I don’t watch a lot of TV. It’s not a hard and fast rule, or one I pride myself on. It’s just that I’m rarely in the same place each week at a designated time and so following a show is more difficult. I am also not very good at doing nothing. Usually if I am sitting on the couch in the evening, I am doing SOMETHING else… filling in my paper calendar, drafting a new story long hand, journaling, reading, signing books, making a list of email newsletter topics, posting on social media, checking email, making a blog graphic, grading papers… the list of items I could do, let alone have to do is long… and so, while the TV is frequently on (usually featuring a sporting event or Disney creation) I give myself a free pass to check a few more items off my list while my family is happily engaged in entertainment. I figure we all get bonus points because we are in the same room at the same time. Productivity + family time = a win-win situation in my book.

But sometimes, when my husband and I are feeling the need to spend intentional time together rather than vicariously occupying the same space, we decide to watch a show. The show must be something special, having come highly recommended by multiple sources. In addition to providing entertainment, these shows end up filtering into our daily conversations, our inside jokes, and our mindset, resulting in a rich shared experience. Thus, we only want the best of the best. (Although, our scale of measurement is our own and not open to your criticism or judgement, thank-you-very-much.)

Despite the value these hours of episode binging bring to our lives, we’ve only participated in the activity a handful of times. During our maternity and paternity leaves we spent late nights feeding infants and watching The OC (when Kam was born) and Gossip Girl (when Riley was born). (Remember I told you to keep your CW-critique voices to yourself!) Later on in life, we thoroughly enjoyed every season of Friday Night Lights. More recently, during the Stay-at-Home Order we devoured all three seasons of Newsroom and grieved when it was over. To combat the hangover of missing it we laughed our way through 6 seasons of Schitt’s Creek.

But what next? How could we adequately follow up the phenomenal cast and comedy we’d just witnessed? It took a few months, but we’ve gotten back in the saddle, and fallen head over heels in love, with Ted Lasso.

Ted met all of our requirements. It was a feel-good and funny show with memorable characters. It also gets bonus points for being about sports, a common love for both of us. This show does what, in my opinion, all great stories do. It uplifts your spirit and makes you think. It presents unique situations with universal and relatable truths, helping all viewers take away a little nugget of wisdom. Perhaps because I’m an educator and I was a coach, I enjoy watching shows in which leaders solve problems and inspire. Yes, it’s entertainment, but it’s also educational, dare I say, bordering on professional development? Last week during my lunch break (after a particularly rough class period) I sat in the cafeteria and moped. How was I going to get through to these students and make an impact on their levels of success? Then, I stopped my internal monologue and silent tirade of scathing comments to-whom-it-may-concern about accountability and behavior enablement and asked myself, “What would Ted Lasso do?”

It was then I realized the impact of our nightly TV watching. This fictional character had become a mentor. Someone I aspired to be like… cheerful, positive, inspiring. And then it hit me. Ted Lasso isn’t a real person. He was invented by someone else. In that instant I no longer wanted to be Ted Lasso. I wanted to be the writer who created him. Who I really aspired to be was Jason Sudeikis. (The fact that this show got it’s start in Chicago (#midwestisbest) and on YouTube, only further cements this show’s place in my heart.)

So in addition to our goals of finishing the season (something we’ll attain before the end of 2021) I now have the goal of writing something of Ted Lasso caliber. I want to write something that uplifts and inspires, that shouts out universal truths in a way that makes the world a better place. Through my stories I want to encourage the humans who read it to treat each other nicely. Also, swearing. There will be swearing, because it makes me happy. I’ll end by saying, if you haven’t watched Ted Lasso yet, add it to your line up. Because in the words of Ted himself, "Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing." Trust me. You can thank me later.

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