Ted Lasso season two is off and running, continuing both the excellence and global popularity earned during season one. The Movie Mensch was given the priceless and exclusive opportunity to Zoom interview one of the folks who heard their name called when those Emmy nominations were revealed. Production Designer Paul Cripps heard his moniker called by the Television Academy for the first time in his long and distinguished career.
One can see why when witnessing the majesty that is the show’s sophomore season. What Cripps was responsible for was envisioning and then building sets that went beyond the pitch, the practice field, game fields, the locker room and a few office’s and of course, Ted’s home.
In season two, his responsibility was exponentially expanded with the addition of the romance that everyone is talking about (well, one of them… wink, wink). He had to craft a home for Roy and Keeley—as their surprisingly adorable love affair continues to get serious. Cripps also shares how he was able to come up with Lasso’s team locker room, the AFC Richmond Greyhounds! The lucky man visited many Premier League locker rooms, including the “Star Trek” looking one that just debuted for powerhouse Manchester City. We even got Cripps to reveal what his favorite football club is and how that aspect inspired Ted Lasso and the journey of AFC Richmond!
The story follows how an American Division II football championship coach (Sudeikis’ Lasso), and his trusty assistant Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt) became the head coach of a Premiere League British football club. It involves an owner in Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) who got the team in her divorce. Knowing that that football club is one of the only things her billionaire ex-husband cares about, she seeks to destroy it and make it the joke of the soccer and football world. Problem is, her plan backfires and out of chaos, a family is created under the always optimistic life approach of their fearless leader.
The second season keeps that ever-hopeful sentiment alive but increases the challenges to everyone’s positivity—on and off the pitch. It successfully expands the world to add new characters and also interactions between characters that are as heartwarming as one can imagine—and so much more.
Audiences have responded endearingly with an outpouring of adoration for the show that is also reflected in critical response as well (don’t miss our Ted Lasso Season 2 A+ review).
Cripps is someone who has had a front-row to all this Ted Lasso success and admits in our interview that it has been rather otherworldly to be able to bask in the glow that is audiences’ utter adoration of the AppleTV+ half-hour comedy.
Now, those 20 Emmy Award nominations are on a whole different plane of acknowledgment. Earning his own first Emmy nod, for Production Design, will do that, sure, but joining the creative cavalcade proved to be quite the surreal and deeply emotional moment for the television veteran. Cripps takes us inside the texting and phone calls between stars and crew as more and more nominations kept rolling in, finally coming to a stop at that astonishing two-digit number. Twenty. 2-0! There are pop culture phenoms, and there are the 20 Emmy nominations “you have arrived” life-changing landscapes.
One could argue that Ted Lasso has seismically altered television in its two short seasons. The eternal buoyancy of the title character is simultaneously infectious and organic. It was clearly something the public—in the throes of a global pandemic—yearned for and inhaled.
In our exclusive chat with Cripps, one truly gets the most amazing of rare air experiences. The adoration may emanate from a television studio in London and ricochet across every corner of the globe. The production designer admitted that he’s never been a part of something like this where everyone involved possesses an innate desire to top oneself. From Sudeikis, fellow executive producer Bill Lawrence (Scrubs) to casting director Theo Park (check out my exclusive interview with Theo Park here) the sense that one can improve, and its loyal audience warrants it.
The recently aired Christmas episode, part of it took place at Higgins’ (Jeremy Swift) house. As a fanatic of the show, it was such a joy to have so much of the cast together and filled to the brim with holiday cheer that was utterly infectious.
For Cripps, suddenly this house had he had designed needed to be altered to fit all those bloody people! He breaks it down in the most priceless of ways and shares his secrets for how he and his team made it happen.