Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way Blu-ray review
Nov 17, 2024- Permalink
Ted Lasso quickly became a fan favourite due to the great writing, fantastic cast and eternal optimism of the show’s titular character. After a divorce from her billionaire husband, Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) gets ownership of the British football club AFC Richmond. Working alongside her Director of Football Operations, Leslie Higgins (Jeremy Swift), she plots to sabotage the team — one of the few things her ex loved — by hiring a coach inexperienced in the sport. Enter Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), an American football coach from Kansas. He may know nothing about this football, but his kindness and optimistic coaching style may put a kink in Rebecca’s plans. The series also stars Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, and Juno Temple. Warner Bros. released Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way on Blu-ray back in July and I’ve recently had a chance to look at it as part of their holiday gift guide suggestions. This three-season set was actually supposed to be a complete series set, but shortly after release word came out that Apple TV+ had picked up options on some of the cast members and were negotiating with others to get most on board and storylines nailed down. Season 4 should begin shooting in 2025. Back to the Blu-ray… The WB likes disclaimers, so here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.
The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2.00:1 aspect ratio. The show streams on Apple TV+ in 4K, so some may wonder why that format isn’t being used here. As always, it boils down to sales. Blu-rays still outsell 4K discs and, yes, DVDs still outsell both. So while this is a downscale, keep in mind that due to online compression and speed throttling by your ISP, a physical Blu-ray can often come out looking better than a 4K stream. Will a 4K be available in the future? Time will tell. Anyway, the Blu-ray has great detail in facial features, textiles and environments. Black levels are nice and deep and the reds and blues and greens are bold. I didn’t notice any compression artifacts or digital noise. It’s a very nice video presentation.
On the audio side of things, the set comes with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Subtitles are available for English SDH. Though the Apple TV+ stream offers an Atmos track, we aren’t really missing much with the 5.1 track presented here. The surrounds will place you in the locker room (minus the post game odours) and the dialogue is clear and prioritized in the mix.
The 34 episodes of the three seasons are presented on seven discs. A digital code is not included. There are no special features on the discs — surely a commentary by Sudeikis and the cast would have been hilarious — but we do get a “Believe” poster.
If you love the show and want a physical copy or you don’t subscribe to Apple TV+ and want to finally see what everyone’s talking about the Ted Lasso: The Richmond Way Blu-ray let’s you experience the heartfelt laughs and positive vibes with a very good Blu-ray presentation. Recommended.