The big surprise today, we bring you a story about big surprises! After that, we go deep with Ted Lasso and Mel Brooks; the theme is feeling good. 

The third season of Ted Lasso has dropped on Apple TV, and the runaway hit is coming in with impossible expectations. A feel-good story with exciting characters, conflict, and drama, and as funny as anything Jason Sudeikis has ever done. Season one was a setup, season two expanded on season one, and early indications are season three may stretch the boundaries a bit. The Atlantic has a profound article about the series and warns that season three may not feel as good.

One of the best things about Ted Lasso was the enormous response the first season received. At a time of "news on the second" and what feels like the end of the world every hour, the popularity of a show like Ted Lasso made us feel like there is better in the world, but the "do-gooders" don't get the press. Even the hostile sky-is-falling news networks know ratings are everything, and Lasso came with the ratings.

Brett Goldstein, who plays Roy Kent, is also a writer on the show; he also created another show called Shrinking now playing on Apple TV. Shrinking has many of the same elements that made Ted Lasso a great show, and it is also worth checking out. The world needs more content like Ted Lasso and Shrinking.

History of the World, Part 2 is out on Hulu now; Maureen Dowd from the NYT writes a great piece on Mel Brooks and takes you on a journey of his life and some of his movies. In the article, Brooks admits that when they released History of the World, Part I, they never intended to put out a part 2. Maybe Brooks saw Top Gun Maverick and thought, if Cruise waited 30 years, we could go 40.

Axios brings us an abbreviated story about surprises and their benefits to overall energy levels. Picking up pieces from Psychology Today, The Takeaway, and Pop Neuro, the big takeaway for us is the power-up you can get from a good surprise. Think about the last time you had a good jolt to the system, not a scary surprise or something you settled down from, but a genuine astonishment. Think about your heart rate and physical traits; how big did your eyes get? Did you take a deep breath? A good surprise can do that and leave you with a feeling of joy for hours.

Hard to schedule a surprise, but nothing stops you from creating one, and in some cases, the joy you get from surprising others also provides a similar benefit. According to the articles, the association you create with a surprise leads to better retention of the events.

Boygenius.

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Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Here’s one for the road!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

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