Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way (Seasons 1-3) [Blu-Ray]

Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift

Release Date: July 30, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

In a bitter divorce settlement from her billionaire husband Rupert Mannion, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) becomes the new owner of British football club AFC Richmond. She’s assisted by her Director of Football Operations, Higgins (Jeremy Swift), who formerly worked for her husband. Her first order of business is to fire the team’s current manager and replace him with an idealistic all-American football coach Theodore “Ted” Lasso (Jason Sudeikis). Ted and his friend, assistant Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) cross the pond to take up the management of the team’s “long, albeit modest” history.  Ted gets to know the team – including Team Captain Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), top scorer Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) and more – but finds his first friend in the locker room assistant Nathan (Nick Mohammed). Half a world away from his wife and child, Ted could use a friend. But he presses on, nevertheless. Richmond is about to change the way they’re doing things — and from now on — that is the Lasso way.

‘Ted Lasso’ joins lovable, positive and kind-hearted college football coach Ted Lasso as he, along with his trusty assistant Coach Beard are called to head a team in a whole new world, enlisted as the new coach of AFC Richmond, a British football club after new owner Rebecca Welton acquires the team as part of her brutal divorce settlement and hires Ted hoping to destroy the one thing in the world that her ex-husband loves. Initially met with hostility and disappointment both by the players and the fans, Ted soon begins to win each of them over thanks to his unique optimism, kindness and caring that quickly becomes infectious. But will any of it be enough to help Ted get the upper hand and stand a chance at winning it all, or will he just fail spectacularly?

‘Ted Lasso’ is nothing short of marvelous; brimming with heart, hilarity and beauty around every turn, it quickly pulls you in with its endearing characters, style and hilarious humor regardless of whether you have any interest in sports or soccer (err, football) and will have you rooting for Ted and his team without any hesitation. The world of football/soccer may be the general concept of the storyline but it’s also anything but simply a sports show and the struggles, rewards and growth of these characters is in reality often more prominent and crucial than the team’s progress, or at the very least on par with it.

It’s a true rarity these days to experience a show that’s as profoundly uplifting and heartwarming as ‘Ted Lasso’ is and as the series progresses it becomes impossible not to fall in love with nearly every key character as their individual and joined journeys progress splendidly, while repeatedly eliciting laughs, tears and tremendous amounts of joy along the way. If you’ve never had the pleasure of ‘Ted Lasso’ but are a fan of Sudeikis or simply of a great comedy series that’s oozing heart and care, then I would wholeheartedly urge you to give this one a chance because you’re liable to fall in love with it from the onset. It’s easily one of the better comedic feel good shows in recent memory and one that probably shouldn’t be missed by anyone.

The talented series cast includes Jason Sudeikis as Ted, in addition to Hannah Waddingham, Jeremy Swift, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, Anthony Head, Toheeb Jimoh, Cristo Fernandez, Kola Bokinni, Billy Harris, James Lance and Juno Temple, with each offering great and fitting performances in their respective roles and with each providing something unique and memorable to the series. While the show may be called ‘Ted Lasso’ and Sudeikis is utterly outstanding and lovable in his portrayal of Ted, this series is far from a one man show and it’s impossible not to give each outstanding star and guest star their due, because this heartwarming and hilarious series wouldn’t be nearly as rewarding without what each of them contributes.

All 3 seasons of ‘Ted Lasso’ arrive home on Blu-ray at last in Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment’s 7-disc Blu-ray box set ‘Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way’ which features all thirty four episodes of the series available to own physically for the first time. The release delivers very solid and clean high definition video presentations for each episode of every season which are only perfectly boosted by multichannel DTS-HD MA soundtracks. Some fans may be disappointed by the absence of any bonus content on the discs, although it does come with a nice two-sided poster at the very least.

Warner shows care in how they balance each disc within, with the first two seasons granted two discs each while the third season is split between three discs due to the episodes all being notably longer, and how many episodes included on each disc depends on their lengths which is always refreshing to see. If you’re a fan of ‘Ted Lasso’ and have been hoping to have the opportunity to physically own the series, then this Blu-ray disc should not disappoint and is recommended, especially if you’re already considering a purchase.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with a 2.00:1 Aspect Ratio on every episode of all three seasons. The video presentations look quite great as a whole and provide clean, sharp and nicely detailed presentations on every episode from start to finish that never fall victim to any unexpected issues along the way. Detail and clarity is solid and noticeable on character faces, jerseys and the numerous locations including the locker room, offices and various playing fields, along with pubs and everything else. Coloring is consistently rich and vibrant, while black levels hold up capably for the most part throughout as well. Overall, these are great high definition video presentations that should please fans that are excited to finally own this tremendous series on disc.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on all 34 episodes from seasons 1-3. These multichannel soundtracks do their job well and offer clean, crisp and occasionally quite immersive audio presentations on every episode and season. It fairly frequently utilizes all five available channels whenever appropriate in order to send music, crowd cheering and chanting, along with pub chatter, nature content and plenty more moving throughout the various speakers, all while never negatively affecting or clashing with any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, these are fully capable 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtracks that hold up nicely at every turn and shouldn’t disappoint in the slightest.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way’ includes one physical extra; the inclusion of a double-sided 18”x12” BELIEVE poster in the package (available while supplies last) that features the show’s iconic believe art on one side and a cast photo similar to the Blu-ray cover on the reverse. No video extras are included on the actual discs.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray & DVD from Warner Bros Discovery Home Entertainment

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You can Purchase ‘Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

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