Twilight Zone: Challenging Censorship

Television censorship has long played a pivotal role in shaping the media landscape. By restricting or banning specific episodes, networks can influence what audiences see and how societal issues are discussed. Such control can suppress controversial narratives, yet it also reflects the prevailing values of the time. A few showrunners can use narrative camouflage to embed social critiques within science fiction and fantasy, reaching audiences with social commentary and bypassing network restrictions. This is a revision of the "Challenging Stereotypes" chapter in How to Watch Television, adapted to address censorship in the 1950s through the classic CBS series The Twilight Zone.

Rod Serling created and presented The Twilight Zone in 1959, and it is hailed as one of the most influential programs of the 20^th century. The show stands out from the others in its use of allegorical and speculative storytelling to address World War II and Cold War politics, critiquing conformity, the fear of "othering," and the dangers of unchecked power. These issues resonated with the memory of fascism and the anxieties of nuclear war. As mentioned earlier, Serling employs narrative camouflage to veil the themes of war and paranoia through visual ambiguity, science fiction, and fantasy, thereby bypassing network and sponsor censorship while addressing controversial themes such as paranoia and othering in the Cold War and World War II, respectively. Serling could use stories set in dystopian futures or surreal scenarios to explore themes of the suppression of free thought and McCarthy-era hysteria without triggering censors.

"Monsters Are Due on Maple Street."

Season one, episode twenty-two, "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,"
demonstrates the use of visual ambiguity without directly naming real governments. The story focuses on the residents of Maple Street, who become paranoid after a series of technological disruptions following an apparent meteor flash overhead. A neighborhood-wide power outage occurs, and one neighbor, Steve, tries to downplay the situation; however, doubts and suspicions are already brewing, and fear has taken hold. When residents begin accusing one another, the community descends into chaos, resembling a witch hunt. Amid the turmoil, Les Goodman becomes a target because of his recent late-night work on a ham radio. Believing he was an extraterrestrial accomplice, neighbors stormed Les's house, where they shot and killed him. Afterwards, Maple Street descends into madness. This story subtly mirrors Cold War anxieties; in the late 1950s and early 1960s, McCarthyism had Americans hunting for enemies in Hollywood and Washington, D.C., encouraging them to look for covert foes in their own communities. Ultimately, the story isn't just about aliens or Maple Street; it explores human nature and the tendency to betray others quickly when feeling insecure. Traditional horror often features monsters from outside, but Serling shifts focus to a Lovecraftian view of humanity's internal threats—unknown, terrifying, and driven from within. What kind of terror could arise from this? Fortunately, the episode wasn't banned from TV after its initial release. Though controversial, it responded sharply to Cold War paranoia and McCarthyism and remains one of the most acclaimed episodes in the series. Still, Serling couldn't foresee just how restrictive television would be in the 1950s. 

"The Encounter."

While episode twenty-two remained celebrated and was left unrestricted after its release, only one episode was removed from syndication for various reasons, either pulled from television or not released on home media until 52 years later. "The Encounter" is the 151st episode of The Twilight Zone, and the story focuses on an American World War II veteran, Fenton, who discovers an old katana in his attic. A young Japanese American named Arthur Takamori, played by George Takei, arrives seeking employment after a neighbor's tip. It's later revealed that Fenton took the sword from its original owner, a Japanese soldier he killed after the man surrendered it to him. As the episode progresses, the tension slowly escalates as his and Takamori's prejudices come to light. Fenton expresses anti-Asian sentiments, and Takamori revealed his father betrayed U.S. forces during the attack on Pearl Harbor, the latter of which civil liberties and advocacy groups condemned for its offensive stereotypes and historical inaccuracy. To add insult to injury, Takei and his family were detained in a Japanese internment camp, an experience he documented in a graphic novel. The controversy relates to the stain in America's past, specifically because Takamori's father signaled Japanese warplanes before Pearl Harbor's attack. When the episode culminates in Takamori taking the sword to his presumed death while shouting "Banzai!" out of a window, "The Encounter" takes a gamble and collides with a wall. Due to the underdevelopment of Asian American characters at that time and portraying harmful stereotypes, it goes against what The Twilight Zone is expected to provide viewers.

