Better Off Ted
Better Off Ted airs Tuesdays at 9:30pm Eastern on ABC. It returns December 8th for its second season.
Official Description: They’re Putting Comedy To Work (this is why no one watches the darn show)
Starring: Jay Harrington as the aforementioned Ted and Portia de Rossi as his morally bankrupt boss. You’ll like everyone else too, but they’re not really names (yet).
Awesomeness of Season 1: 8/10. The actors really elevate the material (which is in solid, goofy sitcom humor mode most of the time but throws a little subversive material at you just often enough to keep you on your toes) and really take the show beyond the typical office workplace comedy.
Good if: You miss Portia de Rossi on your tv screen since Arrested Development was axed; you’re into absurdist humor, sexual tension, bromances wherein NO ONE EVER UTTERS THAT ACCURSED WORD, cute children who are used sparingly, and cynicism; it’s hiatus (it is) and mother fucking Glee isn’t coming back until the middle of April (it isn’t), and freaking Lost won’t start for another month.
Bad if: You don’t like sitcom format no matter, you don’t enjoy gentle hotness, you were planning on using the winter hiatus as a time to “have a life”.
Bottom line: Better Off Ted’s 1st season didn’t exactly set the world on fire, but it’s a snappy little comedy that works very well at blending the kinds of jokey sitcom jokes that aren’t very in vogue right now with much darker bits. Since no show in the world is going to be on for a while and Better Off Ted isn’t the kind of show where you need to know much of anything beyond a one line synopsis of the characters to figure out what’s going on, it’s the perfect time to give it a try.
Season 1 is out on DVD and the last five episodes of the season can be streamed on Fancast, Hulu, and ABC.com.
