Ted Lasso

Ted Lasso arrived at the exact moment the world needed it. Jason Sudeikis transformed a character from NBC Sports promos into the most optimistic, emotionally intelligent protagonist on television — an American football coach hired to manage a Premier League soccer team who wins everyone over through sheer decency. The show's radical thesis — that kindness is not weakness, that vulnerability is strength, that believing in people is the most powerful thing you can do — was counterprogramming to an era of cynicism. Season 1 is a perfect season of television. Brett Goldstein's Roy Kent is one of the great comedic characters of the decade.