In its first season of Emmy Awards eligibility, The Bear shook up the Comedy Series categories by winning all the major acting awards and the Emmy for Best Comedy Series. Before its debut, Ted Lasso was the big winner in the Comedy Series categories for two years straight. The Bear shut out the presumed final season of the beloved series.
While The Bear and Ted Lasso are two television shows that might seem quite different at first glance, they share some notable similarities when you look at the core of each.
Today, we present the surprising similarities between the two celebrated shows and what screenwriters can learn from them.
An Unwelcome Newcomer as the Protagonist
Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) was an American football coach who went overseas to coach a soccer team after being recruited by the team owner. Many players, especially the grumpy veteran of the sport Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), resisted Ted’s positive-minded approach. The fans created a difficult environment for Ted as well.
In The Bear, we have two protagonists. The first, Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), is a young chef who has worked in the fine dining world and returns home to Chicago to take over his family’s sandwich shop after his brother’s death. The second, Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri), is a talented and ambitious young chef who becomes the sous chef at the shop. She has a fine dining background, much like Carmy.
Neither are welcome newcomers to the sandwich shop. Carmy’s cousin, Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), is deeply involved in the family business and has a strong and volatile presence in the shop. A shop veteran, Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas), rejects the shop’s shift. But Tine feels threatened by Sydeny’s presence.
This unwelcome newcomer dynamic creates additional conflict for the story and character arcs of the series.
Read More: 10 Inspirational Ted Lasso Quotes for Screenwriters
‘Ted Lasso’
Fish Out of Water Concept
Both series are “fish out of water” in their respective settings. Ted Lasso is an American navigating the intricacies of British culture and soccer (football), while the protagonists in The Bear are fine-dining chefs adjusting to a more chaotic and unorganized family-run sandwich shop environment.
The “fish out of water” concept is always a comedic mainstay. Not only does it open up the narrative potential for conflict, but it also enhances the opportunities for comedic hilarity.
It also works in any other genre, serving as a way to challenge a protagonist and the supporting cast of characters around them.
Dramedy Genre
While Ted Lasso leans more toward comedy and The Bear more towards drama, both shows effectively blend elements of humor and drama. They use comedy to lighten the mood but do not shy away from exploring emotional topics.
‘The Bear’
Intriguing Worlds as the Backdrop
Both shows center on a specific and unique world (soccer team and culinary worlds). Creating intriguing worlds as the backdrop of a series is an easy way to sell the show to a network and audiences. Someone is interested in those worlds or wants to learn more about them. That’s what draws people to the show.
With Ted Lasso, we are peeking into the world of soccer organizations and their fan bases. We also learn a lot about British culture by way of the London setting.
With The Bear, we get a behind-the-scenes look at fine-dining restaurants and local food joints. The series is also set in Chicago, offering a backdrop of the social culture within the Windy City.
Read More: The Two Elements That Create Buzzworthy TV Pilots
Diverse Personalities and Backgrounds of the Supporting Characters
The Bear and Ted Lasso feature strong supporting casts that significantly contribute to the depth and dynamics of each show. These characters enhance the narrative and bring diverse perspectives and backgrounds that enrich the storytelling.
The supporting characters in both series undergo significant development. They are not static. Their arcs evolve through the series, influenced by their interactions with the main characters and each other. This growth adds layers to the narrative and provides viewers with multiple perspectives.
In each show, the supporting cast often serves as a contrast or complement to the main character. In Ted Lasso, characters like Roy Kent and Jamie Tartt provide different viewpoints and challenges to Ted’s approach. Similarly, in The Bear, characters like Richie and Tina offer contrasting perspectives to the styles and visions of Carmy and Sydney.
Whether it is through witty banter, comedic situations, or the more poignant, heartfelt moments, these characters add richness to their show’s emotional dynamics.
Ted’s relationships with each soccer team member and staff are crucial to his development and the team’s success. In The Bear, Carmy’s and Sydney’s interactions with the staff deeply affect their approach to managing the restaurant and dealing with personal struggles.
‘The Bear’
Delving into the supporting characters of both shows reveals surprising similarities. Each show has:
- The grumpy non-believer that begins to believe (Roy Kent in Ted Lasso and Tina/Richie in The Bear)
- The kind and caring character that buys into the protagonist’s unwelcome approach (Dani Rojas (Cristo Fernández) in Ted Lasso and Marcus (Lionel Boyce) in The Bear)
- The higher-up character that negatively and positively impacts the protagonist’s goals (Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) does both in Ted Lasso, as does Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) in The Bear)
- The comic relief characters that are solely there to make us laugh (the fans in Ted Lasso and Fak (Matty Matheson) in The Bear)
These are just a few examples of diverse personalities and backgrounds within the supporting characters. Each show showcases excellent diversity when it comes to casting as well.
