Finished Binging Ted Lasso? Watch These Shows Next

Brockmire has a different angle on the sports-centric redemption story, but Ted Lasso fans will still find a lot to love in this sharp-tongued series. Jim Brockmire, our somewhat unpleasant protagonist, is a Major League Baseball announcer who gets demoted to the minor league circuit when he has an enormous and very public meltdown on air after discovering his wife's infidelity. Yikes. More of a grumpy, blunt Roy Kent than a cheery, positive Ted Lasso, Jim has to try to rebuild his career and his life almost from scratch, all while surrounded by a quirky supporting cast that will definitely make you laugh.

Ted Lasso does his best to keep an optimistic outlook, even when things are falling down around him, and even when that optimism seems woefully misplaced. That's the same can-do attitude you'll find on Detroiters, a comedy about two best friends who are determined to make it in the advertising business no matter how many times they fail (and they fail a lot). It gets much of its comedy from a similar place as Ted Lasso: the contrast between the main characters' loveable but often foolish overoptimism and the crash-and-burn reality they have to face. You might find yourself shaking your head at the shenanigans in this show, but you can't help but root for these best friends.

Does Ted Lasso have you curious to learn more about how soccer (sorry, "football") became such an integral part of British culture? The English Game has some answers! Set in the 1870s, the series follows the early years of organized soccer in the UK, as an elite team of wealthy athletes compete against a working-class team for the championship. Ted Lasso has lightly touched on issues of class, although it's more of a simmer in the background, but The English Game drives home who soccer is really for. It's not hard to draw a line from these determined underdogs to the AFC Richmond team and their devoted, quirky fans.

Europeans have their football, and Americans have theirs, too - and both countries are equally devoted to their beloved teams. If you want a show with a Ted Lasso-sized heart and an American twist, Friday Night Lights is absolutely the way to go. Coach Taylor is tasked with coaching a high school football team in small-town Texas, where football really is life. After a shocking injury to one of the team's stars, Coach Taylor and his team face an even bigger uphill climb. But like Ted Lasso, it's ultimately a show about hope and community, even when things seem to be at their darkest.

Ted Lasso is all about Ted's unique brand of philosophy in sports; similarly, The Good Place often gets heady about big spiritual and philosophical concepts - think life and death, good and evil, who really controls our fate, and how much control we have over our choices. The beloved NBC comedy strikes many of the same heartwarming, sneakily smart chords as Ted Lasso. As a quartet of misfits and one mysterious immortal being navigate the strangeness of the afterlife, they learn to process their pasts and actually grow, all with a side of sly humor, unexpected lessons, and big heart.

The League takes place in the competitive world of fantasy sports, and yet, ironically, it's actually darker and more intense than Ted Lasso is in the world of professional sports. At the show's center is a group of friends completely devoted to their fantasy league. Unfortunately, their obsessions with their favorite teams and with getting to the top of their "league" take a toll on their real lives. It's not hard to imagine these loud, competitive pals as the American fantasy football counterparts to Ted Lasso's opinionated bar regulars, and it's a cynical comedy that really steeps itself in the details of the sports world.

Beneath its wacky sitcom hijinks, Ted Lasso also happens to be a very poignant and sometimes all-too-real look at mental health and family dynamics. That's what One Day at a Time does, too, balancing an old-school sitcom style with a very contemporary approach to topical issues. As the Alvarez family and their friends go through life, they also deal with issues of PTSD, racism and colorism, gender and sexuality, substance abuse, divorce, and more. Like Ted Lasso, it's a show that wears its heart on its sleeve and reminds us that these issues can't be swept under the rug, and also that we can get through anything.

A goodie-two-shoes with a can-do personality takes over a team that has a much less sunny outlook and is spectacularly unsuccessful, then transforms their lives. Are we talking about Parks and Recreation or Ted Lasso? Both! Leslie Knope and Ted Lasso are clearly cut from the same cloth, with positive attitudes, determination, and unstoppable optimism that can't help but improve the lives of everyone they meet - even if things sometimes get worse before they get better. They're also both surrounded by wonderful supporting casts full of quirky characters who perfectly balance out their sunny optimism with wit, realism, and a bit of vinegary cynicism.

