Ted Trailer Revives The Bad Behavior Bear In New Series
Fans of the racy 2012 comedy Ted can rejoice. The foul-mouthed, beer-swilling, pot-smoking bear is back next year in his own Peacock original series. A new trailer for the show features Seth MacFarlane once again voicing the title character in his signature exaggerated Boston accent.
Not returning, sadly, is MacFarlane’s partner in crime, Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg portrayed John Bennett in the two Ted films, a man who wished as a child for his Teddy bear to come to life only to have it actually happen. Ted, the series serves as a prequel to the films set in 1993, making Wahlberg too old to play John this time around.
Instead, we get relative newcomer Max Burkholder in the lead role. Burkholder has over 53 acting credits, according to IMDb, but is ultimately no match for Mark Wahlberg when it comes to name recognition. In fact, the majority of Ted‘s cast is made up of actors who aren’t exactly household names. Alanna Ubach and Scott Grimes, who play John’s parents, for example, are both voices on the various series that makeup MacFarlane’s animated empire.
Rather than stacking the cast with stars, Peacock and Seth Macfarlane seem to be banking on MacFarlane’s voice and raunchy sense of humor as the real stars of the Ted franchise. And just in case anyone is worried that the jokes may have been toned down for the television series, rest assured the trailer is full of crude jokes and profanity.
Clocking in at just under two minutes, the trailer is stuffed with f-bombs, drug use, explicit language, and underage drinking. The prequel is set when John is still in high school and before he and Ted have fallen into their debaucherous slacker ways. Two plot points revealed in the trailer include the duo purchasing drugs for the first time and John attempting to lose his virginity.
Basically, the series is presented as a throwback to the high school comedies from the ’80s and ’90s, like Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and American Pie (1999). As many fans are aware, a lot of those old teen romps haven’t aged particularly well—Revenge of the Nerds, we’re looking at you—making it seem like an odd choice for a series made in the 2020s. On the other hand, MacFarlane’s Family Guy is practically the blueprint for making inappropriate jokes and not getting canceled.
If anyone can pull off a retro-themed teen comedy, it would be him.
Ted was greenlit in June 2021 with MacFarlane as executive producer as well as one of the series’ writers. Of the first season’s eight episodes, three were written by MacFarlane, and the rest were split between Paul Corrigan, Brad Walsh, Dana Gould, Julius Sharpe, and Jon Pollack. All eight episodes of Ted will be available to stream on Peacock starting January 11, 2024.
In the meantime, fans can get their Seth MacFarlane fix every Sunday at 9:30 when Family Guy airs on Fox. The beloved adult animated series is currently in its 22nd season and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.