Faced with paranoid neighbors.

As previously mentioned above, the fear of Japanese spies was the motivation behind the internment camps. Even though twenty years have passed since the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was still a widely accepted assumption that Japanese Americans were spies for their home country. The only evidence of spies was decoded from 1941 cables, and they weren't declassified until the 1970s, four years after the show aired. On the other side of the Pacific, Japan's government testified, "utilization of our second generations and our resident nationals." There was no documented evidence that Japanese Americans would spy for them; it was assumed they would be loyal based on their racial identity. Despite the lack of proof of spies, the episode tells a different story. George Takei goes into depth about the script for his interview, "I noted that he talks about his (Arthur's) father having signaled the planes, but it did not happen. I thought that people understood that to be one of the give-ins. But it was taken literally by some." The episode's premise misrepresented one group through a single character, reinforcing unfounded fears rather than historical truth.

Takamori confronts Fenton.

More importantly, Rod Serling didn't decide to pull the episode from syndication in 1964. CBS executives made this decision immediately after the episode's debut in response to the backlash it received, to protect the network's reputation and avoid further controversy. The timing of "The Encounter" also contributed to the network's decision to ban the episode; it was released as the U.S. prepared to enter the Vietnam War, which compounded its problematic themes and led to its prohibition. The episode's themes of racial tension, wartime guilt, and violence were specifically sensitive as CBS executives feared that airing an Asian American character's story linking to wartime betrayal could resonate with viewers negatively. The already-grappling anxiety about the conflict in Southeast Asia made the episode too controversial for syndication. The ban would remain in place until 2016, when Syfy re-released the episode during a New Year's Day marathon of The Twilight Zone, ending its fifty-two-year ban from television. 

Both episodes of The Twilight Zone addressed censorship and the cultural anxieties of their time. "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" dramatized Cold War paranoia by showing how fear of infiltration could spiral into betrayal, in a thinly-veiled critique of McCarthy-era hysteria. In contrast, "The Encounter" confronted World War II prejudice, but its portrayals of Japanese American characters as spies who enacted the attack on Pearl Harbor were deemed too controversial, leading to a half-century-long ban from syndication. Together, these episodes highlight how television can influence what audiences see and how societal issues are discussed. The turbulent political climate illustrates the tension between Serling's bold social commentary and the fear of challenging controversial narratives for networks.

(Written by Michael Chihak)

Works Cited:

Mohr, Charles. "1941 Cables Boasted of Japanese-American Spying." The New York Times, May 22, 1983.

Mortenson, May .22. "A Journey into the Shadows: The Twilight Zone's Visual Critique of the Cold War." Science Fiction Film and Television, vol. 7, no. 1, 2014, p. 55-76. Project MUSE, https://muse.jhu.edu/article/537168.

Vaux, Robert, Patton, Joshua M., Doll, Katie, Melzer, Jennifer, Aravind, Ajay. "Why Was The Twilight Zone Episode The Encounter Banned?" CBR.com, September 1, 2024. https:/September 1m/the-twilight-zone-the-encounter-banned-explained/

Zamlout, Nicole, McCormick, Colin. "Why One Controversial The Twilight Zone Episode was Banned for 52 Years." ScreenRant.com, February 5, 2025. https://February 5.com/the-twilight-zone-the-encounter-episode-banned-reason/

30 ROCK- Irreverently Incentivizing Curiosity

 

                        Layered Comedy in 30 Rock

A wickedly clever cut away gag with some distantly remembered Saturday Night Live Alumni catches your eye as you scroll through your preferred social media app. This is how 30 Rock, named after Thirty Rockefeller Plaza in New York City continues to live on in the popular culture. Thirty Rock maintains a strange semi-ubiquity ten years past it’s finale. Much of the fondness people have for the show can no doubt be traced to the fact that it’s initial run transpired during the end of Network Television’s dominance, giving way to internet content narrowcasting, a shifting media landscape that was formative to our current crop of media tastemakers with prominent voices on social media. 

