Amid Wicked Thanksgiving box office success, Brett Goldstein went into great detail about how Ted Lasso heavily borrows from The Wizard of Oz.The simultaneous ‘Glicked’ movie showings, along with Moana 2’s cinematic premiere, are poised to make way for “one of the biggest Thanksgivings at the box office in modern times,” Variety reported on Wednesday. The Cynthia Erivo–Ariana Grande starrer epic musical Wicked defied gravity with record weekday box office returns as the Universal flick landed at $16.6 million. The November 26 results shot 5% over the Monday milestone of $15.8 million, bringing in the second-best November Tuesday after Frozen 2.
While the movie continues to earn mindboggling audience traction, the world has sunk itself back into classic obsession over all things Elphaba, Glinda and The Wizard of Oz. Amid the fantastical resurgence of the beloved saga, Apple TV+ breakout Ted Lasso’s fans have also revisited the Jason Sudeikis magnum opus. Drawing parallels with the L Frank Baum classic, especially with the titular coach’s home state as Kansas, viewers speculated if they’d indeed been taken on a walk down the yellow brick road.
To their pleasant surprise, writer and Roy Kent star Brett Goldstein came clean about the hit series being a retelling of The Wizard of Oz.Oh yeah, there’s loads and loads of The Wizard of Oz in Ted Lasso,” Goldstein told Entertainment Weekly. Giving fans even more satisfaction, Goldstein even went as far as clarifying certain elements that had been borrowed from the classic and how the show’s characters were basically modern representations of the book’s icons.
“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 F.C. Yes, that’s all Wizard of Oz.” Listing out some of the main characters, including his own, he began, “I’m the Tin Man.” Sudeikis Ted’s is correspondingly Dorothy, Hannah Waddhingham’s Rebecca the Lion, and Phil Dunster’s Jamie Tartt the Scarecrow.”
Some serious talks surrounding the Apple TV show’s continuation after Ted’s Kansas return in Season 4 have surfaced online in the past few months. Although Sudeikis previously admitted that the Ted Lasso universe from the viewpoint of his character leading the action was over, fans have held out hope that more would follow. Consequently, this led to some virtual exchange of ideas around potential spinoffs exploring other characters as the main piece.
In August 2024, Variety reported that Ted Lasso Season 4’s journey was close to being greenlit. No official word has followed since.
