After nearly two years, Seth McFarland returns with a second season of Ted. Based on the 2012 comedy Ted, the prequel series follows Ted, a talking teddy bear born by a wish upon a shooting star, and the various comedic situations he gets into with his best friend Johnny.
First, this season looks great overall. Visually, this is the best Ted has ever looked. Ted is way more expressive and feels more alive this season, and it’s no wonder this show has such a high budget. Seth McFarland described every episode as “really expensive,” and it shows.
There was a bit of controversy with this season due to the use of AI. In the episode, Johnny’s dad meets Bill Clinton at his job, and they use an AI deepfake to make Seth McFarland look like Bill Clinton. They said that they attempted to go with masks and CGI, but everything didn’t look right. Personally, I don’t like the use of AI, but this is, in my opinion, where AI was more used as a tool and not completely overused.
Ted, season two, like the last season, is still extremely funny. I don’t think this season has nearly as many funny moments as season one, but it is still funny in its own right. This season has a bigger focus on Johnny’s family, which is actually a good change. I don’t mind Ted being put into background roles, it only makes the moment when the talking teddy bear adds to a serious conversation even more hilarious. Episode-wise, I think the D&D episode was the standout this season, looked amazing, and had some of the best writing this season.
Sadly, it has been announced that the show has no plans for a season 3 due to high production costs, which is extremely disappointing but understandable. I’m glad that the show was able to end on a high note with some of the best comedy writing I’ve seen in the 2020’s.
9/10
