Ted Lasso’s Season 2 starts tomorrow.
If you want a masterclass in character writing, re-watch the Pilot episode. My Hollywood screenwriter buddy did a frame-by-frame breakdown for me.
The show’s writers make us love Lasso…and it only takes 157 seconds.
THREAD 🧵
1/ From the get go, the Ted Lasso writing team effectively deploys the classic storytelling technique "show, don't tell".
Instead of Lasso (or other characters) talking about how great of a guy he is, we come to the conclusion based on observing his actions.
2/ We first see Lasso at the 3:51 mark of the pilot.
And when we do, it's a still photo of him on ESPN's Sportcenter show.
Importantly, it's a HUGE smiling photo that instantly pulls you in...and you spend 28 seconds with the still smiling image as Scott Van Pelt speaks.
3/ The first action we see Lasso do is a 16-second dance clip with the college football team he coaches.
He's clearly a fun dude and -- crucially -- his players LOVE him.
It's only been 44 seconds, we haven't heard Lasso speak...but we're all thinking "this guy is amazing."
4/ Next, we meet real-life Lasso on an airplane.
The 1st test of his character is someone interrupting him while he reads.
The POV is of his book being obstructed.
Think about how pissed you'd be.
Lasso happily engages the guy and gives him a selfie.
1st Test passed. ✔️
5/ The selfie guy quickly puts Lasso to his 2nd test by telling Lasso he's nuts for taking the soccer coaching job.
Lasso takes the trolling in stride.
2nd test passed. ✔️
After 90 seconds of screen time, we LOVE this guy.
6/ The next interaction Lasso has is with his assistant coach.
It's a friendly, inside-jokey conversation which is capped off by an exploding fist-pound.
Lasso is officially the chillest dude ever.
7/ Finally, we wrap up our first 157 seconds with Lasso by finding out he's a family man.
He looks at a photo of his wife and kid...and smiles.
What a guy!
That entire Lasso intro (from Lasso on ESPN to the photo) takes place from 3:51 - 6:28 of the episode.
That's it!
8/ **Cut to the credits**
With so much content, a TV pilot has to nail it (quickly) to keep viewers watching.
Ted Lasso's writers makes us love its main character in only 157 seconds.
Whenever a "test" comes up through the rest of the season, Lasso's actions "pass" it.
9/ If you enjoyed that, FOLLOW @TrungTPhan for threads that will make you smarter, sprinkled in with memes that will make you dumber:
10/ SIDE NOTE: The original version of Ted Lasso was actually much less nice.
Here’s a vid of Lasso as first imagined for NBC (before Apple took over)
11/ On a related note: Tim Cook has been very involved in AppleTV programming.
He didn’t want shows to be “so mean”.
Not sure if the kinder Ted Lasso is Cook’s editorial call…but dude’s def nice!
12/ One more example of Ted Lasso being a good dude from the Pilot.
Right after the credits, he lands at the airport.
When a chauffeur asks to carry his bags, he says he can do it himself:
13/ Dang, y’all took this Ted Lasso thread to the moon. 🙏🙏
Blessed by
◻️Apple TV
◻️Twitter trending (h/t @clarkchambers)
14/ FINAL: We’ll be roasting my failed screenwriting career (few projects sold, zero made) on the next episode of Not Investment Advice (NIA).
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