The insular narrowcasting of the program, driven by obscure and meta references is in many ways a precursor to much of the popular streaming and internet content of today. The spontaneity of the out of the blue cutaway gags have much in common with present day internet humour.  It goes out of it’s way to incentivize and reward cultivating a knowledge base of media content and industry practices that puts often considered transient and inconsequential media on a pedestal while acknowledging the cynical profit driven nature of the industry that produced it.  The spirit of the program is summed up well with the takeaway “Thirty Rock consistently points out that television is both the best and the worst”. Acting as a precursor to this sort of engagement, Monty Python’s Flying Circus eschewed casting a wide net by dealing in the sort of references and absurdity that the creators themselves were steeped in, in the process presenting “a challenge to critical and savvy viewers to consider the layered meanings inherent to different programs”, in the words of Philip Scepanski in his essay “Layered Comedy in Monty Python’s Flying Circus”.

Taking place in the titular Thirty Rockefeller Center, a Television Studio in New York city affiliated with NBC, the show follows Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey, as she goes about performing her duties as showrunner for The Tracy Morgan Show, and interacting with the cast of the show. She answers directly to Jack Donaghy, memorably played by Alec Baldwin, the head executive of NBC. Many of the actors play characters who draw close parallels to real life individuals especially Tina Fey,  the first female head writer on SNL, is not dissimilar from her character as showrunner. This sets the viewer up to perceive the program on a metatextual level. Early on in the program a picture of a GM Oven, GM being NBC’s parent company, is set up in at the center of Jack Doanghy office, showing how to the executives, television is just another corporate asset in a vast portfolio. 

   

The program’s depiction of the short lived nature of media ephemera is showcased in it’s most indelible image, Steve Buscemmi as an undercover cop passing himself off as a high school student, strutting in and proclaiming “How do you do, fellow kids”. On his shirt is a band logo in the font of the ACDC band logo, on his head a backwards cap, shouldering a skateboard. These are all trends and intellectual property that will come and go, made with somewhat cynical intentions, but there is still something endearing and of value to be had. 

Political climate/media is another target of the show. Jack Donaghy is an avatar of the American right, a dye in the wool Reaganite and a cut throat businessman. The more one knows the broad strokes of American politics over the last half century the harder his manifestations of Reaganism and Austerity politics will land. His total immersion in the cult of personality of Ronald Reagan is what causes many of the show's best jokes to land and resonate. His total belief in individualism and boot-straps prosperity gospel is perfectly encapsulated in him holding a copy of an Ayn Rand novel while reading Liz Lemon’s marriage vows. In this fashion many of the show’s references help develop and add to the characters.

   
 

Corporate satire is the subject of many of the show references. General Electric Products are often ham fistedly integrated into the business operations of 30 Rockefeller Center. There’s a constant push for “product integration” from the top brass at GM, primarily Jack Donaghy. A whole episode of the series in the first season straight away establishes this by entirely revolving around ham fisted product placement. Throughout the series the show will often turn into a full television spot for various products to satirize the over abundance of product placement in contemporary television, with characters turning to the camera to wax on about the merits of a currently available product. For instance, Liz states that diet Snapple “tastes just like the real thing”. This incentivizes the viewer to be less passive and more engaged when viewing. The show doesn’t encourage viewing media in a fan-like consumer mindset, instead suggesting that television should be appreciated for all of its merits and glaring commercial compromises. The entirety of the show culminates in fan favorite character Kenneth completing his character arc by taking over NBC and rejecting Liz Lemon’s pitch of a Thirty Rock like series because it contains “women, quality, and writers”.

