Ted the Series review: The bear is back, for better or worse

Ted the series brings back the titular bear, though while there are some occasional laughs, this show is more stuffed with fluff.

From Seth MacFarlane, maker of Family Guy, Ted shows what happens when a cuddly magic best friend turns into an alcoholic leech. But it seems like there’s more to this eventual turn than meets the eye, which is what this new Ted series is about.

Ted first dropped back in 2012, with Seth MacFarlane voicing the titular character, along with Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. This new 2024 Peacock series, which is set in the 90s and only has MacFarlane returning, shows what Ted’s teenage years were like after his fame had died down, along with his human best friend John Bennett.

But while audiences seem to love sitcom prequels – take Young Sheldon‘s popularity – Ted’s origin show is, unfortunately, likely to become as irrelevant as the talking bear himself.

Ted is dead on arrival…or is he?

There are certainly elements to admire in Ted the series. There is the occasional laugh, a certain Full House joke works well. The actors do alright with what they’re given, you’re able to buy Max Burkholder as a young John Bennett/Mark Wahlberg – which is no easy feat – and Alanna Ubach as matriarch Susan Bennett especially seems to be putting effort into creating a memorable character.

And while nostalgia-baiting with its period setting is a pretty old trick, it’s still charming to be put back into that 90s sitcom vibe, as the show attempts to essentially recreate The Goldbergs with a Family Guy edge.

However, Ted definitely has its hurdles to overcome if you want to watch the show, with sadly the biggest one being its entire first episode. If it wasn’t important for the plot, we’d honestly tell you to skip it. The energy hasn’t found its rhythm yet, the jokes feel overdone, there’s too much of a reliance on the f-bomb, and the camera often lingers for far longer than it should, creating a stilted air, as if this is a Lynchian take on a sitcom.

While being mad about MacFarlane relying on stereotypes is almost as tired as the stereotypes themselves, it really shows a lack of creativity when each member of the Bennett family feels like a stock character, and it’s not until later (and thankfully much better) episodes that they finally get to be funny in their own right. New episodes encourage new pairings and dynamics, which allow for some actually entertaining situations, such as Ted and Cousin Blaire (played by Giorgia Whigham) in the Halloween episode.

But what makes the series as a whole feel lackluster is sadly the titular character himself. Not that Ted can’t be entertaining, but the central joke of the original movies was what he – and John – had grown up into. Here, Ted has yet to become the heinous and crude bear we know him as, in fact, he’s even pretty nice in a number of scenes, and thus there is no joke here. Ultimately, its entire concept is redundant, and thus there’s little to latch onto to carry you past that first episode and towards the end of the series.

Ted the Series review score: 2/5

While Ted does get better as the episodes go along, and no doubt there will be viewers who will get a laugh and a good time, there’s still little incentive to watch this series unless you’re already a big fan of the franchise.

There’s effort here on the part of the actors, and should the show continue to improve with every episode perhaps there’s potential for a genuinely serviceable series, but considering how redundant Ted the Series appears as a whole, it might be better to put that potential elsewhere.

Ted the Series is now available to stream in full on Peacock.