It's impossible to imagine anyone other than Jason Sudeikis playing Ted Lasso. But the Saturday Night Live alum almost didn't get the chance to bring the character to life, and two late-night TV stars almost changed sitcom history.
Ted Lasso ran for three seasons on Apple TV+. Fans were sad to see Sudeikis hang up the whistle in 2023 after the show earned a pile of awards. Not bad for a show that started off as a commercial for English Premier League broadcasts in the United States.
And that's where things almost went in a completely different direction. The book Believe: The Untold Story Behind Ted Lasso, the Show That Kicked Its Way into Our Hearts by Jeremy Egner explained how NBC initially wanted several other actors for the promo before landing on Sudeikis and creating the Ted Lasso character.
In an alternate timeline, another late-night TV personality would have starred in the commercials. NBC first went after John Oliver. The Daily Show correspondent ultimately became unavailable as he took over hosting the show while Jon Stewart directed Rosewater.
Having the British Oliver introduce the Premier League to American audiences would have needed a much different approach than the Ted Lasso character. So we can partly thank Jon Stewart for setting off a chain of events that led to Sudeikis getting the gig.
But Oliver wasn't the only late-night TV star on NBC's radar. Egner's book also revealed the network considered Seth Meyers. However, the then-Saturday Night Live cast member didn't have the star power in 2013 that NBC wanted.
Again, it wouldn't have been Meyers playing Ted Lasso. It's likely that Meyers would have some involvement writing whatever premise used to sell the Premier League.
According to NBC Sports' former cheif marketing officer John Miller, the network also considered Ricky Gervais and Chris Pratt to lead the campaign.
How did Jason Sudeikis get Ted Lasso?
So with Chris Pratt becoming too big, Seth Meyers not being big enough, and John Oliver busy hosting The Daily Show, NBC was still in search of a talented actor for its ads.
Egner's book credits a talent wrangler for suggesting Jason Sudeikis to the marketing heads. The comic actor had films like Hall Pass and Horrible Bosses on his resume. And of course, audiences knew him as a leading cast member on Saturday Night Live.
The original Ted Lasso ad came out in 2013 just as Sudeikis left Saturday Night Live. It would be another seven years before the bit was developed into the Apple series.