Debuting in 2006 to mediocre ratings but performing consistently across it’s entire run, Thirty Rock would come to perhaps knowingly embody changing industrial practices in Network Television better than any other show of it’s era. Compared to competition such as Aaron Sorkin’s more prestige, leaden, and self serious program,  Studio 60, which takes on the same subject matter, Thirty Rock has aged far better. The irreverent sensibility of Thirty Rock is far more prescient than Sorkin’s fawning over the decades old practices and institution of television. “By assuming its viewers are steeped in knowledge of particular texts and rewarding them for this knowledge” Thirty Rock has amassed a considerable cult following and influence that only grows with every passing year.

Riverdale: The Decline

In 2017, CW introduced us to the world of Riverdale. An uncanny universe to the hit comic Archie. This show however focused on on the darker sides of the stories. Sex, Murder, Class and Social Divides, and in later seasons, Witchcraft. This show was the epitome of a teen drama. It was THE CW show of the late 2010s. In 2018, the show had a viewership of 1.37 million live viewers. It was the drama, and it is CW’s most watched television show. In 2019, Netflix introduced another hit comic dealing with the same type of situation. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina The Teenage Witch was also very popular among Riverdale fans. The Television era of 2017-2019 dominated watchers across the globe. Crossovers are a thing of the CW. The Flash and Arrow have had multiple fan loving events. Instances like Crisis on Infinite Earths and Crisis on Earth-X dominated the chart with fans. Both episodes having over 2 million live viewers. When fans found out that The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Riverdale would be crossing over, people were hyped. When it was announced in October 2021, there was a massive following. 

Riverdale premiered on The CW in January 2017. Its pilot episode — titled Chapter One: The River’s Edge” was watched by 1.38 million live viewers. What followed was a dramatic transformation of the wholesome comics world of Archie Comics into a gritty, moody universe full of secrets, moral ambiguity, sex, and heightened teen angst. Critics compared its tone to a blend of murder mystery and high school melodrama, with some likening it to darker teen shows of the past. The same with The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Debuted on Netflix in October 2018, Sabrina presented a supernatural, horror-tinged version of a teenage-witch story something darker, edgier, and more mature than typical teen fare. Because Sabrina and Riverdale came from the same showrunner, Roberto Aguirre‑Sacasa, fans naturally wondered whether the two could occupy a shared universe. Unconfirmed fan sources say that Aguirre-Sacasa was very excited about this crossover. 

That possibility was exciting: Sabrina offered a wholly different flavor — horror, witchcraft, occultism — while Riverdale had crime, secrets, social drama, teen angst. On paper, the combination promised a happy fan base. For many fans, the 2018–2019 period felt like the golden era of this kind of storytelling, as both shows built devoted followings and captivated audiences across various platforms. As we have seen though, this wasn’t what the fans expected it to be. 

This crossover would be a six episode special, or as some would say, disaster. While fans were excited about the crossover, when it finally got here, it left fans confused, disappointed, and some even say they quit watching the show entirely. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina The Teenage Witch ended almost a year before the crossover. In the series finale, it is shown that Sabrina dies from a self inflicted sacrifice to save the the universe from Eldritch Terror, also known as the void, so when she magically appeared in Season 6 of Riverdale, fans were very confused. 

The plot line was messy, to say the least. Sabrina was called on by Cheryl Blossom to help with a witchcraft problem that was happening in Riverdale. Confused yet? So were a lot of viewers. Sabrina is supposed to be dead but is called upon to come to Riverdale, so naturally, viewers were confused as to why she was back. She’s supposed to be dead, but here she is gallivanting through Riverdale. While Roberto Aguirre Sacasa tried to explain why she was back, it still left many confused about why she was in Riverdale and why she’s alive and not dead like her series left off. It was revealed that Sabrina told Cheryl that “Witches are immortal and cannot die.” if that was the case, why was her series finale so dramatic and led us all to believe that she did in fact die? Not only that, fans described Sabrina’s appearance as a “5 second cameo” but was marketed as a full on crossover. The other problems with this were also that Riverdale’s fans often liked the “dark high-school drama” vibe, but adding explicit witchcraft, spells, and occult horror was a tonal shift for some. The Balancing act that the showrunners hoped for didn’t land for many viewers.

