Leading up to Ted Lasso's season two premiere, Professor Mike Lewis created a model to quantify the importance of each character to the show.
The model gives equal weight to 3 criteria that determine a character's ranking:
The Message - How does the character drive the Ted Lasso message of optimism in the face of adversity?
The Drama - Does the character create plot twists and challenges that make the show interesting?
The Humor - How much does the character make the audience laugh?
Mike assigned values for each of these categories, ranked players according to their scores, and broke ties based on his "gut."
Here are the rankings:
10. Higgins
A very British stooge. He provides some comic relief for the villains.
Message: 2, Drama: 3, Humor: 5, Total: 10
9. Dani Rojas
Dani represents the unbridled joy of sports. However, I’m still on the fence with Dani. He has some fun moments but is he more than a prop? Doug has Dani much higher on his list.
Message: 9, Drama: 1, Humor: 6, Total: 16
8. Rupert Mannion
The ultimate villain. Rich, pompous, and arrogant. Also publicly charming and generous to charity (in a one-upmanship way). The only unredeemable villain so far. Batman needs the Joker, and we need Rupert.
Message: 1, Drama: 10, Humor: 5, Total: 16
7. Nathan Shelley
Or "Nate the Great" according to Coach Ted Lasso... AFC Richmond's kit man lacks confidence until Lasso shows him how much he's valued by the new head coach.
Message: 8, Drama: 3, Humor: 6, Total: 17
6. Rebecca Welton
Rebecca is the evil owner who is trying to make the most optimistic man in the world fail. Cold in a very upper-class British way. Her redemption is a key to the story.
Message: 6, Drama: 9, Humor: 3, Total: 18
5. Coach Beard
Can you build a character around a beard?
Message: 6, Drama: 5, Humor: 8, Total: 19
4. Jamie Tartt
Tartt is the uber-talented player that is poison in the locker room. He dates models and considers himself a fashion icon. He is a classic sports character and a challenge for Ted to overcome.
Message: 8, Drama: 10, Humor: 5, Total: 23
3. Roy Kent
"He's here, he's there..." (show viewers will know the rest). Roy Kent is a grown man who gets paid to play a game but is always mad. He swears seamlessly and without offense. His fight against Ted’s optimism is one of the high points of the show.
Message: 8, Drama: 7, Humor: 10, Total: 25
2. Keeley Jones
I think Doug will disagree. Keeley is the key to the show. She is a pure spirit that creates drama in her wake. Eminently likable–the second most important character.
Message: 8, Drama: 8, Humor: 9, Total: 25
1. Ted Lasso
The focal point for the action. An unstoppable force of optimism and resilience. Lasso drives the action and provokes the emotional response.
Message: 10, Drama: 7, Humor: 10, Total: 27
Listen to our full Ted Lasso discussion here.
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