Farewell’ hug?

Welcome to Emmy Experts Typing, a weekly column in which Gold Derby editors and Experts Joyce Eng and Christopher Rosen discuss the Emmy race — via Slack, of course. This week, we tackle comedy after two-time champ “Ted Lasso” wraps up its third and maybe final season.

Christopher Rosen: Hello, Joyce! It’s the first Friday of the 2024 Emmys eligibility period and we’re still rightly typing about 2023. This week, in the afterglow of the “Succession” series finale, another Emmy-winning juggernaut ended — or did it? “Ted Lasso” wrapped up its third season on Wednesday with an episode that could easily be considered the show’s series finale or could just be the end of Ted Lasso himself. Either way, the 76-minute episode was one of the better installments in the divisive Season 3 and gave Coach Lasso and Jason Sudeikis a proper sendoff. To be fair, almost nothing that happened in the finale changed my thoughts on its Emmys prospects: I fully expect “Ted Lasso” to win its third straight Best Comedy Series award and Brett Goldstein to win a third consecutive Best Comedy Supporting Actor trophy as well. Logic might dictate that Sudeikis win a third Emmy too — particularly if this is the last time he’ll play Ted Lasso in a regular capacity — but I’m still not convinced he’ll have enough juice to top Jeremy Allen White. A thing I bucked up against with this season of “Ted Lasso” was its lack of focus on Ted Lasso. That changed a bit in the final episodes — particularly in Episode 11 — but I’m not sure Sudeikis had a single moment as good as White’s Al-Anon meeting scene in “The Bear” Season 1 finale. But while I’m not ready to put Sudeikis back in the No. 1 spot, I did make the move back to Hannah Waddingham. She won for Season 1 and lost to Sheryl Lee Ralph in Season 2. Not that the show did Rebecca any favors, but I thought Waddingham was great with the material and had some of her best moments of the entire series in Season 3. Ralph could easily win, but the fact that she could compete with two other “Abbott Elementary” stars while Waddingham just has to worry about Juno Temple (whose character was greatly diminished this season) feels like enough to push it back to Waddingham. Besides, Ralph can win again for Season 3 of “Abbott Elementary,” whenever that comes back to ABC after the writers’ strike. But maybe that’s recency bias typing. Joyce, what did you make of the “Ted Lasso” season/series finale and how might it affect its chances?

joyceeng: You will be shocked to hear that I’ve made no changes, which means I still have “Ted Lasso” in first. Season 3 is obviously not without its issues, but as we’ve discussed many, many times, it still excels at all the feel-good moments that are its hallmark. The finale had a ton of those, and I think the fans that like the season like the finale, the finale maybe has won back some folks who disliked the season, and I feel like voters won’t be as critical as we, the plebes, are. “The Bear” has a lot of passion and won two major guilds over “Abbott Elementary” when many expected the latter to triumph, but I’m still reluctant to go with something that dramatic when voters have shown us that they prefer lighter stuff at the end of the day in the top category. Maybe I’ll feel differently after nominations if “The Bear” explodes and “Ted” has a dramatic drop-off. The only acting category I have “Ted” winning is supporting actor for Goldstein. I don’t think Ralph would be tremendously hurt if both Janelle James and Lisa Ann Walter get in. She’s already proven she can beat the former and I think the nomination would be the reward for the latter (LAW would be the Nicholas Braun here). I should say that I partially have Goldstein in first because I have “Ted” in first and I feel like it needs to carry an above-the-line win somewhere. It could be directing again (though you know how I feel about that) or writing, which it’s never won and I don’t think it would this year even if it is the last season. The writing branch is usually — not always — the most up to speed on things and more discerning, so it, in my view, is the most likely to clock this season’s issues. And I can see Quinta Brunson winning writing again and “The Bear” taking directing. That would give “The Bear” directing and lead actor but not series, just like “Atlanta” Season 1. Many thought it would win the following year, but it lost the top prize to the breezier “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” The former champ had a far better final season than “Ted” did, but I wouldn’t rank it higher than fourth (and I have my beloved “Barry” in fourth). Do you think it’s a dark horse for a bookend trophy like what you’re predicting for Rachel Brosnahan?

