We already know what you’re going to say about this trailer for the Ted event series that’ll be streaming on Peacock soon: “Oh, Jesus. I fucking hate Seth MacFarlane.” And you’re right to have those opinions, and yeah, Family Guy got pretty bad at some point and, just like you, we’re astonished that American Dad went as long as it did (or is it still going on one of the Turner networks? Who knows anymore).
But we’ll say that, as much as that sucks, we can’t help but like the guy. How many people would have parlayed their successes in the comedy world to make four or five seasons of Star Trek fanfic with most of the writers behind your favorite TNG and DS9 episodes? Aside from that, he’s a solid voice actor — just go back and watch Hellboy II for a good example of that — and the memes about him showing up in the middle of a Logic track are actually pretty funny.
So, it’s with cautious optimism that we present to you the trailer for this new Ted series, which, in case you need a recap, is about a foul-mouthed teddy bear doing his shit all around Massachusetts (which had a pretty funny first movie and a pretty shitty sequel in the ’10s). Specifically, this time around, in Framingham. We’re thinking the Natick Mall will play a not-unimportant role in this.
Peep it:
Here’s a synopsis, in case you need to see how hard this series is repping Greater Massachusetts:
“In this comedic prequel event series to the ‘Ted’ films, it’s 1993, and Ted the bear’s (Seth MacFarlane) moment of fame has passed. He’s now living back home in Framingham, Massachusetts with his best friend, 16-year-old John Bennett (Max Burkholder), along with John’s parents, Matty and Susan (Scott Grimes and Alanna Ubach) and cousin Blaire (Giorgia Whigham). Ted may be a lousy influence on John, but at the end of the day, he’s a loyal pal who’s always willing to go out on a limb for friendship.”
Ted will start streaming on Peacock on January 11. Honestly, this isn’t a horrible fit for the character or the format, and who knows? It might be worth a laugh or five. Just don’t tell the Pope about it.