The Riverdale/Sabrina crossover embodies both the appeal and risk of “shared universe” storytelling within young-adult drama. On one hand, shared universes allow for crossovers of fan bases, nostalgia, and expanded narrative possibilities. For fans invested in both worlds teen drama and supernatural horror, the crossover promised something special. However, there are broader reasons of why this didn’t work out the way fans wanted. Fans of Riverdale might like crime and teen drama; fans of Sabrina might prefer horror and occult. Combining the two doesn’t automatically satisfy either group, or sometimes it alienates both.

These two shows have a very apparent tonal shift. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina has a more magic and witchcraft driven storyline with added demonic elements, without the sex crazed, crime ridden, and small town feel that is Riverdale. The two differ with these elements, and it’s very noticeable with the fans. The season one premier of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is nothing like the season 1 premiere of Riverdale. The two shows clash in elements, themes, and exposition. The whole idea of Riverdale- and why it worked so well, is that it mocks pop culture and reality, where as Sabrina focuses on more of a surreal fantasy.

While Season 6 is the primary focus of this analysis, it is important to acknowledge that it was not the first time Riverdale ventured into the supernatural. In fact, the foundations of the show’s eventual genre shift can be traced back to Season 3, which marked one of the earliest and clearest signs of the show’s gradual decline. Although Riverdale had always thrived on heightened drama and stylized mystery, Season 3 introduced storylines that pushed the boundaries of realism much further than in previous years, and many fans felt the show was beginning to lose the grounded core that made its first two seasons so compelling. It was centered around the town learning about Gryphons and Gargoyles, a roleplaying game that was inspired by Dungeons and Dragons. This season introduced a new villain- The Gargoyle King that was thought to be supernatural, only to be revealed as a human in a costume and brought on by drugs called Fizzle Rocks, which brought on hallucinations to make it seem that The Gargoyle King was a supernatural being. This season was heavily criticized because it didn’t have the same tone as it did before, and with the infamous musical episode entitled Chapter 50: Big Fun, fans critisized the musical aspect with the storyline, as well as the vocal performances of the songs. 

After Season 6, the series was thrown into the fifties because of the supernatural elements in Season 6. Tabitha Tate, the “guardian angel” of Riverdale was dodging a comet and threw them into the 1950s, allowing the mains to live their life as it was in the 1950s. By this point, the fans were completely thrown off and still confused, but also by this point in the series, fans already felt the disconnect from the original tone of what Riverdale used to be. Not to mention, fans cringed at the various sexual themes that were very apparent in Season 7. 

Season 6 is argued that it was the decline of the season, however its also argued that Season 3 was the start of the decline. The final reason that is discussed is that the fandom became too involved with the TV show, much like Suzanne Scott talks about in her essay in How To Watch Television about Battlestar Gallactica. All of these are various points made by the fandom according to various fan related threats like Reddit, Facebook, Tumblr. Since Season 2, the show has seen a decline in viewership. Season 1 had 2 million views by the end of the season, Season 2 had 1.86 million, Season 3 had 1.05 million. We see a 44% drop between Season 2 and Season 3. Season 4 spiked back up to 1.35 million, Season 5 went back down to 1.05 million. Season 4 and 5 had no supernatural elements. They went back to Riverdale’s roots. Gritty crime and teen angst. Season 6 dropped to an estimated 400,000 viewers. Then finally, Season 7 at an all time low, had 200,000 viewers live. It was a very fast and heavy drop after Season 6, just like it was in Season 3. 

It is important to talk about now the tonal shifts of these seasons. Season 1’s small town crime ridden and cheery hopes of a better future while the students and adults navigate Jason Blossom’s sudden disappearance and murder. In the season finale of season one Chapter 13 The Sweet Hereafter, the town moves on past what seems like a domino effect of bad with Riverdale 75th Anniversary Jubilee- only to get stuck with a cliffhanger. Who shot Fred Jones? The same goes with Season 2. All through the season we’re left to find out who the The Black Hood is, as well as juggle what to think of Hiram Lodge. These tones are very much what set the fan responses in Riverdale, but with Season 3’s release and experimentation of paranormal entities, the tones clash. Season 4 is back to the same old Riverdale, only this time brief mentions of paranormal entities are spoken about, which explains it’s spike in viewers after the 3rd season. Thus, this is the reason why its viewership plummeted in Seasons 6 and 7. 

