'Ted Lasso' returns with a fresh challenge in new Apple TV season

The Emmy-winning, feel-good soccer comedy "Ted Lasso" returns this week to Apple TV AAPL.O for a fourth season. This time, the folksy American coach heads back to London to help a team of female athletes believe in their own greatness.

Lasso brings his unfailing optimism as he takes command of AFC Richmond's Lady Greyhounds, a second-division squad facing challenges familiar in women's sports. For starters, they have a smaller budget than the men's Premier League team, and a cramped locker room they must share part of the week.

The switch puts Lasso, played by series co-creator Jason Sudeikis, in new territory after a career coaching male athletes from a man's perspective.

"There is a fundamental difference with the way (Lasso) personally interacts with men and boys" versus women, Sudeikis said in an interview ahead of the season's debut on Wednesday. "He doesn't know what he's allowed to do or say and what's appropriate."

Sudeikis said he can relate to Lasso's challenges as a real-life father of a boy and a girl. The actor said he catches himself treating his daughter and son differently, and he's not sure why.

"I'm still figuring that out," Sudeikis said. "I think Ted's just doing that, times 22 players and a doozy of an assistant."

Lasso's new assistant is Coach Chilton, played by Tanya Reynolds. Chilton is trying to bring out the best in the team, Reynolds said, but she is "incredibly socially anxious" and often comes across as "a prick."

"She coaches with a kind of sharpness rather than with softness," Reynolds said.

Returning characters include team owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) and chief marketing officer Keeley (Juno Temple). Both examine whether they are doing enough to support the women's team, or defaulting to society's ingrained expectations.

"Keeley is a girl's girl," Temple said, and is thrilled to promote a women's team. Even so, she makes mistakes with the new venture.

"It's not a bad thing to not know, but then educate yourself," Temple said. "That's going to be something important with Keeley this season."

Players on the team include Gemma, who is juggling soccer and law school; a single mother named Lizzie; and Boots, a goalkeeper who refuses to wear gloves.

The show's writers consulted with leading figures in women's soccer to better understand the needs of female athletes. They learned that women are less likely to blindly follow a coach's instructions, said Brendan Hunt, the show's co-creator and the actor who plays Coach Beard.

"A women's team is less apt to say like 'Yes sir' and like immediately do what the coach is asking," Hunt said. "They're more prone to have follow-up questions, they're more prone to really need to know why something is happening.

"Once they have that, they're like thank you and off they go," he added. "The amount of return engagement from this team is different than what we've experienced before."

-Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by David Gregorio/Reuters