Three years after we said our tearful goodbyes to Ted Lasso, the Apple TV soccer comedy returned for a somewhat surprising fourth season on Aug. 5, with Jason Sudeikis as the titular Ted, and much of the original cast intact.
Ted Lasso may be the best example of a sports comedy that gets the jock/jokes balance right, but it’s not the only one: Here are a few more worth a stream before the summer’s gone.
The Hawk (2026; Netflix): TV critics (including our own Bob Grimm) hated The Hawk when it premiered in July, but who listens to them? It’s true that this wacky AF saga of washed-up pro golfer Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins (Will Ferrell) on the PGA comeback trail doesn’t recapture the gonzo magic of his mid-2000s movies, but The Hawk still tees up plenty of laughs—mostly from Molly Shannon as his estranged and prolifically foul-mouthed wife. The Hawk may not get a second season, but there’s an objectively better golf comedy that will …
Stick (2025-present; Apple TV): Pryce “The Stick” Cahill (Owen Wilson) isn’t out to reclaim former links glory like chin-bearded narcissist Lonnie Hawkins: He’s back in the golf game to mentor a young talent (Peter Dager) who could become the Next Big Thing. Stick rides inside the same heartfelt sports-comedy groove as Ted Lasso, with the added comic firepower of Marc Maron as Pryce’s cranky-but-correct voice of reason. It’s just a coincidence that Owen’s brother Luke co-stars in The Hawk, right?
GLOW (2017-2019; Netflix): Based on the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling league and TV series of the ’80s, GLOW is an alternately silly and serious depiction of hardscrabble indie pro wrestling, female bonding among outsiders, and retina-burning neon period fashion. The excellent ensemble cast (led by Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin and—here he is again—Marc Maron) shines over the course of three seasons; too bad Netflix (blaming the pandemic) denied them a fourth and final run to wrap the series properly. Oh, and pro wrestling is real.
Ballers (2015-2019; HBO Max): Anybody remember Young Rock? Didn’t think so. It wasn’t the first TV series from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson: Football dramedy Ballers ran for five critically acclaimed seasons before it. The series hinges on the fizzy chemistry between Johnson and Rob Corddry as semi-competent sports managers; it was the kind of seamless character interplay that Johnson has rarely established in any of his movies. Ballers deserves a more worthy nickname than “NFL Entourage.”
The League (2009-2015; Hulu): Any list of “you couldn’t make that today” TV shows will usually include raunchy sports-adjacent comedy The League, one of the all-time FX greats alongside It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The series is about a fantasy football league, but it’s really just bros brutally (and hysterically) tearing each other down through mostly improvised trash talk. Co-stars Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas should absolutely dissect The League on their How Did This Get Made? podcast.
A League of Their Own (2022; Prime Video): Broad City alum Abbi Jacobson’s A League of Their Own is less of a remake of the 1992 movie than a complete reinvention with a more diverse cast and a forthright feminist attitude. The 1940s-set comedy about an all-women’s baseball league is fresh, fabulous and, unfortunately, only one season and eight episodes long, thanks to the fickle whims of Prime Video and the 2023 writers’ strike (which also cost us How I Met Your Father—no real loss there).
Shoresy (2022-present; Hulu): His face was never seen on Letterkenny, but that all changed when hockey hooligan Shoresy (Jared Keeso) was spun off into his own series in 2022. Shoresy shares some alt-comedy DNA with Letterkenny, but this hilariously verbose chronicle of the senior-league Sudbury Bulldogs’ rocky rise is its own gap-toothed beast—but with an actual plot (all due apologies to Letterkenny). Shoresy’s seasons top out at six episodes, making for a fast and funny watch.
Eastbound & Down (2009-2013; HBO Max): Should The Hawk score a second season, Will Ferrell would do well to adopt wildcard baseball pitcher Kenny Powers as his spirit animal. Danny McBride has played many dim blowhards over the years (most impressively in The Righteous Gemstones), but Eastbound & Down established his Kenny “Effin” Powers character as the MVP of coarse, go-for-broke comedy. More than just a sports comedy, Eastbound & Down is pure, uncut redneck redemption (pre-J6, that is).
