Summary
Seth MacFarlane’s beloved talking teddy bear is already gearing up to come back to the screen in an excitingTedseason 2 production update. The Peacock show serves as a prequel to MacFarlane’s movies of the same name, exploring the teenage years of John Bennett and the titular bear, as well as his family life with his parents and cousin, Blaire. Led by Max Burkholder as John, taking over from Mark Wahlberg, and MacFarlane reprising his role,Tedseason 1 garnered generally positive reviews from critics and audiences, setting a new franchise high on Rotten Tomatoes.
Just over a month after the show’s renewal was confirmed,Scott Grimestook to Instagram to share aTedseason 2 production update.
The post, as seen above, is a behind-the-scenes photo from the read-through of the scripts for the next season of the hit prequel show, confirming that filming is right around the corner for the comedy. Grimes also teases a joke to come for Uncle Matty in season 2 in which he “may or may not be half naked” in the premiere episode.
Will Ted Season 2 Avoid The Sequel’s Troubles?
While season 1 proved to be a hit for Peacock,Tedseason 2 has a unique opportunityfor the franchise by building on this for an even more successful follow-up. The last time MacFarlane looked to expand the fantasy comedy was 2015’sTed 2which, though still a box office success, was considered a general disappointment in comparison to the 2012 original, having grossed just over $215 million worldwide, roughly half of the first movie’s $549 million haul. Additionally, reviews proved far more mixed from critics and audiences alike, with both critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes landing Rotten.
The biggest thing that brought the sequel down was not only the reliance on the juvenile humor audiences come to expect from a MacFarlane project, but even the recycling of certain jokes fromFamily Guyand underwhelming story. Forseason 2 to overcome the 2015 movie’s missteps, it will need to both offer the R-rated humorfans of theTedfranchisewant, but also do something new and unique with its returning cast of characters.
Ted Prequel Show’s 10 Best Easter Eggs & Movie References
The Ted prequel show is full of references to the movies (and other Seth MacFarlane projects), as well as nods to the pop culture of its ’90s setting.
GivenTedseason 1 saw a lot of character growth for Grimes' Matty and Giorgia Whigham’s Blaire as she worked with him to overcome his outdated beliefs while also embracing her own future and sexual identity, season 2 should take a similar approach to John, Susan and Ted. Though it still has to wrestle with thecontinuity of theTedmovies, there are still plenty of ways for the prequel to deliver meaningful storylines for the group, including John’s potential college years, a building of his dating life prior to Mila Kunis' Lori and Amanda Seyfried’s Sam and Susan finding further agency in her life after season 1 briefly saw this arc with her returning to teaching.
Ted
Cast
Ted is a prequel TV series to the comedy franchise of the same name by Seth MacFarlane. The TV show brings MacFarlane back as the voice of the talking teddy bear Ted, who is growing up in the ’90s with John Bennett and his family. Ted is a Peacock original series that premiered in January 2024.
