Nothing says Christmas like an awkwardly animated claymation holiday story. While Season 2 of “Ted Lasso” gave us the series’ first Christmas episode, the creators of the beloved comedy surprised fans with a one-off Ted Lasso Christmas episode this week.
Available on Apple TV+ as bonus content — or for free on YouTube — “The Missing Christmas Mustache” is 4 minutes, 35 seconds of the same feel-good comedy that made Ted Lasso so adored over the last two years, only now with a stop-motion animation style that harkens back to Christmas classics such as “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Jack Frost.”
You can watch the brief Ted Lasso Christmas episode in the above player or below. The short film features all the major characters in the show: Ted Lasso, Coach Beard, Rebecca Welton, Keeley Jones, Roy Kent, Jamie Tartt, Leslie Higgins and Nathan Shelley. The best part is, it includes no spoilers for Season 2, though there is one inside joke for those who have seen it.
The lovely little bit includes references to Home Alone, Futurama and Gone With the Wind, plus callbacks to various episodes of “Ted Lasso.” The animation is cute and reminds me of classic Christmas kids’ movies that put you right in the holiday mood.
So pour yourself a mug of hot chocolate (spike it with some peppermint schnapps if you’ve got some) and watch the Ted Lasso Christmas episode; it’ll be over just in time for your hot chocolate to get cold.
The award-winning “Ted Lasso” is expected to conclude with the much-anticipated Season 3, which is likely to debut in fall of 2022. If you haven’t seen the first two seasons yet, it’s well worth $5 to subscribe to Apple TV+ to watch it over the holidays.