Male Football Comedy. A Reappraisal of Traditional, Declassed, Toxic Masculinity. Ted Lasso as an Improved Continuation of British Television Sports Series

Abstract

This research focuses on British television sports sitcoms (2002-2023), which in this study we term ‘male football comedy’, and their depiction of declassed male characters in what has been termed the ‘crisis of masculinity’. It investigates the causes of the comic portrayal of men experiencing professional and personal failure in a reactionary zeitgeist, leading to toxic masculinity, in contrast to the clichéd figure of the ‘bossy woman’. The various productions portray class differences and in particular, the abyss between elite soccer and the working class. We conclude that the subgenre and its inherent toxic masculinity have been maintained, criticized and at the same time legitimized, and that American television series Ted Lasso, belonging to the same subgenre, is a conciliatory approach towards a better relationship between genders.