When the popular, award-winning show Ted Lasso first aired in 2020, multiple fans theorised that it was a modern retelling of The Wizard of Oz.
And now that Wicked has been released, this theory has resurfaced online.
Not only that, but it turns out the theory is true! Brett Goldstein — who played Roy Kent in Ted Lasso and served as the series’ executive story editor — has confirmed it’s correct.
“Oh yeah, there’s loads and loads of The Wizard of Oz in Ted Lasso,” Brett recently told Entertainment Weekly.
“The pinball machine is the one that’s always, ‘Ted has to go home. There’s no place like home.’ And then, there’s no place like Richmond FC. Yes, that’s all Wizard of Oz.”
Brett went on to confirm which characters correlate to the 1939 film characters.
Ted (played by Jason Sudeikis) is Dorothy, Rebecca (played by Hannah Waddingham) is the Lion, Jamie (played by Phil Dunster) is the Scarecrow, and Brett’s character Roy is the Tin Man.
“I’m sure this is going to cause a lot of trouble,” Brett admitted. Most fans thought that Rebecca was the Wizard and Nathan — played by Nick Mohammed — was the Lion.
While Brett didn’t elaborate any further on the theory, we’ll break it down for you in case you’re still confused.
In the series, the titular Ted Lasso is an American football coach who lives in Kansas but flies to London after he’s hired to coach AFC Richmond, a struggling English soccer team.
This eerily echoes Dorothy, a young woman from Kansas who flies (in a house in a tornado) to Oz.
Then throughout the series, Ted is constantly torn between enjoying the journey of coaching AFC Richmond and missing his home. Just like Dorothy as she travels down the yellow brick road.
Plus, Ted constantly wears red sneakers — a clear nod to the ruby slippers!
Furthermore, Roy Kent is a gruff, hardened man and Jamie Tartt is a selfish man at the start of the series. However, Roy softens over time and Jamie smartens up. You could say it’s like Roy got a heart and Jamie got a brain…
To be honest, we are still confused over Brett saying Rebecca Welton is the Lion; she was never particularly cowardly during the series.
Especially when compared to Nathan Shelley who always second-guessed himself and then spinelessly betrayed AFC Richmond.
Looks like we’ll have to rewatch Ted Lasso to see if we can figure it out!
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