On the heels of Emmy Award-winning Ted Lasso being named an AFI Television Program of the Year and honored with multiple Critics Choice nominations, including Best Comedy Series, the team that brought kindness back delivers an early present with the debut of a surprise stop motion short, featuring the voice talents of the beloved ensemble cast as they help Ted search for a lost item that ultimately leads him to realize the meaning of the holiday season.
Available to watch now on Apple TV+, the holiday short stars Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Phil Dunster and Nick Mohammed. The stop-motion animated spot was directed by Jed Hathaway (Robot Chicken, Moral Orel) and produced by the team at Shadow Machine.
In addition to Best Comedy Series, Sudeikis, Waddingham and Goldstein each received Critics Choice nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, respectively, with the widely adored show sweeping all categories in which it was nominated at last year’s ceremony. This also follows the show’s history-making Emmys, where Ted Lasso broke records by becoming the most nominated freshman comedy series, with 20 nominations and winning the top prizes, including Best Comedy, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor. The series was also honored with an esteemed Peabody Award for excellence in storytelling.
Since the debut of Apple TV+ just over two years ago, Apple’s series and films have earned 183 wins and 689 nominations and have recently received recognition from the Academy Awards, SAG Awards, Critics Choice Awards, Critics Choice Documentary Awards, NAACP Image Awards, as well as past Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards, plus more.
Jason Sudeikis stars as Ted Lasso, an American football coach hired to manage a British soccer team — despite having no experience. But what he lacks in knowledge, he makes up for with optimism, underdog determination … and biscuits. The award-winning series also stars Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Phil Dunster and Nick Mohammed. Sarah Niles joins the cast in the second season as Sharon, a sports psychologist who has been brought in to work with AFC Richmond.
In addition to starring, Sudeikis serves as executive producer, alongside Bill Lawrence via his Doozer Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group. Doozer’s Jeff Ingold also serves as an executive producer with Liza Katzer as co-executive producer. The series was developed by Sudeikis, Lawrence, Hunt and Joe Kelly, and is based on the pre-existing format and characters from NBC Sports.
