Bill Lawrence, head of Doozer Productions and showrunner for the hit Apple+ TV show Ted Lasso, has agreed to a new five-year deal with Warner Bros. Television, according to Variety. Lawrence has also produced many other popular shows including Scrubs, Spin City, and Cougar Town.
The financial terms of Lawrence’s new contract are still unclear, but Variety also reported that the contract is in the nine-figure range. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that is raise from his last deal, which was in the eight-figure range. THR also reported that he had received multiple offers from other studios, but ultimately decided to re-sign with WBTV. Variety reports his deal will begin in 2023 and run through 2028. The writer and producer has been under contract with Warner Bros. since 2011.
Lawrence’s raise comes as Ted Lasso, which stars Jason Sudeikis (We’re The Millers), won seven Emmy awards out of 20 nominations in September, which was the most nominations for a comedy series in its first season in Emmys history. The show’s wins included Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series. Sudeikis won Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series, while Brett Goldstein (Superbob) won Outstanding Supporting Actor and Hannah Waddingham (Les Miserables) won Outstanding Supporting Actress.
On top of a future Ted Lasso season three, Lawrence will remain busy with his new deal as he is currently working on multiple new series for Apple including Bad Monkey, a drama starring Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers), and Shrinking, a comedy which will star Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and is being created alongside Goldstein, according to Variety.
It’s unclear as to when the third season of the comedy series will release their third season, but co-creator and star Brendan Hunt (Horrible Bosses 2) told TVLine that shooting will likely begin at the end of February.
However, the show may not continue after the next season, as THR reports Sudeikis has been open about having Ted Lasso end at season three but that Lawrence, Warner Bros., and Apple are all hopeful that will not be the case.