“Ted” is a franchise I’ve known about for a while. The first movie came out in 2012,the brainchild of Seth MacFarlane, creator of the show “Family Guy” and more. As one can expect from the creator of “Family Guy”, the Ted franchise is equally as crass and has a very similar style of humor. Needless to say, these pieces of media do not take themselves seriously. I stumbled upon this franchise when my roommate started watching the “Ted” show, which just came out this year. I also took to watching it, not expecting a whole lot, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was not that bad.
The overall premise of the franchise is that the main character, John Bennett, has a stuffed bear, which comes to life after he wishes to not be lonely. The bear, known as Ted, gets its 15 minutes of fame for being a magical, talking stuffed animal, but always remains friends with John. We then see John’s life as a grownup, who still has Ted, his best friend. John faces a number of problems as an adult, including problems with his girlfriend, his job, and with substance abuse. A lot of these are made worse by Ted, who doesn’t know how to live on his own, away from John, and is constantly encouraging John to come over and smoke or drink. On top of experiencing this myriad of issues, there is also a man who wants to kidnap Ted and keep him as a collector’s item. The first movie overall is okay, but not necessarily worth watching I think. It’s a 3.5 out of five, if I had to give it a rating.
The second movie, which came out in 2015, sees John and Ted in a much stabler setting. However, that’s only how it seems in the beginning, it is quickly revealed that John’s life hasn’t gotten much better, and Ted is in a very unsettling relationship with a coworker of his. However, Ted and his wife decide to have a child to keep their marriage together, but quickly discover that his wife is infertile. After considering adoption, Ted realizes that the government doesn’t consider him a human, and his life begins to fall apart. His driver’s license is revoked, he gets evicted from his apartment, and fired from his job. The premise of this movie is a court case where he is fighting for human rights in society. Honestly, I didn’t like this movie as much as the first, I thought the plot was weaker, and the humor wasn’t as funny. There was also this weird little B-plot where the villain from the first movie tries to kidnap Ted again, but it has a very half-thought and unsatisfying ending that doesn’t really add anything to the story. Three out of five for this one.
The recent “Ted” show I actually thought was the best piece of “Ted” content that has been produced so far. It focuses on the early life of John and Ted, acting as a prequel to the movies. It has some very sweet themes, if you ignore the drugs, the idolization of sex, and the lying and deceit that Ted and John use to get their way out of sticky situations. At the end of the day, that’s the kind of thing this show has to offer, and for what it’s worth, it’s not that bad. For me, it’s a four out of five. I think the humor is top-notch, even if the storyline slacks a little bit.
Overall, the “Ted” franchise isn’t half bad, but it’s very far from peak cinema. This franchise is for anybody who is a fan of “Family Guy,” as well as anyone who enjoys particularly crass humor. You can find the “Ted” show and the first movie on Peacock, and “Ted 2” on Max.
