Shows like Ted Lasso
Kindness with room for grief, mistakes, and slow change.
Starting with Ted Lasso (2020)
Title details on TMDB ↗
What should I watch after Ted Lasso?
For Ted Lasso fans, these three shows offer different ways forward: Shrinking (Support with messy boundaries); Trying (A couple learning together); Detectorists (Quiet companionship). Each comparison below explains the connection and where the experience differs.
Ted Lasso makes optimism interesting by allowing people to struggle underneath it. The next show does not have to feature a team or a sport: it can preserve the patient attention to imperfect adults trying to support one another without always knowing how.
Shrinking is the most emotionally outspoken, Trying follows a couple building a family, and Detectorists finds companionship in an unhurried shared hobby. These are different sizes of story, so choose according to whether you want lively conflict or a quieter place to spend time.
Which direction interests you?
Start with the connection you want, then read the differences before choosing.
Shrinking
A grief-and-therapy ensemble comedy balances messy choices with supportive relationships.
Title details on TMDB ↗Why it connects
Shrinking follows people whose attempts to help one another are complicated by grief and their own needs. It connects through humor that leaves room for vulnerability, while letting generosity produce awkward consequences.
Where it differs
Therapy and bereavement are central, with more blunt language and confrontational behavior. The boundaries around helping are deliberately unstable.
Trying
A British couple's path toward parenthood becomes a warm comedy about uncertainty and commitment.
Title details on TMDB ↗Why it connects
Trying makes the wish to become parents part of a larger network of friendship and family. It fits viewers who liked Ted Lasso’s ability to give practical setbacks emotional weight without making kindness look effortless.
Where it differs
The focus is a couple and their adoption journey. The scale is domestic, with less workplace ensemble competition or sporting momentum.
Detectorists
A quieter English comedy finds humor and tenderness in friendship, hobbies, and ordinary days.
Title details on TMDB ↗Why it connects
Detectorists finds comedy and feeling in two friends’ ordinary conversations and shared searches. It connects through respect for people whose ambitions may look modest from outside but give their lives texture and community.
Where it differs
The rhythm is much slower and more understated. Countryside, silence, and small misunderstandings replace the energy of a professional team.
These are editorial comparisons of themes, tone, and storytelling, rather than a numerical ranking or personalized results. Title identities were checked against the linked catalog or publisher records on October 25, 2026. The connections and differences are Resonami’s analysis. Sources provide title context; availability and editions can vary. Read our editorial approach and corrections policy.
Dates distinguish the film or original series being discussed. A similar premise can still mean a very different level of violence or intensity.