‘Ted Lasso’ Emmy nominees in conversation: What the Apple TV+ series meant to them
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Believe! The historic American Society of Cinematographers headquarters in Hollywood that sits a stone’s throw from the legendary Magic Castle was the setting Wednesday night for a standing room only event celebrating the Apple TV+ comedy sensation “Ted Lasso” and its 21 Emmy nominations (easily the most of any comedy series) that again included Best Comedy Series, with attendees indulging in dinner, drink, trivia, a screening of the series finale and all things “Lasso” at an FYC gathering co-sponsored by Apple TV Plus and Gold Derby.
While nine “Lasso” performers (including five guest actors/actresses) are among this year’s Emmy-nominated crop from the series, none were permitted to attend due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. Those nine actors to receive bids this year include Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso), Phil Dunster (Jamie Tartt), Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent), Juno Temple (Keeley Jones), Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca Welton), Sam Richardson (Edwin Akufo), Becky Ann Baker (Dottie Lasso), Sarah Niles (Dr. Sharon Fieldstone) and Harriet Walter (Deborah). Other 2023 nominations include writing, directing, casting, hairstyling, music & lyrics x2, music supervision, picture editing x2, production design and visual effects.
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“Ted Lasso” is TV’s reigning two-time champ for Best Comedy Series. If it wins again, it’d be only the seventh comedy in Emmy history to prevail for its first three seasons. The others were “Modern Family” (first five seasons from 2010-14), “30 Rock” (first three seasons from 2007-09), “Frasier” (first five seasons from 1994-98), “Taxi” (first three seasons from 1979-81), “All in the Family” (first three seasons in 1971-73, plus a fourth in ’78) and “The Phil Silvers Show” (first three seasons from 1956-58).
The fact that none of the nominated performers could be there on Wednesday opened the door to focus some attention on several of the far less-heralded pros behind the scenes – nominated this year for editing, directing and sound – who helped to give the three-season series its considerable luster and bluster. Four of them took time out from nursing cocktails on Wednesday to share their thoughts about a series that has radically changed both their personal and professional lives.
DECLAN LOWNEY (nominated for directing for a comedy series)
It’s Lowney’s second directing bid after winning an Emmy as part of the “Ted Lasso” production team last year. This time, he’s nominated for the series climax episode “So Long, Farewell.” “It was like directing any other episode of the show,” Lowney insists, “but there was (extra_ pressure on this one to be beautiful and special. And, you know, saying goodbye to the cast. There were a lot of tears, all for the right reasons…But directing this show always had its challenges.”
What was the best thing about being a part of “Ted Lasso”? Lowney can’t really single out any one thing. It was just the entire experience. “It’s been a game-changer for everyone involved with it,” he says. “It’s changed my life and opened all of these doors. I’ll be staying in directing now, (because) it’s certainly given me opportunities I wouldn’t have had before. The success of this show has been so good to us all.”
Lowney singles out his relationship with Sudeikis as a highlight of his time working as a producer and director on the show. “It’s hard to work with Jason without collaborating 100 percent, because he knows more than anyone else what he wants and what’s in his head. Sometimes it can take a long time to explain what’s in his head, but once you do it’s so rewarding and so brilliant.”
SEEJason Sudeikis (‘Ted Lasso’): Emmys episode submission revealed
FRANCESCA CASTRO (nominated for picture editing on a single-camera comedy series along with Melissa McCoy).
This is Castro’s first Emmy nomination, which she calls “surreal.” “It’s the only word I’ve used since this happened,” she admits. But she also remembers a time before all of the accolades when “Ted Lasso” was just another unknown entity struggling to stay in production when COVID hit full force. “We were (still putting together) the last half of Season 1 in March 2020 when they told us to pack up everything and head home,” she recalls. “In the middle of that, we were just trying to keep working and stat focused.”
Once that first season did get completed and the series proved such a popular gem, it caught everyone by surprise – happily so. “When you start working on something, you’re always hoping someone will enjoy it,” Castro says, “but nothing like what happened with ‘Ted Lasso’.”
