At first glance, Ted Lasso and The Mandalorian have very little in common; the former is an Apple TV+ fish-out-of-water sitcom about an American coaching a Premier League football team, and the latter is the Star Wars live-action TV debut that put Disney+ on the map (with the help of a certain small green extraterrestrial). But ask any fan of either beloved show, and they’ll likely tell you the big thing these shows have in common: their third seasons didn’t quite live up to the hype.

How did these two critically acclaimed and near-universally beloved shows end up falling flat in season three? Well, it mainly boils down to losing a previously solid structure. The Mandalorian’s story effectively came to a very emotional yet satisfying resolution in the season two finale, where Din completed his quest to safely deliver Grogu to a Jedi willing to train him. The decision to rush the reunion of the two in spin-off The Book Of Boba Fett condemned the third season right from the offset, completely resetting the momentum and leaving the path forward unclear. The focal shift away from the clan of two and on to Bo Katan and the warring Mandalorian factions rendered the series adrift without that strong narrative drive forward that made the previous two seasons so successful.

“The decision to rush the reunion of the two in spin-off The Book Of Boba Fett condemned the third season right from the offset”

The loss was palpable for the series as character-rich and exciting plotlines like Din’s redemption and the ownership of Darksabre were resolved too quickly and neatly to rush to a spectacular but fairly predictable final battle sequence. The one-off episode dissecting the flaws in the New Republic’s bureaucracy was compelling, but it felt completely out of place in Star Wars’ most accessible show, almost certainly alienating younger and more casual viewers. I personally loved episode six as a galactic Law and Order detour, but unfortunately, it felt like one detour too many for a lot of fans.

For better or for worse, more detours may be in The Mandalorian’s future. In February, co-creator Jon Favreau confirmed that there’s no plan for the series’ end, stating in a Variety interview that “it’s not like there’s a finale that we’re building to that I have in mind” and that he “love[s] for these stories to go on and on.” In contrast, it was well-publicised – but never officially confirmed – that Ted Lasso’s third season was always intended to be its last. If a three-season arc was always the plan, why did the sitcom fail to stick the landing?

Ted Lasso and The Mandalorian faltered by taking the focus off their respective protagonists, who both happen to be titular characters. While The Mandalorian became all about Bo-Katan, Ted Lasso seemed to become about anyone other than Ted himself. As season three’s twelve episodes ranged between 45 minutes to 75 minutes long, the third season was overstuffed with plotlines and misaligned character arcs, mostly sidelining Ted in favour of testing out potential spin-offs.

“Ted Lasso and The Mandalorian faltered by taking the focus off their respective protagonists”

While some plotlines like Colin’s lovely coming out arc retained the heartwarming charm of the first two seasons, other characters became aimless or, even worse, regressed. Roy and Keeley’s off-screen break-up and the subsequent reintroduction of the Roy-Keeley-Jamie love triangle fell flat as a forced attempt at a will-they-won’t-they with no resolution. Nate’s dramatic betrayal of Ted and Richmond at the end of season two had no real consequence as he quit West Ham to work in a Greek restaurant and ultimately ended up back right where he started as a mild-mannered kitman. There were still comedic highlights –  Jamie teaching Roy how to ride a bike in ‘Sunflowers’ will probably earn Brett Goldstein his third consecutive Emmy – but the third season struggled with story and structure.

It seems likely that we’ll see a Ted Lasso spin-off in the future. Apple TV+ were very reluctant to market season three as a final season, which is not surprising as the series is by far and away the streaming service’s biggest hit. So, like The Mandalorian, Ted Lasso’s lack of structure could have been a case of keeping too many options open, stretching its large ensemble cast too thin rather than keeping things streamlined and focused.

“In the age of streaming, everything is more fluid – for better and for worse.”

Scripted broadcast television has traditionally followed the same structure for decades now; thirty minutes for a comedy, an hour for a drama. Long-running shows with twenty-two-episode seasons used to dominate the TV schedules, following a tried and tested structure that, when done right, earned shows success and longevity. In the age of streaming, everything is more fluid – for better and for worse. Ted Lasso’s third season certainly suffered because of its unrestricted runtimes, and the lack of a plan for The Mandalorian’s future doesn’t bode well for season four. With fewer episodes becoming the norm, does compressing more story into a shorter season just result in jumping the shark earlier than usual?

In the end, both these seasons decided to move away from their titular characters and lost their way as a result. What should have been The Mandalorian’s third season was instead jammed into a completely different show, and Ted Lasso season three suffered as the writers’ focus on potential spin-off leads rendered Ted mostly absent before the character had even left. Detours, one-offs, new characters and even full spin-offs can all be great things for television – but in general, showrunners shouldn’t be afraid to let their protagonist be the star of the show.