Men's Lifestyle October 2, 2026 0 Comments

Why Ted Lasso’s Unstoppable Rise to Top 10 TV Show of the Century Will Shock Every Fitness and Mindset Guru You Know

You know how sometimes the internet just explodes over a list, right? Well, The New York Times dropped their ranking of the 100 greatest TV shows of the 21st century, and suddenly, everyone’s buzzing about classics like 30 Rock and Mad Men again. But here’s the kicker: when the Times surveyed their readers for a new list, a certain show shot up from a “meh” spot at number 65 all the way to number ten. Can you guess which one? Spoiler alert — it’s none other than Ted freaking Lasso. Now, as someone who’s spent countless hours decoding SEO quirks and crafting content that cuts through noise, I’m fascinated by how a feel-good soccer coach can stir such passionate debates. Is it fandom? Is it nostalgia? Or maybe just the timeless appeal of kindness in chaos? Either way, the jump is eyebrow-raising, and it’s high time we dive into why this bubbly underdog stole the spotlight from heavier hitters. Think of it as a workout for your brain — let’s stretch those critical thinking muscles a little. LEARN MORE

2 min read

You might have seen people talking about shows like 30 Rock and Mad Men again. It’s because of The New York Times. Between September 21 and September 25, the paper of record published its ranking of the 100 greatest television shows of the 21st century. Surely people had opinions, which is why, on October 2, the Times surveyed its own readers—about 100,000 subscribers—and published a new reader-oriented list of the best TV series since 2000.

Because of the new surveying body, guess which TV show leaped from number 65 on the original list to number ten—ten!!!—in the reader poll. Want to guess?

Take a guess.

That’s okay. You already read the headline.

It’s my archenemy.

Ted freaking Lasso.

Colin Hutton//Apple

We meet again.

I’m honestly not that surprised. Based on the way our readers pick up pitchforks every week after my recaps go live, I’m highly aware of Ted Lasso’s feverish fan base. I’m also not fazed by the irony of those same people demanding I should be fired because I don’t like a TV show about kindness.

But what surprises me are the shows people are eager to vote Ted Lasso above. It’s comparing apples to oranges to lament people voting for Lasso over, say, The Americans or Andor or Station Eleven or Shōgun. I’m also thankful readers went to bat for Avatar: The Last Airbender, which absolutely deserves to be in the conversation and was criminally snubbed by the original list.

But if we’re limited to comedies, then Ted Lasso—as a whole, including seasons 1 to 4—has no business being above 30 Rock, Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Good Place, or even Community. Sorry. There’s just no reality where Ted Lasso is better than any of them, some of which outdo Lasso’s shtick of promoting kindness, growth, and accountability. It will forever be a little miracle to me that The Good Place ended when it did in early 2020, giving us this scene just before we had to actually demonstrate inconvenient consideration for others.

Contrary to what my negative-Nancy recaps of this season imply, I was a big fan of Ted Lasso in the early going. I thought it was a beautiful and hilarious series when it first hit, aided in large part by our bleak routines during pandemic lockdowns. The theme song was, no joke, the number-one song on my Spotify Wrapped in 2021. But somewhere along the way, I got the feeling the show’s writers were penning scripts based on Twitter reactions, which morphed a genuinely funny and insightful show about an American fish in British waters into an intolerable cartoon.

Which raises the question: If Ted Lasso were an actual cartoon, like Avatar, would viewers even vote for it in the first place?