Jason Sudeikis gives subtle shoutout to his famous uncle and a friend on ‘Ted Lasso’

Eagle-eyed viewers of Jason Sudeikis’ hit comedy “Ted Lasso” may have noticed a couple of interesting and creative cameo appearances in the most recent episode.

It’s the scene where grouchy former soccer player Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) is complaining that he should get free food at his favorite London kebab shop, since his autographed photo is on the wall. Roy really should expect his picture to be everywhere, since he was such a star for AFC Richmond.

What’s unexpected are the photos on either side of his.

On the left: an autographed photo of actor George Wendt, best known for playing barfly Norm — “NORM!” — on the long-running sitcom “Cheers.” What’s he doing there? Well, for one thing, he’s Sudeikis’ uncle, who, Sudeikis has said, made him realize he could indeed make a living in showbiz.

Sudeikis, who grew up in Overland Park, and executive producer Bill Lawrence are both huge “Cheers” fans, so much so that they borrowed a couple of names from the show: Rebecca (the team owner played by Hannah Waddingham) and Sam (the defender played by Toheeb Jimoh).

Wendt, by the way, is an alum of Kansas City’s Rockhurst University, where he studied economics (with, he has admitted to The Star, a double major in beer at Mike’s Tavern and Kelly’s Westport Inn.)

Meanwhile, the other photo on the kebab shop wall is of singer/songwriter Marcus Mumford, who wrote the “Ted Lasso” theme song and score. Mumford met Sudeikis back in 2012 when his band, Mumford & Sons, performed on “Saturday Night Live,” and they became friends.

Mumford told The Hollywood Reporter that Sudeikis, who plays the title character, left him “the world’s longest voice note” asking him to join composer Tom Howe to create the music for “Ted Lasso.”

The theme song is up for an Emmy Award, one of 20 nominations the Apple TV+ show received, a record for a freshman comedy.

This story was originally published August 22, 2021 at 5:41 PM with the headline "Jason Sudeikis gives subtle shoutout to his famous uncle and a friend on ‘Ted Lasso’."

Sharon Hoffmann

The Kansas City Star

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Sharon Hoffmann was an enterprise editor at The Star. She grew up in the KC area, graduated from the University of Kansas and promptly moved away. After she married and had kids, she just had to come back. She has been editing Kansas City Star stories since 1999.