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Christopher Rosen: I am a renewed fan of “Mrs. Maisel” — its final season was absolutely the best it had been since Season 2 – but I think it would take a minor miracle for it to go all the way. Even if “Ted” stumbled, it feels like “The Bear” or “Abbott” would step into the gap. (I’ve got “The Bear” in second but I do think it’s pretty easy to think of a scenario where “Abbott” wins.) But let’s not just type about the winners but also the nominees. The comedy race feels pretty set outside of that seventh and eighth spot — all the shows we’ve mentioned plus “Only Murders in the Building.” I filled out my ballot with “Shrinking” and “The Great” — the former buoyed by a strong Apple campaign and the fact that it came out early in the year, the latter propped up because I think it’s likely to get a couple of acting nominations too. But I could easily go back to “Wednesday” and I’m sure there are still “Poker Face” devotees out there. Where do you think this category winds up outside of the top six?

joyceeng: I still have “What We Do in the Shadows” and “Poker Face,” neither of which I’m confident about. “Wednesday” feels like a surefire nominee on an unlimited ballot, but while it’s highly visible and watched, I wonder if it’s in anybody’s top eight favorite comedies they watched this cycle. And some people might not even fill out all eight slots. “Wednesday” did get a BAFTA nomination for Best International Program, which was won, incredibly, by “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” (other nominees included “The Bear,” “Pachinko” and “The White Lotus” — just an iconic result). “Poker Face” is Peacock’s greatest success so far, but the streamer does not have much of an Emmy footprint, so I wonder if the “Columbo” ode could just be a Natasha Lyonne and writing thing. I hesitate to go with “The Great” because it was such a late drop and it’s never made series before. But I have Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult repeating their noms from last year. Best Comedy Actor has an open sixth slot after the consensus five of JAW, Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Steve Martin and Martin Short, but I also would not be shocked if it’s another 2022 nominee, Donald Glover, who makes it back in instead of Hoult even though “Atlanta” ended 84 years ago. You had Jason Sudeikis for a hot second. Will your “Shrinking” love expand to include him again?

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Christopher Rosen: I’ve kept Segel in, although I’m ready to drop him for Nicky Hoult. If I do, then the only “Shrinking” actor I’ll have represented is Harrison Ford — and that feels maybe right, but also what if he drops out for Stephen Root (who you already have and have had for months). Let’s just say, I’m thinking about it! Ford is great on “Shrinking” and Apple has done a good job with getting it out there, but I also don’t know that it’s noisy enough to get a lot of attention beyond series. We started with “Ted” so let me end with “Ted” too and point to the guest categories, particularly guest actress. I’ve currently got three “Ted” stars getting in there — we call that the “Succession” — with Harriet Walter, Sarah Niles and Becky Ann Baker all in my predictions. But I’m kind of wobbly on all three: Walter is fun in the finale, but she’s definitely not given a better comedy line than “face eggs”; Baker crushed her episode and, to me, feels safest; and Niles was nominated last year in the supporting actress category… but really had little to do this season and only returned for the finale to jump on her bed (and meet with Roy in a flash-forward). Where do you think this category goes?

joyceeng: I dropped Niles a while back when she wasn’t resurfacing on the show. Yes, that also applied to Walter, whose first appearance this season was via FaceTime, but if you’re comparing their finale appearances, Walter > Niles. That doesn’t mean that Niles can’t get in, especially given how lazy they are in the guest categories, but I would favor Walter and Baker, who gave a classic one-and-done guest performance. Walter snagged double guest noms last year for the same shows, so why not again? In terms of a win between the two, you really can’t beat face eggs. But hold Peter’s special cheese before we celebrate.

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