Rick Astley blown away by use of his song in 'Ted Lasso'

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited September 2021
"Never Gonna Give You Up" singer/songwriter Rick Astley has thanked the makers of Apple TV+ hit "Ted Lasso" for using his song, saying he was "completely blown away" by it.

Hannah Waddingham and Harriet Walter in
Hannah Waddingham and Harriet Walter in "Ted Lasso"


The latest episode of "Ted Lasso" initially included Rick Astley's famous "Never Gonna Give You Up" as part of its regular use of British music. However, that initial use was to set up a finale in which the major characters sang the song in a church.

Now Astley, who says he was already a "massive fan" of the show, has taken to Twitter to emtionally express his thanks for the makers' "amazing, incredible job."



Star Hannah Waddingham, who Astley singles out for thanks, has replied to his tweet. "DM'd you," she said. "Not going to embarrassingly fangirl in public!!"

"Never Gonna Give You Up" was a number-one hit for Astley in 1987, charting around the world. Since the mid-2000s, it has also become the center of a meme called "rickrolling," where links purporting to be to one place, actually take users to the song's video.

The "Ted Lasso" episode, called "No Weddings and a Funeral," is the 10th in the current 12-edition second season. Apple has renewed the show for a third run, and star Jason Sudeikis announced it would be a 12-episode season.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    So this whole show is really just a long setup for a rickroll.  Ugh.
    mattinoz
  • Reply 2 of 19
    Yeah right at the start I knew they would actually end up with the clip. And sure enough.

    anyway, this second series is turning into a bit of a sad soap.

    the thing I have liked about streaming is you get decent story arcs over a season. Truly great stories with a beginning middle and end.

    But the trouble is some shows get so popular the producers can’t help themselves and rush about trying to come up with ideas for another season.  Thing is, a weak subsequent season(s) cheapens what came before.  It’s called jumping the shark.

    I hear they are making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit. What a complete and utter travesty.
  • Reply 3 of 19
    entropys said:
    Yeah right at the start I knew they would actually end up with the clip. And sure enough.

    anyway, this second series is turning into a bit of a sad soap.

    the thing I have liked about streaming is you get decent story arcs over a season. Truly great stories with a beginning middle and end.

    But the trouble is some shows get so popular the producers can’t help themselves and rush about trying to come up with ideas for another season.  Thing is, a weak subsequent season(s) cheapens what came before.  It’s called jumping the shark.

    I hear they are making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit. What a complete and utter travesty.
    This, of course, is not at all true with Ted Lasso, none of it, as anyone with even a passing familiarity with the show knows. The story arcs for all the characters were plotted out for three seasons before they ever started making the show. There was no "rushing about", and there's nothing weak about this season, either.
    mike1smack416StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 19
    This season of Ted Lasso has been a bit uneven, but I do like how they replaced the conflicts between the protagonists in the first season (Ted against the suburb of Richmond, Rebecca scheming against Ted, Roy and Jamie's quarrels, and of course Rebecca dealing with Rupert), with personal conflict: everyone has a "personal demon" this season (Dani killing the dog; Roy's niece's bad breath; Rebecca's, Ted's and Roy's father issues - well, they could have been a bit more creative on this one). It gives this season a new angle and I am interested to see what they cook up for the third season (an American private equity investor trying to buy the club to turn it into a soulless corporate money machine?). But overall, the season feels uneven, the pacing is off, the story arcs start and go at a weird rhythm. I hope it comes together in the end.
    Also, its not about football anymore.
    edited September 2021
  • Reply 5 of 19
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    entropys said:
    Yeah right at the start I knew they would actually end up with the clip. And sure enough.

    anyway, this second series is turning into a bit of a sad soap.

    the thing I have liked about streaming is you get decent story arcs over a season. Truly great stories with a beginning middle and end.

    But the trouble is some shows get so popular the producers can’t help themselves and rush about trying to come up with ideas for another season.  Thing is, a weak subsequent season(s) cheapens what came before.  It’s called jumping the shark.

    I hear they are making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit. What a complete and utter travesty.
    A weak season is not called jumping the shark. Jumping the shark is used when a show has changed so much it is barely recognisable from where it started, either through changing genre, or resorting to gimmicks because the central premise has been exhausted of ideas.  There are plentiful examples of shows that have weak seasons and then come back strong.
    StrangeDaysasdasd
  • Reply 6 of 19
    entropys said:
    Yeah right at the start I knew they would actually end up with the clip. And sure enough.

    anyway, this second series is turning into a bit of a sad soap.

    the thing I have liked about streaming is you get decent story arcs over a season. Truly great stories with a beginning middle and end.

