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Watch Will Ferrell present fellow SNL alum Jason Sudeikis with a Peabody Award for Ted Lasso

Watch Will Ferrell present fellow SNL alum Jason Sudeikis with a Peabody Award for Ted Lasso

EW can exclusively reveal that the Apple TV+ comedy show Ted Lasso has won a 2021 Peabody Award for "offering the perfect counter to the enduring prevalence of toxic masculinity, both on-screen and off, in a moment when the nation truly needs inspiring models of kindness."

"The premise of this wildly popular show from Apple TV+ has all the markings of a formulaic cornball dud," the Peabody jury says in a statement. "A seemingly homespun and loquacious American football coach from Kansas is hired to run a London 'football' team - soccer, of course, a sport about which he knows nothing. The new owner (the wonderful Hannah Waddingham) intends to drive the team into the ground as revenge against her adulterous ex-husband who lost his ownership in the divorce. What this presumably Ugly American, fish-out-of-water tale offers instead is a charming dose of radical optimism, with an equally endearing Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso."

Apple TV + Jason Sudeikis on Peabody Award winning Apple TV+ comedy, "Ted Lasso."

"It turns out that more than simply a sports coach, Ted is remarkably good at honest communication with others, affecting change by being a deeply good human being, one with his own quiet anxieties and pain," the statement continues. "Indeed, much of the personal transformations in the characters and their extended relationships occurs through the ripple effect of Ted's radiant optimism and intensely sincere, if folksy, good will. Those who typically would be treated as minor or marginalized characters such as Keely, the soccer star's model girlfriend, and Nate the Great, the diminutive South Asian locker room assistant, become significant change agents of Ted's philosophy - the Lasso Way - that when we 'BELIEVE, all manner of positive things will happen. For offering the perfect counter to the enduring prevalence of toxic masculinity, both on-screen and off, in a moment when the nation truly needs inspiring models of kindness, Ted Lasso wins a Peabody."

Exclusively watch Ted Lasso star, co-writer, and co-creator Jason Sudeikis' full acceptance speech and an appearance by presenter and fellow SNL alum Will Ferrell in the video above.

"I mean, what can I say?" says Sudeikis. "It really knocks our socks off. We hope that we can all put a little of this Ted Lasso vibe in our everyday lives and you've certainly put a pep in our step. So, thank you and wish you all the best."

This year, Peabody winners are being named across major social media channels beginning Monday through Thursday. Presenters include Eva Longoria, Westworld's Thandiwe Newton, Killing Eve's Sandra Oh, and Fargo's Chris Rock.

Ted Lasso season 2 premieres July 23.

For more on Ted Lasso and our "99 Ways to Spend 99 Days" summer guide, order the July issue of Entertainment Weekly or find it on newsstands beginning June 18. Don't forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW. Watch Ted Lasso (TV Series) on Apple TV+.

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