Dispatches From The Picket Lines, Day 29: ‘Ted Lasso’ Cast Picket Ahead Of Series Finale, ‘ER’ Reunion & Middle Eastern Writers Come Together

It was a busy day on the L.A.-area WGA picket lines, with a visit from some Abbott Elementary folks, support from unionized teachers and nurses, and dancers getting their hula on for Pacific Islander Day.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Imagine you’ve been given a role in a pilot: The exciting news appears in the trades, you film the episode and take the cast publicity photos. Then your show is picked up! But there’s a caveat: Your role is being re-shot with a new actor. Devastating! Cue sad trombone sound effect. That’s why I like these kinds of stories better: The background actors, guest stars and recurring actors who eventually graduate to series regular status thanks to sheer persistence and talent. That’s the case this season for “Ted Lasso” standout James Lance, who plays Trent Crimm — formerly of The Independent, now just independent — on the show.

It’s safe to say that today’s picket line at Warner Bros in Burbank drew a little more attention than some other days. That’s because newly unionized strippers from North Hollywood turned out to support striking WGA writers — and they brought a pole along.

More in store? Nick Mohammed weighed in on whether Ted Lasso fans can expect a spinoff in the future.

The head of the country’s largest labor union joined striking Writers Guild film and television writers at a rally on Monday outside the New York City offices of streaming giant Amazon and said the writers’ cause has the support of workers from across unionized labor. 

BreAnna Bell As the cast of Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso” gathered outside the Saban Media Center on Saturday night for their FYC event, audience members were greeted by handouts from several picketing writers of the WGA in front of the entrance. But despite the ongoing picketing that’s halted several productions including new seasons of “Abbott Elementary” and “Yellowjackets,” stars Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple reveal their upcoming projects haven’t been touched by the strike’s effects just yet. Temple is set to star in “Venom 3,” which is scheduled for an October 2024 release. But the actress shares that she hasn’t started shooting on the film just yet but is scheduled to start “very, very soon, which I’m thrilled about.” Whereas, Waddingham’s role in “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part Two” is already underway.

The day after New York-based pickets were canceled for the week because of smoke, the gathering at Warner Bros. in Los Angeles was a bit smaller on Thursday, with less than 50 people gathering in support of the WGA strike.

The day that SAG-AFTRA began its talks with Hollywood studios over its own film and TV contract with a strike authorization in hand, picketing Writers Guild members on Wednesday hit up Disney and Warner Bros in Burbank.

Apple may have entered the virtual reality arena earlier today with the unveiling of a new platform and headset, launched with the help of Disney boss Bob Iger, but in the real world it spent the day being targeted by writers.

WGA negotiating committee co-chair Chris Keyser issued a clarion call to members and supporters earlier today.

Nick Mohammed still can’t believe how lucky he was to have scored the role of Nate Shelley in Apple’s multi-Emmy Award-winning series Ted Lasso—but it almost didn’t happen. Mohammed had set his sights on a different role which he didn’t land but at the time he didn’t realize it didn’t work out for a reason.

It was Pride and Drag Queen picket day in Los Angeles, where around 300 people hit up Warner Bros. Discovery to highlight their issues as the strike marches into its second month.

The Season 3 (and presumed series) finale of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso brought closure for most of the characters, including Phil Dunster’s reformed bad boy Jamie Tartt. After one more squabble with foe-turned-friend and mentor Roy Kent over who can date Keeley — a dilemma she easily solved by throwing both of them out of her house — Jamie and Roy are seen in the final seconds having a beer together, sitting alongside Keeley and their AFC Richmond teammates. In the flashforward, Jamie also has a friendly conversation with his father, a sign of a possible reconciliation.

As one of Reality TV’s royal family crossed the line, striking film and television writers joined forces on Wednesday in New York City with another group of culture workers involved in a pay dispute: musicians. 

SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the Season 3 finale of Ted Lasso.

took its final bow on Wednesday, as the series finale found Jason Sudeikis' titular coach on a plane back home to Kansas, and the rest of its main characters on new journeys of their own.But is this the end of the road for the AFC Richmond Greyhounds? Sudeikis and the show's cast and creators have long insisted that the show was always planned as a three-season run. But that was before they dominated the Emmys' comedy categories two years in a row and became one of the most beloved streaming series.Brett Goldstein, who plays Roy Kent on the Apple TV+ soccer comedy in addition to writing on the show, told the  last summer that, as far as the writers are concerned, the third season would be the show's last.«We are writing it like that.

Brett Goldstein channeled his Ted Lasso lovable curmudgeon character Roy Kent at the beginning and end of a farewell Instagram message marking the hit comedy’s Season 3 (and presumed — but never confirmed — series) finale.

Stephen Rodrick SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers from the series finale of “Ted Lasso,” now streaming on Apple TV+. Here’s a scoop: There will be a fourth season of “Ted Lasso.” Actually, it has already aired, and it was not great.  “Ted Lasso” grew out a character created by Jason Sudekis and friends for NBC Premier League promos, a Kansas City-based football coach who somehow finds himself coaching the other football in London for AFC Richmond, a chronically downtrodden franchise. It’s a typical fish-out-of water premise, which is a classic comedy trope, but comes with some limitations — namely, when the fish becomes an amphibian and begins to love land life. Mindful of those constraints, “Lasso” debuted in 2020 to acclaim, with critics lauding its cock-eyed optimism as the world struggled with a deadly pandemic. Season 1’s 10 episodes ran an average of 30 minutes apiece, totaling 299 minutes for the season.

Contains spoilers for the finales of both Succession and Ted LassoTwo of the most talked-about television shows of the past few years concluded this week, in the forms of Succession and Ted Lasso. Despite the presence of Harriet Walter as a matriarch prone to giving dubious advice in both series, they otherwise have remarkably little in common.

SPOILER ALERT: The following reveals major plot points from the Season 3 finale of Apple’s Ted Lasso.