Trailer for the series "Ted"/Peacock
It is interesting that in the month of January, exactly one year apart (okay, one year less a week), two nostalgic comedies were released whose plot takes place in the nineties and are based on existing intellectual property.
As if to try to make us forget the new era and help us embrace those good old days.
In 2023, it was That '90s Show, a sequel to the classic that followed a new generation of teenagers in Kitty and Red Furman's home in Point Place, Wisconsin.
This time it's Peacock's new series, "Ted", based on Seth MacFarlane's hit film of the same name and going back in time to describe the teenage years of John, the hero of the pair of films alongside the talking bears.
The essential difference between the two series is that while "The 90's Show" fumbled its way through the first season, "Ted" - which is all Biss - succeeds at the very beginning in protesting any scent of cynicism that emanates from adaptations like these.
To be honest, there is no necessity to watch the "Ted" movies before the series.
More than that: even if you didn't like them or just forgot about them a moment after watching, like me, there is a good chance that you will like the series.
Surprisingly, she simply outnumbers them.
The television adaptation distills to perfection the original idea of the film - a toy bear that embodies the delayed development of the human friend by his side, John Bennett, and his need to grow up (in the films he was played by Mark Wahlberg, in the series Max Burkholder stepped into his shoes, who as a child already stood out in another series based on about a famous movie - "Full-time parents").
If so, what makes more sense than going back to the hero's original coming of age?
conveys the magic of those years.
Max Burkholder, "Ted"/Peacock
You will also be interested:
Sofia Vergara deserves the role of "Grisalda".
Not sure that the role deserves her
, with all due respect to Brangelina, this series is much better than the movie starring them.
What happened to the stars of the series "Exposure to the North" and how do they look today?
We are only in January and the first masterpiece series of 2024 has already arrived.
All the comparable series that are on TV this month
. Recommended series on Netflix: The Big Guide.
The 24 series we are most looking forward to in 2024.
Looking for recommendations or want to recommend new series?
Just want to talk about TV?
Join our group on Facebook,
Shofar Broadcasting
16-year-old John Bennett lives with his family in a Boston suburb, with the teddy bear by his side who years earlier was resurrected.
Also this time, of course, voiced by McFarlane, who himself created the series, directed all its episodes and wrote some of them himself.
From his previous works, the creator imported the excellent Scott Grimes (Steve from "American Dad") in the role of the father of the family, and Georgia Wigham (who was a guest in "The Orville" and is also known from "The Punisher") in the role of Blair, his niece with a developed conscience and social awareness.
The family series is completed by Elena Obach (Kassi and Lexi's artist in "Euphoria") in the role of Susan, the mysterious and kind-hearted mother.
Those who know Seth MacFarlane's humor know what to expect this time as well.
Extreme, witty, rude, outrageous jokes - and very funny.
As in the movies, MacFarlane uses the dissonance between his innocent character and the appearance of a teddy bear to make some of the most outrageous statements imaginable.
Not ones that stem from evil, God forbid, but more from ignorance that could be found in the white working class of Boston in the first part of the nineties - ignorance that most of the family members share.
This wild touch provides a perfect balance to the sweetness of a piece like this, allowing "Ted" to hold the rope at both ends - both being progressive and demonstrating comedy through conservatism.
He prevents her from falling into the traps of nostalgic family comedy such as "The Goldberg Family" or the new "Magic Years", stopping her before she becomes saccharine - even in inevitable moments of lesson and morality.
The opposite view is also true: the built-in longing for the teenage years bursting with potential, mitigates the blatant comedy - including adventures in porn, drugs, bear fetish and even a dog's erection - and the racist and homophobic worldview of some of the characters.
More in Walla!
I got up on a particularly black day, sat down for seven hours in front of this series and was redeemed
To the full article
A voice of sanity is needed.
Georgia Whigham, "Ted"/Peacock
The successful mix of "Ted" is also evident in its protagonists, who develop and mature as required from a coming-of-age series.
Although all Bennet family members ultimately have their hearts in the right place, the males tend towards a certain Neanderthalism.
Matty is of course the most extreme marker for this, by virtue of being a boomer in the original sense of the term, but this is an environment that does not exactly tend to cultivate enlightened people.
John and Ted absorb some of it, as expected, but both always try to improve their ways, and never fall over the edge - thanks in part to Burkholder's great acting and McFarlane's masterful dubbing.
The loyal friendship between them also contributes to the feeling of warmth in the series, without falling into kitsch at any point (by the way, it's easy to miss because they're casual, but the effects of the teddy bear are amazing).
At the same time, the women give a counterweight to the flaws of the males: Blair, a mature student and much more sophisticated than all the others, is on the standard of Lisa Simpson of "Ted", the one who provides the voice of sanity.
The role could have been so cheesy, but Whigham bestows on Blair her own great grace, and the sanity she provides is indeed required in the face of the turmoil around her.
And after all, the one who repeatedly steals the show is Elena Obach.
She plays Susan in such a funny and wonderful way, captivating with her optimistic and well-wishing disposition, and innocent in all the cutest senses of the word.
As the episodes go by, Susan is revealed again and again in her wonderfulness, and the series is well aware of this and treats her accordingly, which makes "Ted" wonderful in itself.
More in Walla!
The Netflix movie is fun but has one big problem: its name
To the full article
Steals the show.
Elena Obach next to Scott Grimes, "Ted"/peacock
As in all of McFarlane's works, "Ted" also has a constant stream of pop culture references.
In the case of "Ted" they are essential to wrap us in the period it describes ("Jurassic Park", "Macrana", "Aladdin", "The Simpsons", OJ Simpson's Bronco Chase and Khanna), and most of the time they are used for more than namedropping but as a point of reference from which the characters build.
Nostalgia in the series is not limited to the nineties, perhaps because McFarlane himself reached his breaking point a decade earlier.
John and Ted watch "Team Matters", discuss "Rocky 4" and the series itself, like the movie, includes a tribute to "IT: Friend from Another Planet".
But that's part of what adds to "Ted's" appeal, makes its particular temporality super-temporary.
In a television climate that is overloaded with forgotten nostalgic series, "Ted" manages to shine far and wide and remind the elite of the genre.
In fact, while watching it, it reminded me of the classic "Magic Years" because literally, "Ted" conveys the magic of those years.
On the one hand analog years, of unmediated communication and video tapes that get stuck in an old device, and on the other hand it is anointed with the eternity of idleness in front of the television, growth and growth, first loves, and the necessity to reconcile the longing for freedom and its absence.
The desert bear is just a bonus.
All episodes of the first season of "Ted" are available on Bis and Yoodi.
More on the same topic:
TV review
Ted