    But the trouble is some shows get so popular the producers can’t help themselves and rush about trying to come up with ideas for another season.  Thing is, a weak subsequent season(s) cheapens what came before.  It’s called jumping the shark.

    I hear they are making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit. What a complete and utter travesty.
    This, of course, is not at all true with Ted Lasso, none of it, as anyone with even a passing familiarity with the show knows. The story arcs for all the characters were plotted out for three seasons before they ever started making the show. There was no "rushing about", and there's nothing weak about this season, either.
    The last two episodes were a bit odd.  Almost like they ran out of story and needed to fill a couple episodes.  
    entropysasdasd
  • Reply 7 of 19
    I expect the popularity of "Never Gonna Give You Up" is going to surge at real funerals in both the UK and the US...and, oddly, at weddings as well. Maybe not the ultimate rickroll but...hey! :D
  • Reply 8 of 19
    maltzmaltz Posts: 452member
    entropys said:
    Yeah right at the start I knew they would actually end up with the clip. And sure enough.

    anyway, this second series is turning into a bit of a sad soap.

    the thing I have liked about streaming is you get decent story arcs over a season. Truly great stories with a beginning middle and end.

    But the trouble is some shows get so popular the producers can’t help themselves and rush about trying to come up with ideas for another season.  Thing is, a weak subsequent season(s) cheapens what came before.  It’s called jumping the shark.

    I hear they are making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit. What a complete and utter travesty.
    This, of course, is not at all true with Ted Lasso, none of it, as anyone with even a passing familiarity with the show knows. The story arcs for all the characters were plotted out for three seasons before they ever started making the show. There was no "rushing about", and there's nothing weak about this season, either.

    I wouldn't call this season weak by any stretch, but it definitely has a different feel than the first season.  The first season was about helping generally decent people become their better selves - Vanessa, Roy, Nathan, Higgins, even Jamie.  This season is more about fixing people's brokenness, which isn't a bad theme, per se, and it's sort of along the same lines, but digging up that brokenness to begin with definitely gives it a less "happy" vibe.  Meanwhile, the types of character development that happened in the first season, such as Roy and especially Nathan and Jamie's continuing personal growth, have been relegated to secondary plots.  Also, the "let's completely change things up for one episode and go on a solo adventure with a single character" tactic usually ends up being some of my least favorite episodes of any show - especially in a show where the interplay between characters is so foundational.  That's not to say I didn't appreciate a Beard-centric episode, I just didn't care for the way they did it.

    All that said, I still love the show, but so far, I've enjoyed the first season more.  Not because I thought it was objectively better, but it did resonate more with me personally.  YMMV.
    entropysasdasd
  • Reply 9 of 19
    ITGUYINSD said:
    entropys said:
    Yeah right at the start I knew they would actually end up with the clip. And sure enough.

    anyway, this second series is turning into a bit of a sad soap.

    the thing I have liked about streaming is you get decent story arcs over a season. Truly great stories with a beginning middle and end.

    But the trouble is some shows get so popular the producers can’t help themselves and rush about trying to come up with ideas for another season.  Thing is, a weak subsequent season(s) cheapens what came before.  It’s called jumping the shark.

    I hear they are making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit. What a complete and utter travesty.
    This, of course, is not at all true with Ted Lasso, none of it, as anyone with even a passing familiarity with the show knows. The story arcs for all the characters were plotted out for three seasons before they ever started making the show. There was no "rushing about", and there's nothing weak about this season, either.
    The last two episodes were a bit odd.  Almost like they ran out of story and needed to fill a couple episodes.  
    Odd is not necessarily a bad thing. If you stick with a particular formula to please fans you wind up stagnating rather quickly. Do that and the whining about a show becoming too predictable kicks in. The show was more consistently appealing in Season One, certainly, but remains worth checking out. I do think, though, that taking the series beyond Season 3 would be a mistake.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 10 of 19
    Brian Griffin made the best cover of "Never Gonna Give You Up", but this one is pretty good too!
  • Reply 11 of 19
    darkvader said:
    So this whole show is really just a long setup for a rickroll.  Ugh.
    entropys said:
    Yeah right at the start I knew they would actually end up with the clip. And sure enough.

    anyway, this second series is turning into a bit of a sad soap.

    the thing I have liked about streaming is you get decent story arcs over a season. Truly great stories with a beginning middle and end.

