Ever since author Frank L. Baum first took us to the Emerald City in 1900, "The Wizard of Oz" has been the inspiration of countless stories, spin-offs, sequels, adaptations and other creative works. We got the soulful energy of "The Wiz," the thought-provoking origin story of "Wicked," the animated oddity of "Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz" and more. But one that people might not immediately recognize is the Emmy-winning series "Ted Lasso."That's right, "Ted Lasso," the feel-good series about an inspirational American-football-turned-British-football coach, is actually an adaptation-of-sorts of "The Wizard of Oz." Of course, the penultimate "Ted Lasso" episode contained all kinds of direct references to the Land of Oz, including Ted's mother, Dottie (ahem, Dorothy), coming to visit, the "Wizard of Oz" themed pinball machine, the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in a movie scene the team is watching, Ted finding a single yellow Lego brick under the sofa, a tie-dyed t-shirt worn by Roy that's alludes to the yellow brick road in the original film and more. But it's not just that one episode that points to "The Wizard of Oz." Brett Goldstein's commentary challenges some fan theories about how "Ted Lasso" characters line up with "The Wizard of Oz"Sleuthy fans have long theorized that the whole series is a retelling of the Oz story, with certain "Ted Lasso" characters representing Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, the Wizard and more. Opinions on who's who have varied, but Brett Goldstein, who plays the ever-gruff Roy Kent, revealed in an interview that the "Wizard of Oz" was indeed a big inspiration for the show and even specified how a few of the characters from the film and the series line up. "Oh yeah, there's loads and loads of The Wizard of Oz in Ted Lasso," Goldstein told Entertainment Weekly. "I'm the Tin Man," he says, referring to his character on the show, Roy Kent. "Ted is Dorothy, Rebecca's the Lion, and the Scarecrow is Jamie." Goldstein's revelation puts to rest some online debates in which people have speculated that Nate was supposed to be the Cowardly Lion and Rebecca was Glinda the Good Witch. Knowing that Rebecca was meant to be the Lion, perhaps Keeley was meant to be Glinda? Some see Rupert as the Wizard, while others say he's the Wicked Witch of the West. Then again, Nate could be the Wicked Witch (going to coach for West Ham). Or perhaps it's not all so cut and dry, and some of the characters are reflected in more than one person. — (@) At any rate, in addition to the one episode that directly alluded to it, there are loads of Easter eggs dropped throughout the series that show how "The Wizard of Oz" played a major role in "Ted Lasso" characters arcs and storylines. A non-exhaustive list of "Wizard of Oz" references in "Ted Lasso":- Ted is short for Theodore. If you rearrange the syllables of Theodore, you get "Dorothy." - Ted comes from Kansas and even says "I got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" upon his and Coach Beard's in the U.K.- Ted left his ex-wife Michelle and son Henry back in the states. Michelle = "M" as in Auntie Em, and of course, Uncle Henry.- Ted frequently wears red Nikes, like his own ruby slippers.- In addition to Ted's red sneakers, Rebecca donned Louboutin heels with their signature ruby red soles.- Ted's perfectly rectangular shortbread cookies seem an awful lot like yellow bricks.- Roy has stiff joints, rarely smiles and doesn't say a lot, like the Tin Man before Dorothy oiled him.- Jamie starts off the series as a dolt—albeit a beautiful one—but grows more thoughtful over time, like the Scarecrow.- Rebecca's power pose where she makes herself big looks an awful lot like the Cowardly Lion trying to appear scary when he first appears in "The Wizard of Oz." She definitely grew in courage to take on her powerful ex-husband. - YouTube www.youtube.com - Coach Beard, Ted's loyal ride-or-die companion, is most definitely Toto. - Dr. Sharon Fieldstone rode her bike around being mean to people, just like the grumpy neighbor in Kansas, who turned out to be the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz. Some people have theorized that Dr. Fieldstone represents The Great and Powerful Oz, seemingly a magician who can fix anything (or anyone) but very much a human once the curtain is pulled back. - Ted clicked the heels of his red sneakers together while dancing in the finale.- "There's no place like home" appeared on the soccer pitch ad space.Undoubtedly, there are more nods to Oz in the show, and superfans will likely continue making their arguments for which characters represent whom in the series and why. But thanks to Brett Goldstein, we now we know for sure that the "Wizard of Oz" parallels were intentional, much to the delight of all who love both the movie and the TV series.