Ted Series Trailer Brings The Bad Behavior Bear Back In A Big Way
Peacock has dropped the official trailer for the upcoming Ted series on their YouTube page. Slated for a January 11, 2024 release date, the series will function as a prequel to the Ted film franchise, and give us more of our favorite foul-mouthed Peter-Griffin-sounding teddy bear. Though the trailer doesn’t reveal much of the plot, we’re clued into the fact that the series will be set in 1993, and have an all-new cast to reflect the series’ earlier timeline.
The Ted series will take place on the timeline that occurs between the intro scene from the first movie and the adult timeline that is established and explored throughout the rest of the film.
If you need a crash course on the chain of events from the Ted movies, here’s the abridged version. John Bennett is gifted a teddy bear named Ted on Christmas. In his loneliness, John wishes upon a shooting star, and Ted becomes a self-aware and (questionably) intelligent living creature. Ted quickly propels its titular character and his owner into adulthood, but the series itself will take place during those early years before Ted briefly becomes a celebrity after the public learns of his sentience.
Set in Massachusetts, the Ted series will likely take place in the Bennett household as John and Ted navigate through adolescent life together alongside John’s father, his mother, and his cousin. Though the Ted trailer revealed absolutely nothing about the plot to the series, but was rather a brief self-referential monologue from Ted’s perspective, we have reason to believe that the series will be delivered in your typical sitcom fashion. What remains to be seen, however, is what kind of trouble Ted will get a young John Bennett into.
As any Ted fan will tell you, adult Ted and John love weed, beer, and are often unsuccessful in their romantic conquests. And the Ted series could very well provide insight into their early years that capture not only to some hilarious coming-of-age substance abuse sequences, but the family dynamic surrounding a socially awkward boy, and the bear that’s clearly a bad influence on his decision-making.
Given the timeline, the Ted series will have an entirely new cast. Max Burkholder will portray John Bennett, who was primarily portrayed as an adult in the films by Mark Wahlberg, with Colton Shires and Bretton Manley portraying him at a younger age in the flashback sequences. Alanna Ubach will take on the role of John’s Mother, Susan, a role that belonged to Alex Bornstein in the first Ted movie. Scott Grimes will take on the role of the family patriarch, Matty Bennett, in place of Ralph Garman, who portrayed him in the movie.
Cast changes aside, Seth MacFarlane will continue to voice Ted in the upcoming series because nobody can replace his signature voice that we’ve grown so familiar with over the years from watching copious amounts of Family Guy.
Ted will premiere on Peacock on January 11, 2024, and all eight episodes of the series will be available at that time.
