By Jamie Miller
“Family Guy,” “American Dad,” “The Orville” and “A Million Ways to Die in the West”- what do all these shows have in common? They are but some of the wacky and hilarious brainchildren of one Seth MacFarlane. Each of them is different from the others. The most bizarre even amongst this cartoon cavalcade of craziness would be the “Ted” franchise.
Only someone like MacFarlane could not only come up with a crazy premise such as a child’s wish upon a star leading to a washed-up, foul-mouthed, pothead teddy bear but also make this idea work and with heart at that. Not only was MacFarlane able to get one movie out of this, he got two movies and now a prequel TV series on Peacock
This “Ted” series stars the voice of Seth MacFarlane as the titular Ted, younger than he is in the first movie but just as immature. After one day of debauchery too many, Ted is forced to attend high school to keep him out of trouble. By his side is John Bennet, played by Max Burkholder of “Parenthood” fame. John is Ted’s impressionable best friend and the one whose wish brought Ted to life. Giorgia Whigham of “The Punisher” and “13 Reasons Why” stars as Blaire Bennet, John’s college-aged liberal cousin who tries to look out for John and Ted acting as kind of a big sister figure to the two. Scott Grimes known for roles such as Steve Smith in “American Dad” or Lieutenant Gordon Malloy in “The Orville” stars as Matty Bennet, John’s hot-tempered, cheap-minded, foul-mouthed, right winged and all around unpleasant father. Alanna Ubach known for roles in the likes of “Meet the Fockers,” “Coco” and “Waiting…” stars as Susan Bennet, John’s kind but meek, quiet, slow-talking and all-around hard-to-notice mother. The show also features numerous MacFarlane alumni including Mike Henry known for voicing the likes of Cleveland Brown on “Family Guy,” Penny Johnson Jerald known for playing Dr. Claire Finn on “The Orville” and Tim Russ best known for his role as Tuvok in the “Star Trek” franchise but who also appeared in “The Orville”
This show is… hilarious. There were a few times I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe. Everyone played their parts to perfection. The show was well-written, well-acted and well-thought out. For a show about a foul-mouthed talking teddy bear, the show also had a lot of heart as well. Matty and Blair were used to symbolize the divide of today but Matty is never portrayed as completely without hope of change and Blaire is never portrayed as completely perfect or right. All in all, it’s a really good series and I am pumped for season two, eight torches out of 10.
