Better Off Ted

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Better Off Ted
Genre	Situation Comedy
Created by	Victor Fresco
Starring	Jay Harrington Portia de Rossi Andrea Anders Jonathan Slavin Malcolm Barrett Isabella Acres
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	14 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Victor Fresco
Camera setup	Single-camera setup
Running time	30 minutes (with commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	March 18, 2009 – present
External links
Official website

Better Off Ted is an American single-camera situation comedy, which premiered March 18, 2009 on ABC.^[1] The show deals with the absurd day-to-day at a heartless technology company, Veridian Dynamics. Creator Victor Fresco is also executive producer for the series.^[2] It is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. After a first season of 13 episodes, it was renewed for a second season of 13 episodes, which premiered on Tuesday, December 8, 2009, at 9:30PM Eastern/8:30PM Central, following Scrubs.^[3] In 2009, the series was nominated for the Ewwy Award for Best Comedy Series.

Jay Harrington, who plays Ted Crisp on the show, serves as both a main character and as an on-camera narrator. Throughout the show, he breaks the fourth wall and speak directly to viewers, offering inside information and observations while the action continues around him. Another plot element involves the use of mock commercials for Veridian Dynamics, thematically related to individual episodes and placed at the end or beginning of actual commercial breaks. These segments parody the belief that large corporations sometimes twist the truth, lie to their consumers and spin negative aspects of their company to their own benefit.

ABC is preparing to burn off the seasons of both Better Off Ted and Scrubs.^[4]

Contents 1 Cast and characters 2 Episodes 3 U.S. television ratings 4 DVD release 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Cast and characters

Edward "Ted" Margaret Crisp, played by Jay Harrington, is the successful and yet conscientious head of research and development at Veridian Dynamics. He has been a single father to his daughter Rose, after a hostile break-up with his wife Stacy (who left to "save the world"). Ted has a somewhat liaison-like position between the workers and the management of Veridian smoothing out the demands and expectations made on the other.

Veronica Palmer, played by Portia de Rossi, is Ted's boss. Though she once had an "office affair" with Ted, she prides herself on her ability to detach herself emotionally from her employees, actively cultivating an image of being emotionless, devoid of conscience, and willing to do anything to advance herself and the company. Despite this, she does use Ted as an advisor on some of the more "touchy-feely" parts of her job, and often surreptitiously aids him and her other employees when needed. She denies any emotional motivation for these benevolent acts, though, often describing them as being in the best interests of the company.

Veronica has a strained relationship with her family. She feeds her sister while the sibling is asleep, in order to remain the thinner one. Her father owns a rival company, and the two often steal inventions from one another and pass them off as their own prompting identical retribution. During the first season, we learn that she is involved in a long distance relationship with a magician, acting as his flashy, scantily clad assistant.

Linda Katherine Zwordling, played by Andrea Anders, is in the testing department at Veridian. She seems to desire a relationship with Ted, though she is often frustrated by his "one office affair" rule. She refuses to compromise her principles and is often the team's moral center. She always speaks her mind, and doesn't seem to mind offending people.

Phil Myman and Lem Hewitt, played by Jonathan Slavin and Malcolm Barrett respectively, are two brilliant scientists involved in research and development who almost always be seem to be working on new inventions or discoveries that border on the fantastic or impossible, like hover boots, "cow-less" beef or a cure for baldness that grows hair on anything it touches, like Ted's desk. Where Phil is emotionally sensitive, Lem tends to act purely based on logic, oblivious to the fact that not everyone views things as rationally as he does. Their characters on the show are best friends that are so close they often act as though they are the other's spouse or mother, especially when it comes to being protective of the other.

Rose Crisp, played by Isabella Acres, is Ted's daughter. She often asks Ted questions that make him question Veridian's unscrupulous policies and practices (such as cryonically freezing Phil), acting as his moral anchor when he sometimes is pushed to put the needs of the company over his own conscience and friends and steering him back in the right direction.

[edit] Episodes

[edit] U.S. television ratings

[edit] DVD release

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the first season of Better Off Ted on Region 1 DVD on December 1, 2009.

DVD name	Episode count	Release date
The Complete First Season[5]	13	December 1, 2009

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Better Off Ted

• Official website
• Veridian Dynamics website
• Better Off Ted at the Internet Movie Database
• Better Off Ted at TV.com