Never Be Bored
24 July 2021
You Can Do It
Ted Lasso tv show. Check, Please! webcomic by Ngozi Ukazu; The Good Place tv show; Welcome to Buteaupia Michelle Buteau comedy special.
Honestly, I did not expect to really enjoy Ted Lasso, but it was actually so unexpectedly wholesome and funny that I loved it start to finish. The titular Ted Lasso is an eternally optimistic American college football coach, who is brought in to be the new coach for the English Premier League team AFC Richmond, despite barely knowing the rules for the sport he would call 'soccer.' Which, naturally, doesn't endear him to his team, who would much rather win games than deal with Ted's interesting style of coaching.
This comedy, steaming on Apple TV+, has an incredible cast of personalities (my favs are Rebecca, AFC Richmond's fabulous owner, and Roy Kent, the team's captain), but what really made me love the series is how characters are inspired to be better both on the field and off. Characters who make mistakes are called out, but apologize and are given room to learn. Respect and trust is earned and relationships are built stronger. Growth is celebrated. You love to see it.
Enough of football, let's talk hockey. If you liked Ted Lasso's team-as-family dynamic, you'll love Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu, one of my all-time favorite webcomics. This lovely story follows Eric "Bitty" Bittle, pie baker extraordinaire, through his four years on Samwell University's hockey team. Building confidence in yourself, epic bromance and also fluffy romance, excellent art, all served a la mode with a heaping of college nostalgia. 10/10, would (and have!) reread again and again.
If you liked how Ted Lasso is a comedy about friends genuinely trying to become better people, check out The Good Place, about a moral philosophy professor, a socialite and philanthropist, a Buddhist monk, and also Eleanor Shellstrop, who upon dying end up in the Good Place. A tricky situation for Eleanor, who quickly realizes that there's been some kind of mistake and that she isn't supposed to be there at all. Watch this show, currently on Netflix, for D'Arcy Carden's amazing performance as Janet and for the best season one finale cliffhanger plot twist I've ever seen.
In Ted Lesso, an American finds humor in feeling a bit culturally lost in England. Some of my favorite bits from Netflix comedy special Welcome to Buteaupia were when New Jerseyan Michelle Buteau talked about her adventures with her husband's family in the Netherlands. Watch for her thoughts on the struggle of becoming new parents, meeting J Lo, and some delightful life advice.