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

"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.

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."

#Believe #Biscuits #Grrrr @TedLasso @jasonsudeikis @hanwaddingham @brendanhunting @brettgoldstein @AppleTV #tedlasso pic.twitter.com/MZ9Bm773kP
— Rick Astley (@rickastley) September 25, 2021

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.

19 Comments

darkvader 1146 comments · 15 Years

About 3 years ago

So this whole show is really just a long setup for a rickroll. Ugh.

entropys 4303 comments · 13 Years

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.

jeff fields 161 comments · 12 Years

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.

sflagel 864 comments · 11 Years

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.

crowley 10431 comments · 15 Years

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.