Why Ted Is The Funniest Show on TV Right Now
Add this show to your must-watch list immediately! Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re looking at all the reasons why Seth MacFarlane’s prequel series, “Ted,” is the best comedy show currently on TV.
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00:00 "I didn't want to have to resort to this."
00:02 "I love you!"
00:03 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at all the reasons why Seth MacFarlane's prequel series
00:09 Ted is the best comedy show currently on TV.
00:13 "Oh, uh, this is Cupcake, Peaches, and Beef Stroganoff."
00:17 "Hi."
00:17 The 90s Nostalgia
00:20 A prequel to the films that preceded it, Ted takes place in the early 90s where he is comfortably
00:27 living with the Bennett family. The show hilariously skewers the 90s setting with a
00:31 barrage of pop culture references from that period. Take for instance, Ted and John becoming
00:36 convinced that Steven Spielberg was given real dinosaurs to make Jurassic Park.
00:41 "Yeah, Spielberg actually got real dinosaurs."
00:44 "Uh, yeah, I don't think so."
00:46 "No, he did!"
00:47 "No, he did. He totally did. There's no other explanation."
00:49 Or the pair making the excuse that they lost their pocket money by watching Schindler's List.
00:54 "What would we do with the rest?"
00:56 "Uh, we were so moved that we donated it to Jew causes."
01:00 "That is so nice of us. Maybe we should actually do that."
01:03 But perhaps the most amusing use of 90s culture takes place during John's attempt at losing his
01:09 virginity. The teen's chances get dashed when his date becomes distracted with a breaking news story
01:14 on TV. OJ Simpson's notorious white bronco chase.
01:18 "Oh my god!"
01:19 "What? What? What's wrong?"
01:20 "Look!"
01:21 "Los Angeles, police are in pursuit of a white bronco presumed to be the vehicle of OJ Simpson."
01:27 The show's production, design, costumes and props department all take their cues from the 1990s.
01:33 From Pound Puppies to Lori Loughlin, if you're a 90s kid, this series is a veritable time machine.
01:40 "No, no, you gotta like really blow on it. Here."
01:42 "Wow, you are gonna make some guy very happy one day."
01:48 The movie references.
01:50 Do you need to have seen 2012's Ted and/or its 2015 sequel to enjoy this prequel TV series?
01:58 Not at all. In fact, the show has very little ties to the movies.
02:02 "You know what I like to do to her? Something I call a dirty fuzzy."
02:05 The good news, however, is that eagle-eyed fans of those films will find plenty of easter eggs
02:11 referencing Ted's big screen adventures. You won't have to wait that long either,
02:15 as the series' opening theme, "Everybody Needs a Best Friend", is the same song used in the first movie.
02:21 "My words are lazy, my thoughts are hazy, but this is one thing I'm sure of,
02:27 everybody needs a best friend."
02:30 After all, it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the time.
02:36 The show's first episode also serves as an origin for Ted and John's love of smoking pot
02:42 while watching Flash Gordon.
02:43 "I think of my dad drunk on his ratty couch watching Flash Gordon or some sh*t, but
02:49 that's not gonna be you."
02:51 The callbacks, big and small, keep coming until the very last scene of the first season's final
02:57 episode.
02:57 "God, Teddy, you thinking what I'm thinking?"
02:59 "Get the guitar."
03:01 It's here that we are treated to the beginnings of the infamous
03:05 Thunder Buddy song that's featured in the first film.
03:09 "You can't get me thunder 'cause you're just God's farts."
03:13 The Visual Effects
03:14 If you've ever wondered what goes into making a believable foul-mouthed talking teddy bear,
03:19 the answer is… a lot.
03:21 To be more specific, 3,000 VFX shots and 44 hours of motion capture work from creator
03:27 Seth MacFarlane.
03:28 "Look at that, Jesus hangs out with hookers."
03:30 "Yeah, and he says there's hookers in heaven, so he sounds a lot like you."
03:34 Couldn't they have just used original assets from the first two films?
03:37 Well, given that it's over 10 years later, technological advancements have made those
03:42 assets outdated, meaning everything needed to be started again from scratch.
03:47 "I don't want to sound crazy, but I honestly think Paramount blew up the space shuttle
03:51 so they wouldn't have to make that movie."
03:52 Ted also marks the first time that an animated lead was filmed in real-time alongside other
03:58 performers.
03:59 This, thanks to an augmented reality tool called Viewscreen Studio.
04:03 We'd say the hard work and innovation paid off, as Ted feels less like a CG character
04:09 and more like an actual living being.
04:11 Never has a robust teddy bear bursting out of a cafeteria refrigerator full of hot dog
04:16 wieners looked so authentic.
04:18 "I'm the king of the wieners!"
04:22 The Family Guy Connections
04:24 Could Seth MacFarlane's long-running adult animated series Family Guy really be connected
04:30 to his live-action series Ted?
04:32 "That's one of those tough to answer questions, Johnny.
04:34 Like, um, where did you find teddy bear-sized hockey gear?
04:37 I just don't know."
04:38 Maybe.
04:39 Maybe not.
04:40 But there's no denying some fun crossovers between the shows.
04:44 For one, in the third episode of Ted, John and his teddy bear best friend rent some adult
04:49 video tapes.
04:50 It just so happens that the first film they put on is titled Genital Hospital.
05:00 The same name as the X-rated flick Chris Griffin and his friends watched in an episode of Family
05:04 Guy.
