Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Rather than rewriting what we’ve already written once, I’ll soon link over to what Bryan Kluger had to say about Ted Lasso in his Blu-ray review. Before I do that, I have to offer up my two cents for this series. To preface my thoughts, I’ll say that I am something of a stick in the mud when it comes to jumping into a hugely popular television series. It’s not that I’m so crumugionly that I don’t appreciate or accept other folks’ opinions, but at the same time, I don’t like feeling pushed into seeing something I haven’t discovered for myself or that I don't have an immediate interest in. I’ll get to it eventually, and usually after the series is over, so I can just run through it at my own pace. 

Case in point was Ted Lasso. For ages, I heard nothing but how great this show was and how funny and heartwarming it was. That’s great. It got me excited. But then it was on AppleTV, and I didn’t have a subscription. Signing up for another streaming service just for one show wasn’t in the cards (I have one now because they have more than one excellent show, but that’s usually my criteria for a subscription). So by the time I sat down to enjoy Ted Lasso, the series was coming to its end, a fitting time to get caught up.

And I loved it. I never doubted how good it’d be, I knew too many people with opinions I respected who were all talking about it. What I didn’t expect was how melancholy I’d get watching it because I knew it was coming to an end. I knew that grand finale was on its way, but I was having so much fun with this series, enjoying how pleasant the show was, and how much I liked having this team of characters to tune into. From Bret Goldstein to Hannah Waddingham to Juno Temple, the whole cast was terrific, making the series personable. But what surprised me most was that this series managed to change my opinion of Jason Sudeikis. Before this series, he was just that amiable “that guy is in this” actor. Never had anything against him, but he was never in anything that really stood out, that said to me, “he made that role, that character only works for him.” As the titular Ted Lasso, he found that role that worked as a fitting lead character that was uniquely his own. I can't imagine anyone else in that part. I also had a somewhat similar experience the first time I ate Indian food, so that error in spice capacity judgment was immediately relatable. Each episode we followed these characters on and off the pitch and each episode they left us ready for more. 

The good news is there is more Ted Lasso on the way! The next series, where Lasso apparently will coach a tier two women's team, should start airing around the World Cup shenanigans this summer. Hopefully, this time away from these characters will be worth the return. If it’s not, if the return ends up being a trite cash grab or a flat-out dud, at least we have these three fantastic seasons to come back to anytime we want.

Anyway, enough of my dithering, for another appreciative look at the series, check out Bryan Kluger’s Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way Blu-ray Review

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
After escaping from streaming and landing on Blu-ray, Warner Bros. heads Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way over to 4K UHD for an eight-disc three-season set. The set is made up of seven BD100 discs, and one BD66 disc. This time around, each season has its own case, each disc is appropriately labeled with different-colored artwork, and each case includes an episode rundown for the discs so you don't have to guess which episodes are where.

After a solid 1080p release, Warner Bros. delivers what we probably should have had: a rock-solid Dolby Vision 4K release. Not to say anything bad about the Blu-ray, but when you’ve got a 4K HDR version on streaming, and you click over to a 1080p SDR experience, it’s a step back. Now, we’ve at least got something that not only matches the quality of the streaming experience but probably exceeds it. Facial features, fine lines, clothing, uniforms, and the locations all see that upgrade jump from 1080p to 4K with very welcome results. And not bound by streaming, it’s not subject to any outside issues. For whatever reason, my AppleTV stream doesn’t always support HDR, so that odd semi-irritation isn’t an issue anymore. Colors are sharp and lively in HDR. Black levels and whites are refined. Some of the small compression issues from the Blu-ray are no longer an issue, delivering a much healthier physical media experience. 

On the audio side, we have what I guess should be described as a serviceably good DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio mix for each episode. There’s nothing to say about the sound design, the surround immersion, the dialog placement, or the Marcus Mumford music cues that are inherently bad or anything like that. It’s more of a case that this series just sounds a bit basic in DTS-HD MA 5.1 whereas if you flip over to AppleTV, you get an Atmos mix that actually has a bit more heft to it. Not that this is the rowdiest, most sonically immersive series ever made, but there is an odd discrepancy in the experience between the two viewing options. As I said, these 5.1 tracks aren’t terrible or anything, they do the work, they do offer some distinct surround moments and the like, but there’s a better listening experience out there, and it’s a shame WB didn’t deliver the Atmos tracks to disc. 

Once again, nada on the extras.

I don’t often rewatch a television series in rapid succession. By “rapid succession,” I mean anything inside of 1-2 years between viewings. I like to take breaks between binges to experience new things, but also so I don’t tire of the stuff I love. I just watched Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way not that long ago, so I wasn’t exactly itching to dive back into the series again (albeit now in 4K). But as holiday stressors increased and other normal life stuff popped up, this series proved to be a nice healing balm of sorts to come back to at the end of a long day. In fact, that’s actually why it’s taken me this long to get the disc review in - I wasn’t treating it as an assignment to rush through. I was too busy enjoying the show again. And on 4K, I can safely say this is the set of discs we should have had all along. The Dolby Vision transfers, along with extra disc space, ensure a much richer visual experience that matches or even exceeds what we see from streaming. But where this set still falls short is the return of the DTS-HD MA 5.1 tracks when streaming gets more robust Atmos mixes. And again, no extras of any kind. So this set is something of a give-and-take experience. We do get a better overall release, but I wouldn’t call it enough to warrant a double dip if you already bought the Blu-ray. And with another season on the way (if not more), there’s always the chance of another “Complete Series” release down the line. But if you love this show, and you need to have it on disc and haven’t bought it already, I’m calling this Recommended. 

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