“Ted Lasso” has always hit close to home for Kansas City-area fans, but Lawrence viewers shouldn’t be surprised if they even recognized the chain-smoking cat lady and the sneaky grocery store employee from the Season 4 premiere.
The latest season of the Apple TV original is set in Kansas City, and it opens with the familiar faces of Jeanne Averill and Sam Moore.
Jeanne has worked in theatre around town and taught since she moved to the Lawrence area in the 1970s. She met her husband in a showmance in Vassar, Kansas in 1972 and decades later, they have two children and four grandchildren who are growing up steeped in the local theatre tradition.
Jeanne was nervous her brief “Ted Lasso” scene wouldn’t make the post-production cuts, but when Sudeikis hosted a screening in Kansas City, she was elated to see her character — a chain-smoker with an oxygen tube — on the big screen.
She said the season premiere is wonderful.
“(It) says everything that needs to be said right now, and everything we need to hang on to about what’s good in our communities — smaller communities, but also in our national community, in our global community,” she said. “So, I’m so thrilled to be a teeny, teeny, little drop in it.”
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
“Ted Lasso” started off as a show about a football coach who moves to England to be a soccer gaffer, and became an international phenomenon for its nuanced look at human relationships and unrelenting encouragement to believe.
It’s the brainchild of Jason Sudeikis, who plays the eponymous Ted. Sudeikis grew up in Overland Park and went to the University of Kansas, and locals have fawned over the references to their favorite barbecue joints and midwestern traditions sprinkled throughout the show.
Jeanne thought that her “Ted Lasso” role would be the gold stamp on her resume, but the public watch party for the episode won out. A few hundred people packed into Maceli’s to celebrate her, including many of her former students.
“To actually be there and show it to the Lawrence community watch party was definitely a high point, if not the highest point of my entire career,” Jeanne said.
Admission came with a suggested donation, and the watch party raised more than $2,000 for the Ric & Jeanne Averill Performing Arts Fund through the Lawrence Arts Center.
Jeanne and her husband, Ric Averill, have been involved in LAC for decades, and the fund goes to paying professional artists, supporting productions and providing scholarships to make performing arts more accessible.
Moore echoed Jeanne: the premiere was a beautiful love letter to Kansas City.
Moore, originally from Olathe, is a rising senior at KU majoring in theatre with a minor in business. He had participated in theatre since middle school and acted in one commercial before landing his “Ted Lasso” role.
“My name is Tyler. I work at Fowch’s Fine Foods with Ted, and I’m a little bit of a thief,” he said of his character.
Moore felt it was neat to be involved in the show, considering Sudeikis’ ties to the university. The student was nervous for the shoot, but said his training at KU tee’d him up to know what to expect.
“Nothing was insanely jarring for me about the set environment, because one thing at KU is our film department is really great,” he said. “They do such a good job of trying to replicate professional set environments.”
Moore’s favorite character in the show is soccer superstar Jamie Tartt, who starts off as a bit of a peacock before learning how to embrace teamwork and accept help from those around him.
“Jamie’s arc is the epitome of what Ted Lasso’s ideology is all about — about relentless optimism that breaks through people, and how people can change for the better,” he said.
Moore’s next appearance will be in a feature film called “Behind Closed Curtains.” He said the movie is in post-production.
Season 4 of “Ted Laso” is coming out on Apple TV.
If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat — get the latest news from the Times delivered to your inbox:
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at [email protected].
Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.
Jacob Rice (he/him), photo editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since March 2026. He can be reached at [email protected].
Read his complete bio here. Check out his photography for the Times here. Read his articles for the Times at this link.
