Is ‘Ted Lasso’ Kids Friendly? Parent’s Guide & Age Rating

The new season of Ted Lasso is upon us, and the popular show streaming on the Apple TV+ platform has already kickstarted with the first episode. This comedy-drama has made many fans since 2020 and has collected many accolades, including the most notable television award, the Emmys. Ted Lasso continues leading his AFC Richmond to great results, mostly using good and positive “vibes.” Ted Lasso seems goofy at first, but the more we watch, the more show “sucks” us in its great charm and wittiness. Some younger fans, especially football fans, decided to give Ted Lasso a chance, but the question of this article states – is Ted Lasso a kids-friendly show?

Ted Lasso is an excellent TV series but not for children. Ted Lasso is officially rated TV-MA, which means that this program is intended to be viewed by mature, adult audiences and may be unsuitable for children young than 17 years of age. The parental guide, according to Common Sense Media, is more flexible, and they rate the show at +15, making it unsuitable for watching for children younger than 15. These ratings are due to sex, profanity, and occasional nude scenes. 

As usual, these are official ratings set by TV Parental Guidelines and Common Sense Media, a website where the public can vote on the TV series. We will explain why Ted Lasso is rated that way and analyze each category, like the violence and nudity of the show.

Ted Lasso official age rating

TV age rating was always heavily discussed among fans and professionals because it was always hard to establish what is truly “harming” and “uncomfortable” for children to watch. It’s also interesting to see how different countries rate TV shows and what they rate as mature or general ratings for their audiences. However, the official age rating for Ted Lasso is set by TV Parental Guides in the United States of America. Ted Lasso is officially set to a TV-MA rating, which signifies content for mature audiences:

“This program is specifically designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 17 (some sources may say 18). This program may contain one or more of the following: crude indecent language (L), explicit sexual activity (S), or graphic violence (V). Equivalent to R for movies and M for video games. This rating was originally known as TV-M from January until July 1997.”

This is the official definition of the TV-MA rating from TV Parental Guides websites. The rating also suggests these programs are usually unsuitable for children younger than 17 and sometimes 18. Let’s find out which categories of the TV series make Ted Lasso suitable for viewers over 17.

Ted Lasso: Violence

Most of Ted Lasso TV series pass with the main character great lessons about sportsmanship and kindness that can lead a person a long way. However, the show that revolves around a men’s sports team means a lot of tension and violence.

In the case of Ted Lasso, the show doesn’t display that much violence because fistfights are the most common act of physical conflict the viewer will see. I would argue that Ted Lasso is not violent and doesn’t have mature content in that part of the TV rating. There are a few scenes, primarily between the son and father Tartt, who have a huge blowout in the locker room, which can be triggering for some people. However, this section isn’t why the TV rating is set to “mature.”

Ted Lasso: Language

This section is one of the main reasons Ted Lasso is set to a TV-MA rating because Ted Lasso characters swear a lot. The profanity is quite visible in every episode and season of Ted Lasso, which is common for series set in Great Britain. Words “fuck”, “shit, and other profane words are mostly said by Roy Kent, who “swears like a sailor” in the show.

The show is heartwarming and emotional, but the profanity is so present in the show that you forget about it after a few episodes.

Ted Lasso: Substances

Substances in Ted Lasso are far from controversial, and barely anyone in the show uses them. Even alcohol is present in the show, but none of the characters abuse it to warrant the mature rating.

Ted Lasso: Nudity

When it comes to nudity in Ted Lasso, the viewers will see a lot of shirtless men in the locker rooms and kisses between characters that lead to more “explicit” scenes of the show, which aren’t controversial.

Besides shirtless men, we see other nude parts of men and women, which aren’t present for over a few seconds in Ted Lasso scenes.

Ted Lasso: Sex

Sex in Ted Lasso is present in Ted Lasso, but it doesn’t make you skip the scene. There is sex talk, mostly jokingly, and a vague sex scene between the characters that doesn’t reveal anything more explicit.

Characters lying together in bed covered reference that there was an intimate scene between two people, but nothing more than that.

Is Ted Lasso appropriate for children?

Ted Lasso is a wholesome, emotional show that deals with many heavy themes like family relations, love, and mental trauma that might trigger some people.

There isn’t much violence in the show, but it does have sex, profane language, and partial nudity that could make some younger audiences uncomfortable. Ted Lasso is full of positive aspects that deal with heavy themes, and when you combine all categories and aspects into one, the TV-MA rating is suitable for Ted Lasso.

A brief synopsis of Ted Lasso

One of the most popular TV series Apple TV+ produced in the last few years is Ted Lasso. The show follows the story of American football coach Ted Lasso, who goes overseas to become a manager of English Premier League club AFC Richmond, a football (soccer) club that struggles under the new owner Rebecca Welton.

The new owner wants to cripple the club despite her ex-husband Rupert Mannion and intentionally hires Ted to coach her club, knowing he isn’t qualified for it. Of course, AFC Richmond players, with the help of the legend of English football, Roy Kent, and Lasso’s assistants, manage to create a good environment for the team and try to stay in the most elite tier of English football.

Unfortunately, they fail, but season two of the show sees Richmond trying to get promoted back to Premier League. Besides the “shake-ups” in the team, Ted Lasso and other characters of the show face obstacles and problems in private life. Some of those problems include serious mental health discussions and other everyday life difficulties. Of course, some of those scenes have characters doing things unsuitable for some viewers.