'Ted Lasso:' A great show, or just the right show at the time we needed it?

Is "Ted Lasso" a great show, or was it just the show we (or at least a lot of us) needed last summer during the pandemic? That's the question as the Apple TV+ series returns for its second season, fresh off a record haul of Emmy nominations for a first-year comedy, and with plenty of outspoken fans.

Starring Jason Sudeikis as the title character, a US football coach who is improbably hired to coach soccer in England, the show won praise as a breath of fresh air with its upbeat, can-do attitude, Ted's folksy charm and the eccentric players and personnel that fleshed out the team. Frankly, the whole thing looked -- or at least sounded -- like a conventional fish-out-of-water concept, calculated to cash in on the cross-cultural currents and incorporate a helpful sports hook. (As Sports Illustrated detailed, Sudeikis actually introduced the character in NBC Sports promos back in 2013.)