Beard After Hours

"Beard After Hours" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American sports comedy-drama television series Ted Lasso, based on the character played by Jason Sudeikis in a series of promos for NBC Sports' coverage of England's Premier League. It is the 19th overall episode of the series and was written by main cast member Brett Goldstein and executive producer Joe Kelly, and directed by Sam Jones. It was released on Apple TV+ on September 17, 2021. The series follows Ted Lasso, an American college football coach, who is unexpectedly recruited to coach a fictional English Premier League soccer team, AFC Richmond, despite having no experience coaching soccer. The team's owner, Rebecca Welton, hires Lasso hoping he will fail as a means of exacting revenge on the team's previous owner, Rupert, her unfaithful ex-husband. The previous season saw Rebecca change her mind on the club's direction and working Ted in saving it, although the club is relegated from the Premier League. In the episode, after Richmond's loss, Beard goes back home, deciding to have a night out, which quickly goes out of control. The episode received polarized reviews from critics; some praised the episode's ambition and compared it to After Hours, others found it self-indulgent while criticizing the runtime and lack of progress in the main storylines.