The five minute sketch saw NFL coach Lasso, played by Jason Sudekis, drafted in to manage a “football” team on the other side of the Atlantic.

Certainly, Ted Lasso exists as a very loud repudiation of any suggestion that Apple was playing it safe.

It’s also pretty mean, with much of the crew openly hostile toward Lasso and toward each other.

Richmond’s a leafy London suburb full of one-percenters, but even its children aren’t averse to calling Lasso a wanker whenever they see him, at least at first?

That is, perhaps, the one issue I can see with Lasso: The tone is all over the place, with Sudekis playing Lasso as a magical savant and coasting off the full force of his midwestern charm.

In fact, Apple TV+’s commission of Ted Lasso makes is the most successful ad-to-sitcom translation almost by default. And if it gets a second season, then you can pretty much say that it’s the standard bearer for all other shows in its genre.

There is one other issue that probably needs calling out, and it’s Apple’s policy toward product placement.

Ted Lasso did not dodge this bullet, and everyone in the show’s fictional world has an affinity for brand new iMacs.

It’s certainly not the sort of thing you’d expect a hat-tip to by a primarily-American TV show, but it’s welcome.