In the end, the decline of Riverdale cannot be traced to a single moment but rather to a gradual series of shifts in tone, genre, and storytelling. What began as a grounded, stylish teen crime drama slowly transformed into a show that no longer resembled its original foundation. The highly anticipated crossover with The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina highlighted this change; instead of uniting two fan-favorite worlds, it exposed the widening disconnect between Riverdale’s early identity and its later supernatural direction. Sabrina’s sudden resurrection, the brief cameo marketed as a major event, and the mismatched tones between the two shows ultimately left many fans confused and disappointed. Ultimately, Riverdale remains a cultural phenomenon of the late 2010s—a show that captured massive attention and inspired devoted fan communities. But its fall demonstrates the difficulty of balancing reinvention with consistency. When a series drifts too far from the qualities that first drew in its audience, even the most passionate fanbase can slip away.

 

Sources

Suzanne Scott’s Battlestar Gallactica Fans and Ancillary Content

“Why the Absurdity of Riverdale Works.” TV Obsessive, 15 Nov. 2023.

Ted Lasso: Product Placement

If there’s one thing that the hit AppleTV show Ted Lasso is good at, aside from optimistic moments and impeccably timed locker-room pep talks, it’s combining real life brands into its fictional world. From the widely popular Nike branded AFC Richmond kits worn by the team and fans to the subtle placement of Apple products, the consistent placement in the series feels more natural and less in-your-face. With the addition of companies and products, we see how the show turns these into economic realities and purposeful inclusion.Throughout the series we witness the subtle marketing tactic that helped Ted Lasso turn into a cultural phenomenon. 

We begin the series learning about Ted Lasso, former American football coach, who moves to England whenever he gets hired to manage a British football team. The team that employs him is part of the Premier League, and is called AFC Richmond, which mimics real-life team Crystal Palace F.C.. In 2022, after the Premier League and Apple came to a $680,000 licensing agreement they decided that Nike would replace the fictional sports brand sponsor, Verani Sports, and be the supplier for the AFC kits. Succeeding this, Nike announced via Twitter that they would be sponsoring the fictional team, sparking a large amount of positive reactions within the social media platform. As the current sponsor for current Premier League clubs such as Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, this wasn’t necessarily “off-brand” for Nike and may have assisted in promoting the series further. The addition of Nike to the series created a more authentic feel to the show, replicating how the real Premier League clubs operate and appear. Although the Nike kits weren’t incorporated within the series until season three, their products made appearances in the beginning seasons as well. In season two, episode twelve, Inverting the Pyramid of Success, Lasso is seen sporting Nike Air Jordans while the team is still wearing the Verani Sports sponsored kits. 

Strategically including various brands and products in television isn’t a new concept, and we learn from Sandler’s essay that product placement, product integration and branded entertainment are all popular “form[s] of advertising in which a product, corporate logo…is used as an integral part of the storyline”, (p.g. 270). Throughout the series as a whole, there is various product placement in each episode with Apple being the most prominent and consistent one. With Ted Lasso being an AppleTV original series, it was inevitable that Apple would strategically integrate their products with the hopes of increasing revenue and brand loyalty from viewers. They include their products in various ways, from the simplicity of characters wearing Apple Watches or AirPods to specifically using Macbooks or iPhones to communicate. This promotes positivity about the brand, attempting to attract more buyers for what is being shown to the viewer. The act of product integration is straight from Apple’s playbook as they have been incorporating their brand and products into television for decades. The company seems to jump at the opportunity to advertise for themselves, which is why they “need not have paid for the iPad placement [in Modern Family] because the internalized logic of commercial television is to promote consumerism, turn audiences into commodities, and celebrate a product as a vital component of ‘realism.’”, (Sandler, p.g. 276). Placing their products into a show they are already producing just adds to the consumeristic aspect of wanting to turn their audience into a commodity, as they are already subscribers to the company’s streaming service. 

