Welcome to My Ted Talk! Wait, Ted Can Talk?
Ted, the 2024 Peacock TV series about Seth MacFarlane’s Ted franchise, takes the classic comedy of the early to mid 2010s, and makes a huge impact on talking teddy bears in the media. Almost ten years after the last Ted project, we get Ted, a prequel television series in the franchise that takes place during John Bennett’s junior year of high school in the early ‘90s. This series allows for it to be a period piece while simultaneously playing to today’s audiences fashionably and hilariously.
A lot has happened in the 30 years that Ted takes place in, 1993, which meshes MacFarlane’s ever-growing modern humor with comedy of certain events in childhood or even the ‘90s. Sometimes, that humor is not for everyone. That being said, this show takes progressive subject matter that is pertinent to today’s society and meshes it with the raunchy MacFarlane seasoning that makes this show fun to watch. The jokes represent a product of the ‘90s but still allow for today’s audiences to witness the teaching moment in the episode that helps highlight a character’s growth. The time period being so early on also makes it possible to have foreshadowing elements that can poke fun at events or more specifically people (I’m looking at you, Lori Laughlin and Bill Cosby).
The casting choices are beyond perfection as they play into the world of Ted. Max Burkholder’s youthfulness in the series is amazing, taking everything Mark Wahlberg created and making a fantastic young John Bennett. Giorgia Whigham playing Blaire, the older cousin of John, was simply a chef’s kiss. Both she and Burkholder play into this relatable relationship that allows audiences to reminisce on their failures in the social hierarchy that is high school.
Blaire’s existence is to fulfill the saving grace role for John, as well as act as the politically correct individual that plays into the balance of a 2024 viewing experience. Her character gives John and Ted the ability to make mistakes alongside the comradery the two share as friends. MacFarlane’s reprisal of Ted gives the role the edgy push that John needs to make the decisions that ultimately lead to disaster while Blaire can pick him up again. Blaire’s leftness with Ted’s somewhere-in-the-middle eventually mesh into a common ground between the two and we get to watch as their relationship grows as well.
The wonderful message about navigating the world during the later half of high school pushes towards something we can all relate to. You don’t have to be a ‘90s kid to understand the experiences John goes through. Trying drugs for the first time, being interested in sexual health, and dealing with bullies are all things that teenagers go through. Just because they are done in a specific way like using a VHS player, does not hinder the fact that this show is so relatable.
This show is comedy gold. It plays to both left-wing and right-wing audiences. Even though the premise of the series is very left-leaning, it allows for conservative audiences to relate to characters like Matty, John’s dad, or even the church which is brought up many times throughout the show. It shows how far we have come in comedy television while still being able to push boundaries appropriately so we can all sit on the couch and laugh until our stomach hurts.
TJ Bogart is a Senior Cinema Photo major who hopes that one day one of his childhood toys will come to life like Ted. He can be reached at [email protected] .