TED
Starring: Seth MacFarlane, Max Burkholder, Alaina Ubach, Scott Grimes, and Giorgia Whigham
Creator: Seth MacFarlane
NICK
Much like he is in the films, Ted, the character, is funny. Ted, the show, however, is a bit more of a mixed bag. Playing like a hybrid of the film series and live-action Family Guy (but with less bite), the lack of consistent laughs are accentuated with the longer runtimes. At 22 minutes, these episodes could have been more succinct, with more frequent laughs, but there are entries upwards of 50 minutes here, which only shines a spotlight on the mediocre (and annoyingly New England) supporting characters. Ted has its laughs, but just isn’t able to hit like the films do.
QUENTIN
Though not without moments of slight amusement, Ted isn’t a prequel that is necessary viewing, even for franchise fans. It’s basically juvenile Family Guy-humor (not to mention the carbon-copy musical transitions) mixed with the sentimentality of cheap-looking, TGIF-era sitcoms, except with overlong episodes ranging from 34 to 51 minutes. Ted - and only Ted (Seth MacFarlane) - delivers enough improvisational-style observations to elicit a few chuckles, but the rest of the characters land somewhere between “well-intentioned, but bland” (Blair, played by Giorgia Whigham) and “annoying New England caricature” (Matty, played by Scott Grimes). That said, I didn’t hate it, but I certainly don’t need a second season.
