Peacock Books 'Ted' A Second Event
Peacock Books 'Ted' A Second Event
What is now the first season of the Seth MacFarlane series was originally just an “event series”, so make every new season an event!
Can you bear it? Peacock is bringing Ted back again, renewing the Seth MacFarlane-created prequel series to his films for a second season.
It was an obvious decision, as the streamer had claimed a week after its January 11 premiere that it was their most-watched original ever through its first three days. It would remain the top streaming comedy in the United States for about two months after. Originally billed as an event series, the renewal transforms it into an ongoing series, though every season can be an event in the same way. More eyeballs had been drawn to Peacock as more people downloaded the app ahead of its exclusive NFL Wild Card game. It was also performing fantastically in other countries on platforms like Sky in the United Kingdom, FOX8 and streaming service Binge in Australia and Showcase in Canada. While the seven-episode series was an amazing success, there were still some hurdles to renewal most-evident by having taken four months. The comedy’s hybrid live-action/CGI nature makes it expensive and intricate to produce, taking a longer time than an average show. Some estimates claim the budget is pushing $10 million per episode.
Ted is set in 1993, nearly 20 years prior to the main portion of the first movie, eight years into Ted (voiced by MacFarlane)’s Christmas wish-triggered life, and after his fame has passed. He and 16-year-old John, played by Max Burkholder, are still best friends but bad influences on each other. Scott Grimes and Alanna Ubach also star as John’s parents Matty and Susan Bennett and Giorgia Whigham as cousin Blaire. The series is produced by Universal Studio Group’s UCP with MacFarlane’s production company Fuzzy Door Productions and MRC. MacFarlane, Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh are co-showrunners and executive produce with Erica Huggins, Alana Kleiman, Jason Clark and Aimee Carlson.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, TVLine