‘Ted Lasso’
Tackling Mental Health Topics
In both shows, mental health is not a side issue but a central theme interwoven into the narrative and character development. These portrayals contribute to a broader conversation about mental health, emphasizing its importance in different settings—from the high-pressure world of professional kitchens to the equally intense world of professional soccer. The shows are commendable for acknowledging these issues and treating them with the complexity and nuance they deserve.
In Ted Lasso, Ted experiences anxiety and panic attacks that seem to be caused by his father’s death when he was a teenager. This portrayal brings attention to mental health issues even in seemingly optimistic and strong individuals. The introduction of Dr. Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles), a sports psychologist, is a significant development in the show. Her role addresses the importance of mental health support in high-pressure environments like professional sports. She helps Ted get through his struggles.
The series also emphasizes the importance of support systems in managing mental health. The team dynamics, friendships, and sense of community are crucial in supporting characters through their mental health struggles.
In The Bear, Carmy deals with the trauma and grief of his brother’s suicide, which is a central theme in the show. His character arc includes coping with this loss, the pressure of running the family business, and his past in the high-stress environment of fine dining. These issues are all enhanced by his anxiety.
We also see the different family histories of anxiety, depression, and addiction. Carmy’s brother Michael was an addict who also suffered from mental health struggles. Their mother suffers from extreme anxiety and depression, and she also seems to struggle with alcoholism as a coping mechanism as well.
Emotional Resonance and Relatability
Despite their specific and unique settings, both shows manage to strike a chord with viewers on an emotional level. They tackle universal themes like failure, success, personal growth, and the importance of community and support systems.
These shows are so acclaimed because viewers see themselves in these characters or can relate to or empathize with various struggles that the characters are dealing with in their lives.
The shows act as an emotional conduit that shares relatable situations and characteristics. These relatable dynamics resonate with viewers, helping them to cope with their struggles or giving them a different perspective to understand the issues that others face.
‘The Bear’
OK, But How Are The Bear and Ted Lasso Different?
Beyond the differences in the worlds, settings, and characters, the true difference between these two acclaimed series is how they approach their similarities.
Ted Lasso offers a much softer approach, while The Bear is on the opposite end of the spectrum, handling the character’s struggles with a more intense, gritty, and realistic approach.
You could say that Ted Lasso offers beautiful and cathartic paint strokes now and then throughout the narrative to tug at our heartstrings while The Bear pours the paint, bucket after bucket, in utter chaos as it delves deeper and deeper into the mental health issues and life struggles of the characters.
Both shows are effective in creating empathetic characters and storylines. But each does so at different levels of intensity.
‘Ted Lasso’
What Can Screenwriters Learn From This?
The similarities and differences between The Bear and Ted Lasso can teach you how to develop new concepts by also giving what networks and audiences want—something familiar and universal.
It is hard to create something utterly unique. And when you do, you often face the struggles of a concept being too unique and unrelatable.
The secret is finding that hybrid of something new and something familiar. It also helps in the marketing process because one of the easiest ways to sell someone on your concept is by offering comparisons to successful concepts.
We don’t know if the makers of The Bear intended to create so many similarities to a successful show like Ted Lasso. But what screenwriters can learn from the similarities (and the differences) is that you can take the core concept of another series or movie and make it into something fresh and new with a different take, perspective, angle, or world.
You can create the next The Bear by showcasing an unwelcome newcomer (Carmy/Sydney and Ted) taking on a leadership role (Chef and Coach) using alternative methods to create something great (New Amazing Restaurant and New Championship Team). Discover a new world or setting, do your research, and give us a unique but comfortably familiar and relatable narrative to enjoy.
‘The Bear’
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The Bear and Ted Lasso are very different shows with some surprising similarities. Despite how different they are, we cannot deny how similar they are. It’s an interesting case study that can teach you about universal themes and concepts.
Read More: How to Watch a TV Show You Want to Write a Spec Script For
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Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for nearly two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios and then as a script reader and story analyst for Sony Pictures.
He has many studio meetings under his belt as a produced screenwriter, meeting with the likes of Sony, Dreamworks, Universal, Disney, Warner Brothers, as well as many production and management companies. He has had a previous development deal with Lionsgate, as well as multiple writing assignments, including the produced miniseries Blackout, starring Anne Heche, Sean Patrick Flanery, Billy Zane, James Brolin, Haylie Duff, Brian Bloom, Eric La Salle, and Bruce Boxleitner, the feature thriller Hunter’s Creed, and many Lifetime thrillers. Follow Ken on Twitter @KenMovies and Instagram @KenMovies76
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Author: Ken Miyamoto