    But the trouble is some shows get so popular the producers can’t help themselves and rush about trying to come up with ideas for another season.  Thing is, a weak subsequent season(s) cheapens what came before.  It’s called jumping the shark.

    I hear they are making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit. What a complete and utter travesty.
    Ah the chorus from those somehow always disappointed/concerned/butthurt about Apple do not disappoint. Ted Lasso S2 has been good. It’s nice to see some emotional arch for the characters who in S1 didn’t have as much depth now that we’ve seen them hurting. It’s fine. It certainly hasn’t jumped the shark (tho use of that phrase certainly has. Note: “But I didn’t like it!” != jumping the shark).
  • Reply 12 of 19
    sflagel said:

    Also, its not about football anymore.
    It never was, which is why people who don’t like sports ball (raise hand) still enjoy the show. 
  • Reply 13 of 19
    ITGUYINSD said:
    entropys said:
    Yeah right at the start I knew they would actually end up with the clip. And sure enough.

    anyway, this second series is turning into a bit of a sad soap.

    the thing I have liked about streaming is you get decent story arcs over a season. Truly great stories with a beginning middle and end.

    But the trouble is some shows get so popular the producers can’t help themselves and rush about trying to come up with ideas for another season.  Thing is, a weak subsequent season(s) cheapens what came before.  It’s called jumping the shark.

    I hear they are making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit. What a complete and utter travesty.
    This, of course, is not at all true with Ted Lasso, none of it, as anyone with even a passing familiarity with the show knows. The story arcs for all the characters were plotted out for three seasons before they ever started making the show. There was no "rushing about", and there's nothing weak about this season, either.
    The last two episodes were a bit odd.  Almost like they ran out of story and needed to fill a couple episodes.  
    Not at all. Coach Beard’s episode was our favorite so far. Grief, loss, self-pity, joy, redemption…These are very human states and maybe you haven’t had an all-nighter full of them all, but I have. It resonated with truth of the human condition. 
    martinxyz
  • Reply 14 of 19
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    entropys said:
    Yeah right at the start I knew they would actually end up with the clip. And sure enough.

    anyway, this second series is turning into a bit of a sad soap.

    the thing I have liked about streaming is you get decent story arcs over a season. Truly great stories with a beginning middle and end.

    But the trouble is some shows get so popular the producers can’t help themselves and rush about trying to come up with ideas for another season.  Thing is, a weak subsequent season(s) cheapens what came before.  It’s called jumping the shark.

    I hear they are making a second season of The Queen’s Gambit. What a complete and utter travesty.
    That’s not jumping the shark, at all. 
  • Reply 15 of 19
    JapheyJaphey Posts: 1,767member
    People need to chill with all the “Season 1 was better” and “this season is such a bummer” nonsense. We all know this show was originally going to be 3 seasons long. Well, compared to film trilogies, Ted Lasso is like Empire Strikes Back. The middle section of the story where all the characters experience setbacks and disappointment. It’s all just a long setup for the inevitable success and triumph that next season will bring for the team, and the emotional victory of having endured despite, or maybe because of, their very relatable struggles. Have a little patience, everything will work out for the characters, the team, the show, and the viewers. 
    edited September 2021
  • Reply 16 of 19
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,148member
    If so, as long as there isn’t a fourth season.

    The best meals leave you wanting more.  Let’s hope it is just the middle course was a bit too California.
  • Reply 17 of 19
    Yeah, this season has been really disappointing. The first one was so interesting and different. In a world of anti-heroes and dark dramas it was so nice to have just an upbeat good character that was positive no matter what the circumstance. And that his positivity changed the world around him. This season has lost all that charm and just become like basically any other show on TV. They added the dark past to the main character and sapped out so much of the joy. First season I would have recommended to everyone, this one I really wouldn't recommend to almost anyone. 
  • Reply 18 of 19
    Coach Beard’s episode was our favorite so far. 
    Absolutely loved that episode. Coach Beard's life went all Twin Peaks and it was great. A fine example of being so drunk the frontal cortex completely goes offline but instead of being out of control, the lizard brain steps up and says "Yep, I can do this. I'm mature now. I can make good decisions" and for the most part is successful. Weird but successful.

    FWIW, only 50% of the viewers on our couch loved the episode.
  • Reply 19 of 19
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,896member
    ITGUYINSD said:
    The last two episodes were a bit odd.  Almost like they ran out of story and needed to fill a couple episodes.  
    "Beard After Hours" was a brilliant homage to Scorsese's "After Hours" with Griffin Dunne from 1985.

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