Actor, director, and showrunner Seth MacFarlane is known for his raunchy comedy and dark humor in shows like Family Guy and American Dad. His unique brand of comedy has branched out to his films, including A Million Ways To Die In The West and the beloved Ted franchise.
The Mark Wahlberg starring Ted franchise is a comedy about a man who grows up with a talking teddy bear and spends his time with him as a friend. After two films, the franchise is now getting a prequel series that explores their relationship when Wahlberg’s character is in high school. MacFarlane revealed that a planned third film was turned into a series despite a huge, expensive risk.
Also read: Seth MacFarlane Shifts The Blame To Mark Wahlberg On Why Ted Show Won’t Feature Him
Seth MacFarlane’s Ted Series Was First Pitched As A Film
Seth MacFarlane’s Ted franchise is known for its dark humor, nonchalant and irreverent lines, and obscure pop culture references that are true to his style of comedy. The franchise follows the story of John Bennett, a lonely child who wishes for a friend which is granted when his teddy bear comes to life. The two grow up together and continue to hang out when they are adults, leading their lifestyles.
Ted was a massive commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing comedy of 2012 and the second-highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time. Ted 2 was released in 2015 and also became a success, though not as huge as the original. The commercial success of the franchise led to the studio approaching MacFarlane for a series.
While a Ted 3 was in the world before, the studio decided to commission a prequel series instead and approached Seth MacFarlane with the idea. MacFarlane said to The Hollywood Reporter that he was initially surprised by the idea,
“[Ted 3] was just different. Ted 2, I think, did very well… But the idea of doing a prequel was a different case. It wasn’t something that I came up with. Universal actually proposed the idea to me of doing a Ted series. I hadn’t really thought about going back to that character until they mentioned it, and I said, ‘Really? Isn’t that outrageously expensive?’ They stayed true to their word and did not compromise the quality.”
The prequel series is set in 1993 and shows a teen John Benett who navigates high school with his sentient teddy bear Ted.
Seth MacFarlane’s Brand Of Comedy Was Not Meddled With
The audience that Seth MacFarlane has built with his brand of comedy is a group that likes dark humor, irreverence, pop culture, and general raunchiness which can border on the offensive. The actor-director’s other shows and films such as Family Guy and A Million Ways to Die in the West are the perfect exhibits for his style of comedy.
Though MacFarlane has made a mark on the TV industry with his adult shows, his style would alienate a large section of the viewers who might not enjoy the dark aspects of his humor. Hence, it could be seen as a risk for a studio to invest in a series that has a CGI teddy bear for the majority of the film.
However, Seth MacFarlane mentioned that Universal and Peacock, the studios behind the Ted TV show, did not restrict him much,
“They were very clear from the get-go that they wanted this to be true to the tone of the films. They wanted Ted to be Ted…to their credit, on both the Universal and Peacock side, they stayed with it. They said, ‘We know what we bought, and we’re going to embrace it.’”
The show Ted premiered at the AMC Cinema on January 10, and all seven episodes are currently streaming on Peacock.
