Ted Lasso Star Explains Finale’s The Office Easter Egg

The series finale of Ted Lasso was released this week, and while fans are hoping the show was teasing a spinoff, it looks like this is the end of the main story that started three seasons ago. The finale featured a fun nod to Cheers, which had multiple meanings, but that wasn’t the only beloved sitcom referenced in the episode. It’s revealed that Nate (Nick Mohammed) has returned to AFC Richmond, now as the assistant to Will the kit man (Charlie Hiscock). At one point, someone refers to him as the “assistant kit man” and Nate corrects them, “assistant to the kit man.” Of course, this is a famous recurring line from The Office. However, while many people associate it with Dwight Shcrute (Rainn Wilson) and Michael Scott (Steve Carell), the “assistant to the regional manager” bit began with Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook) and David Brent (Ricky Gervais) in the British version of The Office. 

“Completely, to the first one, the British one,” Mohammed clarified when asked about The Office easter egg by Deadline. “I know that line from like, literally when I was a student. I was obsessed with The Office when it came out and I’d just watch it again and again.” 

When asked about more easter eggs, Mohammed replied, “Oh, I’m probably not the best person to say, but in terms of the football easter eggs, there are tons in there. Like Brendan [Hunt], who plays Beard, is an absolute football nut. Even in the background on the whiteboard, the gameplay and tactics. There are so many kinds of little clues and codes and things. [The writers] made the best possible show they could make. They just pulled absolutely everything into it, and it shows. It does translate, that stuff, when people care.” 

Will a Ted Lasso Spin-Off Happen?

“I think that we’ve set the table for all sorts of folks to get to watch the further telling of these stories,” Jason Sudeikis said in March. “Again, I can’t help but take the question as flattery for what all of us that were working on the show has tried to do. It’s really kind of folks to even consider that because you never know what’s gonna happen when you make things. The fact that people want more, even if it’s a different avenue is lovely.”  

When asked about a potential Rebecca spinoff while speaking to Collider earlier this year, Hannah Waddinham replied, “You know what? I genuinely can’t even think about that. I wouldn’t know how to let that in because I can’t imagine, first of all, not being with Ted. And secondly, I am so immersed in the Greyhound world that my brain literally won’t let that in. It’s very strange. I can hear you, but I’m not acknowledging it.”

When asked about the possibility of a spin-off about a women’s soccer team, Juno Temple told Deadline, “I think it would be amazing to see how they would continue to do wonderful things together and also how that then would bleed out into other women passing that on to other women.”

All three seasons of Ted Lasso are streaming on Apple TV+.