05:05 "Chris, what is this?"
05:07 "Genital Hospital."
05:08 There's also the fact that John's crush in the show is named Bethany Borgwartz.
05:13 Borgwart also happens to be the maiden name of Brian Griffin's mother-in-law on Family
05:18 Guy.
05:18 "I'm sorry, I'm just realizing I never caught her last name."
05:21 "Schlotz."
05:22 "Yikes."
05:23 "It was my husband's name."
05:25 "What's your maiden name?"
05:26 "Borgwart."
05:27 "That's also bad."
05:28 Add in some very similar music cues, and a MacFarlane-verse seems increasingly likely
05:34 at this point.
05:35 [Music]
05:42 The Ensemble
05:43 Except for Seth MacFarlane returning to voice the titular character, the remainder of Ted's
05:48 cast is made up of new faces to the franchise.
05:51 And given that this is a prequel set in 1993, it only makes sense.
05:57 "You should be going to school every day with John.
05:59 You'd learn something and maybe you wouldn't make all these ignorant comments."
06:02 "Ha, yeah, no thanks."
06:04 "Why not?"
06:05 "Because.
06:05 TV."
06:07 Luckily, the new crop of actors make for stellar stand-ins.
06:11 This includes Max Berkholder as a young John Bennett.
06:14 Max effortlessly employs the same authentic buddy relationship with Ted as Mark Wahlberg
06:19 did in the films.
06:20 "You grew.
06:20 You grew tonight."
06:22 "I really did."
06:23 Perhaps most impressive is that Berkholder, while playing a 16-year-old on the show,
06:28 is 26 years old in real life.
06:31 In addition, Alana Ubach and Scott Grimes expertly step into the roles of John's parents,
06:37 giving the couple a truly comical good cop bad cop dynamic.
06:41 "You gonna shave your head too?
06:42 Well, go ahead.
06:44 Go ahead, then you won't clog the shower drain."
06:48 Rounding out the family is Georgia Wiggum as Blair, John's progressive cousin who lives
06:54 with the Bennett family.
06:55 While Blair serves as the voice of reason, her advice often goes unyielded.
07:01 "I think I'm gonna do it Ted's way."
07:02 "That is a very self-destructive sentence."
07:05 "Blair, please, you're disrupting a teachable moment."
07:07 The sitcom homages.
07:09 Like Seth MacFarlane did with Family Guy and American Dad, the creator gives Ted a sitcom
07:14 adjacent look and feel.
07:16 So much so that the exterior of the Bennett's house is a dead ringer for the one featured
07:20 in the wholesome 1975 sitcom Leave It to Beaver.
07:24 The conversations inside the house, however, are anything but wholesome.
07:28 "This is my ham and you're not having a piece of the ham until you say you're sorry."
07:32 "You know what?
07:32 I don't need any ham.
07:34 I got all the Slim Jims I need in the basement."
07:36 But that's where parallels to other groundbreaking sitcoms come in.
07:40 Such as On the Family, a noted influence for Ted.
07:44 Sure, the political and social discussions are given punchlines, but the themes are important
07:58 and nuanced, even for this day and age.
08:00 The unique family dynamic also has 90s sitcom written all over it, as does the interior
08:06 set design of the family's home.
08:08 And for all its crassness, there's a surprisingly large helping of heart thrown into the mix.
08:13 "You know what?
08:13 This is like the perfect food for the perfect night."
08:17 "Yeah, like who invented food?
08:19 That guy rocks."
08:20 Alf walked so Ted could run.
08:23 "Safe home, my friend."
08:24 "No problem."
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08:39 The Comedy
08:43 Like any Seth MacFarlane project, Ted is jam-packed with hilarious gags, entertaining
08:48 scenarios, and laugh out loud lines.
08:51 "Congratulations."
08:52 "I need an adult!
08:54 I need an adult!"
08:54 "It's okay.
08:55 It's alright, Johnny.
08:55 It's alright."
08:56 Simply put, the show is very funny.
08:59 And with a vast array of differing personalities in the mix, everyone gets a chance to drop
09:05 in some truly memorable quotes.
09:07 Be it Maddie's not-safe-for-work Vietnam confession.
09:10 "He made a noise like a Bach, but happier."
09:14 Or Susie's Halloween surprise backfire.
09:19 "I've hidden a heat bar somewhere in this house."
09:23 "Can I get a hint?"
09:25 "Oh, I can't do this to you.
09:27 It's in the hamper.
09:28 I'll go get it."
09:29 Of course, Ted's always got the best zingers.
09:32 "John, we're watching porn.
09:34 It's either going to be creepy or tragic.
09:35 Those are the choices."
09:36 And while the comedy can get more than a little warped at times, did we mention there's
09:41 a talking dump truck in an episode?
09:43 We honestly wouldn't want it any other way.
09:46 Trust us, Ted is an R-rated crude comedy that'll leave you in stitches.
09:51 Now, if we could only confirm a second season.
09:54 "Oh man, the Jerky Boys are like the greatest living comedy geniuses."
10:00 What are your thoughts on Ted?
10:02 Don't be afraid to let stuffing fly in the comments below.
10:05 "Where are we going to go, Teddy?"
10:12 "I was thinking Saudi Arabia."
10:14 Did you enjoy this video?
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10:24 [outro music]
10:26 [music fades]
10:28 [music fades]
10:30 [BLANK_AUDIO]