As we progress further through the series, specifically in season three, there is a noticeable increase of Nike products in the episodes, understandably so after the licensing agreement to have Nike as a kit sponsor. The Nike swoosh becomes a prominent part of the show’s visual identity, reflecting the optimism that Ted Lasso himself has, and Nike’s popular slogan “Just Do It”. The AFC Richmond kit was designed with their signature colors, blue and red, with the addition of Nike’s signature swoosh to complete it. Overall the aspirational tone of the show strongly backs the branding that Nike strives to have, and promotes teamwork, togetherness, and resilience throughout the episodes. Unlike most situations that include product placement in television this integration feels natural instead of unnecessary or intrusive, using character wardrobe, gear, and set details to create a feeling of realism that resembles the Premier League. 

Though being the most consistent and prominent, Nike and Apple are not the only brands that make an appearance in the series. NewBalance, Nissan, Puma and Etihad all appear in scenes from the episode Mom City, either in the background as stadium advertisements, or on the character’s person. This episode revolves around the impending game of AFC Richmond and Manchester city, and similar to all other episodes, contains avid product placement. Although there is consistent placement of brands and products into the foreground and background of the episode, it never solely interrupts what is occurring. During the game, Lasso is pictured sitting on the sidelines in Nissan branded chairs while everyone is sporting either Nike or NewBalances shoes. In a typical sports setting this is nothing out of the ordinary as many coaches can be seen wearing popular brands for clothing or footwear. This also applies to the background advertisements, which is standard for sports arenas or venues as a way to showcase the name of brands or companies that support the team through sponsorships. How they choose to subtly advertise various brands through the series is still on-par with how sports teams appear, while still tying it into television and making it realistic.

It should also be noted that the addition of other brands being featured through footwear on Ted Lasso’s person derives from his own personal collection and choices. After an interview with People Magazine, Lasso’s actor Jason Sudeikis spoke about his large collection of sneakers and how he chooses to wear them on set. He claims that doing so is ‘“just for continuity purposes,’ he added.” (McCoy, 2023), and doing so is noticeable across all three seasons based on the consistent branded footwear he sports. As previously mentioned, Lasso is seen sporting various sneakers, primarily Nike brand, that dates back to season one before the inclusion of the company in the show. Though this doesn’t have correlation to Apple and Premier League’s agreement for the kit sponsorship, it helps to convey the continuity of brand placement throughout the show as a whole. This allowed the addition of Nike to not appear out of place and continue the sport company branding that was noticed from the beginning. Similar to Modern Family, the inclusion of products occurred throughout the series and not only in some episodes, allowing the inclusion of specific products or brands to be more normalized. In Modern Family, they incorporate Apple products throughout the various episodes aside from the “Game Changer” episode, in the same way Ted Lasso includes Nike products. 

From sport brands to transportation companies, Ted Lasso includes various forms of product placement and integration throughout the series, while attempting to maintain a subtle feel. The overall combination of cheerful optimism and skillfully placed brands throughout the show create a sense of realistic advertising while still feeding into the ideals of consumerism. The product placement in Ted Lasso functions as more than just seeing the audience as a way to make money, but a way to form an authentic feel to the fictional world. With the careful execution of where to place branded products and how to dress the characters in branded outfits, nothing feels out of place or excessive in terms of in-your-face advertising. 

In the end, Ted Lasso merges real life products and companies with their fictional universe, allowing for consumer markets to be reached and keen advertisements to be placed into television. Including popular brands onto an already monopolized company’s platform allows for the possibility of brand loyalty and increase in sales. Being a show that gained such popularity, it was an astute choice to incorporate products that the companies may want marketed to a larger audience.