Summary

• Critics praise the Ted prequel for its humorous portrayal of 90s sitcom tropes, though some reviews say it doesn't bring anything new to the franchise.
• Some critics believe that the Ted TV show is funnier than the movies, but also criticize the pacing and length of the episodes.
• The cast of the show, including Max Burkholder, Alanna Ubach, and Giorgia Whigham, receive general praise for their performances in their respective roles.

The reviews are in for the Ted prequel. The Peacock show follows the childhood of John Bennett (Max Burkholder), who was played by Mark Wahlberg in the R-rated comedy movies Ted and Ted 2. As he navigates his adolescence, he is accompanied by his wise-cracking talking teddy bear Ted (Seth MacFarlane, reprising his original role). The cast of the show also includes Alanna Ubach as John's mother Susan and Scott Grimes as his father Matty.

Now that the Ted show has premiered on Peacock, critics have been able to share their full thoughts. The overall tenor of the reviews is positive, with many praising the show's skewering of classic sitcom tropes of the 1990s. Critics acknowledge that the show is as crude and offensive as might be expected from Seth MacFarlane, who is also known for Family Guy, but even a more middling review like the one from Collider's Nate Richard says that it "doesn’t bring much new to the franchise, but it is extremely watchable."

Everything Critics Are Saying About Ted

Many critics are also favorably comparing the show to the Ted movies. Daily Beast's Nick Schager says that the prequel "earns quite a few more chuckles than its big-screen counterparts." However, UPI's Fred Topel warns that, while the laughs of the movies are back, so is the overlong plotting, as Ted 2 "also became bogged down," just like the show's "50-minute pilot and a 38-minute second episode."

Ted 2 is the worst-reviewed entry in the franchise so far, with a 45% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Ted cast is also receiving general praise. Slash Film's Ethan Anderton says that Max Burkholder is "just fantastic" as the young John, giving a performance that "manages to capture the same natural connection with MacFarlane" that Wahlberg did in the original movies. The Hollywood Reporter's Angie Han also praises Alanna Ubach for playing John's mother "with such wide-eyed sincerity that she nearly transcends the put-upon wife type" and co-star Giorgia Whigham, who "imbues John’s college-liberal cousin Blaire with a slyness that keeps her from being reduced entirely to a self-righteous punching bag."

Not every critic agrees on Ted, however. AV Club's Jarrod Jones criticizes the show for attempting "to find a social middle-ground where warring generations come to some sort of accord before the credits roll," which is "above the series’ purview" as it "squirms for relevance." IGN's Ryan Leston also comments that the show's slow improvement isn't benefited by its truncated seven-episode run, saying that it "slumps lifelessly over the finishing line by the time it gets to the good stuff."

Source: Various (see above)