The episode that Castro is nominated for, “So Long, Farewell,” was the third season/series finale and was atypical in that it ran for more than an hour. And in the sense that it was chock full of different elements, it proved quite the challenge to edit. “There was a musical number. A big football scene. A ginormous montage at the end. Tons of moving parts. (Editing partner) Melissa (McCoy) and I wound up divvying up sections between us, coming together and watching it as a whole. It was kind of the only way to get it done. It was almost like a feature film (in that way).”
Having someone with a hand in every aspect of “Ted Lasso” like stay Jason Sudeikis – who has been known to log hours in the edit bay himself – was a big positive for her, Castro believes. “Jason’s actually very, very collaborative,” she notes. “When he’s in the room with Melissa and I, it’s very easy to vibe off of each other. We’ll watch the scenes together and share our thoughts and feelings. In the cutting room, (Jason) makes you feel like you can work your best.”
A.J. CATOLINE (nominated for single-camera picture editing on a single-camera comedy series along with Alex Szabo)
Catoline now has three Emmy nominations in as many years for “Lasso,” having won in 2021. You can tell how grateful he is for this job because he tends to walk around with a giant grin on his face, and it’s hard to blame him. “It’s very special (to earn three consecutive nominations),” he says. “I’m so privileged to have won it the first time but to go through this now for a third time is incredible.”
No one on the show could have foreseen the kind of ride this has been, Catoline confirms. “As Jason has said, we’re kind of shocked that a show like this has resonated with Americans. It’s about two things Americans aren’t supposed to like: soccer and kindness. So it was just amazing it leaped off the charts like it did. None of us knew it was going to go there…But it’s just been a really privileged, beautiful experience to work with Jason. I gave him a big high-five at the end.”
Oh yes, the end. The entire third season was fraught with sentiment because everyone knew the countdown toward the end was on, growing “super emotional” toward the end, Catoline emphasizes. “It was the last time we were going to do a director’s cut. The last time we were going to get together with the sound team. There were definitely those countdowns that happened in the (edit) bay.”
Catoline was nominated this time for the 11th installment of Season 3, the penultimate episode of the series entitled “Mom City.” “It had everything,” he believes. “It had a massive 10-minute game sequence. It had a lot of comedy. Ted’s mom (played by Emmy nominee Becky Ann Baker) shows up in the show, so he’s fighting with her for the whole episode. And it had so much heart, of course with the ending scene where Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) reunites with Nate (Nick Mohammed). It had a lot of terrific elements to it.”
RYAN KENNEDY (nominated for sound mixing on a comedy or drama series or animation along with Sean Byrne, David Lascelles and Arno Stephanian)
This is Kennedy’s second Emmy nom, his first coming a year ago – when he won. He remembers a time back in 2020 when he was working on this unknown European football series and how it felt different to him as a sound mixer right from the start. “As soon as we got to working on Season 1, we knew there was something special here,” he stresses. “It had a touch, a feel that a lot of shows I’d worked on didn’t have.”
Kennedy adds that it’s been a privilege to be involved with a show that’s grown so seemingly exponentially in popularity. “During that first season before it aired, we were working on it during the pandemic,” he remembers. “People were asking me what I was doing. I described it for them and a lot of them were very dismissive. Then it came out and people were (suddenly) tweeting to me, ‘Hey, it’s really good!’ I watched the show kind of organically blossom into this thing that it became. It’s been fascinating to see the legs the show has grown on its own. It’s been really positive.”
One thing that rarely gets discussed in theories about why “Ted Lasso” exploded into such a singular phenomenon is the role played by Apple TV Plus in its production and difference being an streaming service that has given the production such creative freedom to find its tone and its voice. “They’ve given us a lot of free reign that other shows didn’t have,” Kennedy points out, “in terms of the time frame in a way that’s unheard of. Apple has really honored the show and the art.”
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