‘Ted Lasso’ is honored with Peabody Award for being a ‘perfect counter to the enduring prevalence of toxic masculinity’

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Ted Lasso” is in excellent company.

The Apple TV+ comedy series on Monday received the Peabody Award for excellence in storytelling.

The Peabody organization celebrates the finest in broadcasting and digital media, including television, radio/podcasts, and the web, in entertainment, news, documentary, children’s and public service programming.

“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the documentaries “Asian Americans,” “Time” and The Atlantic podcast “Floodlines” also earned awards at the 81st annual awards, which are being presented virtually throughout the week.

“Ted Lasso” stars Jason Sudeikis in the titular role of a small-time college football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience coaching the game. Hannah Waddingham, Brendan Hunt, Jeremy Swift, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Phil Dunster and Nick Mohammed star alongside the “Saturday Night Live” alum in the ensemble cast.

One of the industry’s highest honors, the award was presented virtually by Will Ferrell and was accepted by “Ted Lasso” executive producer and star Jason Sudeikis.

“What this presumably Ugly American, fish-out-of-water tale offers us is a charming dose of radical optimism, with an equally endearing Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso,” the Athens, Georgia-based organization said with Monday’s announcement. “It turns out that more than simply a sports coach, Ted is remarkably good at honest communication with others, affecting change by being a deeply good human, one with his own quiet anxieties and pain. The Apple TV+ series is the perfect counter to the enduring prevalence of toxic masculinity, both on-screen and off, in a moment when the nation truly needs inspiring models of kindness.”

Since its summer 2020 launch, the multiple award-winning series has become a global hit for the streaming platform. Last year, the Apple Original comedy series “Dickinson” also won the same award.

Already renewed for its third season, the second season of “Ted Lasso” will premiere July 23 with the first episode, followed by one new episode weekly, every Friday.

Founded in 1940 at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, the annual Peabody winners consist of a collection of 30 stories that powerfully reflect the pressing social issues and the vibrant emerging voices of the day.

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