Ted Lasso's story of an outsider being brought into a high-profile role with sky-high stakes also applies to Pitch, a short-lived but much-loved baseball drama. Ginny Baker is the first woman player in Major League Baseball, and the show follows her struggles with her teammates, fans, the higher-ups of baseball, and more. There's all the behind-the-scenes maneuvering and high-stakes competition you love, but with more of a dramatic style. As a bonus, Mark-Paul Gosselaar plays a proto Roy Kent, the grumpy but secretly awesome veteran player who resists change and who knows his career is nearing its end but develops a grudging admiration for Ginny.

Ted Lasso followed Schitt's Creek as the best comedy winner at the Emmys, but the two shows have a lot more in common than just their award records. Just as Ted Lasso is out of his element when the show begins, the spoiled members of the Rose family find themselves in a new and intimidating environment, far from everything and everyone they know. Although they don't exactly start out with a Ted-like chipper attitude, they eventually come to love their new home and undergo incredible growth as people. Fundamentally, it's a deeply kind but never condescending show about finding yourself and finding your people, and that's exactly what Ted Lasso is, too.

Scrubs and Ted Lasso have one very important and obvious thing in common: they both come from the pen of series creator Bill Lawrence. Both shows also feature a group of messy misfits who start out as colleagues and eventually become a family in their own way, getting into mischief and reflecting on life along the way. Scrubs is a definitely little less subtle than Ted Lasso in its style of humor, and it's just as clearly a product of its time, but it's easy to draw a line between the Sacred Heart Hospital crew and our faves at AFC Richmond.

If you enjoyed Roy Kent's brief stint as a commentator on Ted Lasso (or if your favorite character is secretly Trent Crimm of The Independent), Sports Night should be the next sports-themed show in your viewing queue. Instead of focusing on the athletes and coaches like Ted Lasso and many other sports shows do, the dramedy puts the ambitious, dedicated staffers at a sports network front and center. While simultaneously struggling with a classic underdog story and some surprisingly big emotional journeys, it's also a show about how sports are more than just entertainment: they can reflect life and change lives, too.

Unlike Ted Lasso's AFC Richmond crew, Mythic Quest focuses on the competitive world of e-sports, rather than actual sports, but the underdog story arc remains the same. As the team at a video game studio works overtime to try to keep their most popular title updated and relevant in a fast-changing world, their mismatched personalities clash in very funny situations. Like Ted Lasso, there's a business-minded leader initially out for personal gain, a cast full of memorable characters, and plenty of opportunities to lightly (or not so lightly) poke fun at the "sporting" world that they belong to. If you think e-sports aren't serious business, this show will make you think again.

One of the most important elements in Ted Lasso is the unorthodox mentorship between Ted and his players. He wants them to be the best players they can be, but he's even more concerned about making sure that they become the best people they can be. There's more than a hint of that in Cobra Kai too, the continuation of the iconic Karate Kid franchise, now with its young protagonists turned into coaches for a new generation. Just like Ted Lasso, there's plenty of drama from clashing training styles and personal conflicts, as well as the looming threat from other "teams" that forces everyone to reevaluate their priorities.

Even though Ted Lasso is technically about a men's soccer team and all the personalities on that team, it's also downright amazing when it comes to crafting strong, interesting, and complicated women. We think Rebecca, Keeley, and Flo would absolutely love the women of GLOW. Based on true stories of a pro wrestling league for women, GLOW takes a similar tactic as Ted Lasso, balancing out traditional "sports" storylines with more in-depth focus on character. As these underdogs fight back against outdated stereotypes, both about their sport and bigger issues like gender, community, and sexuality, you'll feel that whole roller coaster of emotions that you loved about Ted Lasso.