Jason Sudeikis packed ‘Ted Lasso’ with Kansas City Easter eggs: Here’s your guide
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“Ted Lasso” has been a surprising breakout hit on Apple TV+.
The show’s popularity has grown in part through social-media buzz and word of mouth, and it should haul in many more fans now that it’s earned 20 Emmy nominations.
Viewers in Kansas City also have been pleasantly surprised by the numerous local references, planted there by series co-creator/star Jason Sudeikis, who grew up in Overland Park.
Sights, names and quotes will resonate with people who know KC, not including the colors of the fictional British soccer team Ted Lasso coaches, AFC Richmond. Perhaps it’s a coincidence that Richmond’s red and blue echo the Kansas Jayhawks, which is Sudeikis’ favorite team.
Even if that wasn’t done on purpose, Sudeikis has admitted to intentionally dropping Kansas City Easter eggs into the show’s first season.
Here is a look at some subtle and clear instances of Kansas City in “Ted Lasso” before season two debuts July 23.
Episode 1
Ted is hired to coach AFC Richmond after helping Division II Wichita State to a national title.
Of course the Shockers no longer have a football team and they are in Division I in other sports. Sudeikis told The Star last year he originally planned to use Pittsburg State as the football team. Wichita came through with all the necessary permissions.
Later, while in his new house in England, Ted is wearing a T-shirt that says Joe Arthur Gatestack, a reference to Joe’s Kansas City (nee Oklahoma Joe’s), Arthur Bryant’s, Gates and Jack Stack, four famous KC barbecue restaurants. (The shirt is from Three KC Clothing Co., started by Brendan Curran, Sudeikis’ friend in high school.)
Episode 2
Lasso receives a care package from his family, and it includes a bottle of Arthur Bryant’s barbecue sauce, which he tastes.
“You know, this right here is some of the best barbecue sauce in Kansas City, which makes it some of the best barbecue sauce in the world,” Ted (correctly) notes.
Episode 3
While talking with grizzled defender Roy Kent, Ted recalls a moment from his childhood.
“Roy,” he starts, “I learned two pretty big lessons on the rough-and-tumble playgrounds of Brookridge Elementary School.”
Sudeikis attended Brookridge, which is in Overland Park and is still open.
Episode 4
While discussing how fans create a lifelong bond with their sports teams, Ted tells the former owner of Richmond: “Love of a sports team is a lifetime obsession. …
“Kinda like your best friend’s older sister, right? Hey, but do me a favor. If you’re ever in Kansas City and come across a fella named Tom Dineen, don’t tell him I said that.”
That’s just an obvious reference to KC. However, Tom Dineen has no local connection. He is someone from co-creator Bill Lawrence’s high school days in Connecticut.
Episode 5
In one scene, we see Ted in bed and he’s wearing a KC T-shirt — another one from Three KC.
During halftime of a game in which Ted has made a controversial move, he addresses the team and talks about change. During that speech, he mentions a middle school art teacher named Miss Scanlon, whom he remembers, well, fondly.
Mrs. Scanlon really was his teacher, apparently.
Episode 6
Once again we see assistant coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) in a KC Sines Original hat. Sudeikis has said that’s a salute to his friend Chris Sines. They’ve known each other since the fifth grade.
You’ll see that hat many times again.
Episode 7
Ted has a video chat with his son back in the United States. We get a clear shot of the photo Ted uses for his computer’s background: the outside of Arthur Bryant’s restaurant. (It was another case of license permissions easily granted, Sudeikis has said.)
Episode 8
At the local pub, Ted plays a competitive game of darts in what may be the iconic scene of the entire season.
At the biggest moment, he says “barbecue sauce.”
Episode 9
At a news conference, Ted says he’ll only answer questions from introverts:
If y’all were really introverts, you would’ve been quiet as a church mouse,” Ted says. “Unless that church was Westboro Baptist. Those turkeys won’t shut up.”
That’s, of course, a reference to the hate group Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, which has also made its presence known in this area.
Episode 10
While chatting with his son, Ted is wearing another Three KC T-shirt. This one is the company’s logo: a pig’s head followed by 3 KC.
Earlier in the episode, Ted calls a late-night meeting with his assistant coaches at his apartment. He gets frustrated and yells, prompting the neighbor above to bang on floor.
Ted looks up and says, “Sorry Mrs. Shipley!”
That’s a nod to a former teacher at Shawnee Mission West. Sally Shipley taught speech, forensics and radio/television.
“It’s so fun to see the improv and silly things they do and lines that they just write on the spot and we try to work those in as much as possible,” AJ Catoline, an editor for “Ted Lasso,” told Awards Watch. “And in post, Jason’s adding in funny little, we call it ADR, dialogue replacement, he’s adding little – we do this gag where the neighbors always banging and he’s always like ‘Sorry, Mrs. Shipley!’
“That wasn’t scripted, that was completely created in post. And what’s interesting is Mrs. Shipley is Jason Sudeikis’ elementary school teacher, so it’s a little homage to her, the show is all about mentorship.”
Bonus
Last year, Sudeikis told The Star that his character grew up in the area: “I believe he grew up in unknown parts of Kansas City. We’ll say on the Kansas side because I know it better.”
But the Ted Lasso Twitter account recently revealed exactly where: Merriam.
Season two of “Ted Lasso” will include 12 episodes, with a new one dropping each Friday.
This story was originally published July 15, 2021 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Jason Sudeikis packed ‘Ted Lasso’ with Kansas City Easter eggs: Here’s your guide."
