Peacock
Remember a decade or so ago when comedy movies like The Hangover or Ted would gross hundreds of millions of dollars and be massive box office hits?
It’s been quite a long time since then, as evidenced by the general relegation of comedy to streaming services, with the occasional buzzworthy one like Jennifer Lawrence’s No Hard Feelings or Sydney Sweeney’s rom-com Anyone But You cropping up.
Given that it has been so long since the halcyon days of Ted — the sequel and most recent film came out in 2015 — one would be forgiven for having low expectations for the recently released prequel series on Peacock.
And based on the reactions on social media, it would appear virtually everyone felt that way as the show has since gone viral due to the shock and surprise it’s causing by actually being funny.
“Monitoring the developing situation that is the Ted tv show. Receiving regular updates from our people on the ground,” one viral tweet with over 15,000 likes joked.
So like nobody gonna talk about this joke in Ted pic.twitter.com/ku8iAgZRyd
— 🍉NEGATIVMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA🇵🇸 (@Ultima_Undead) January 16, 2024
https://twitter.com/hackermanjoe/status/1747319942549012845
The Ted prequel hasn’t just been a viral hit: it’s also become a ratings hit for the Universal-owned streaming service as the series has become the most-watched original series in the history of Peacock.
The series, which was cooked up by original creator Seth MacFarlane, is a prequel that follows a teenage version of Mark Wahlberg’s character John Bennett. The series is set in Framingham, Massachusetts, and sees John and Ted living with John’s father Matty, his mother Susan, and his cousin Blaire. Wahlberg, it should be mentioned, has absolutely no attachment to the series, not even as an executive producer.
All seven episodes in season one were released on Peacock on Thursday, January 11. Given the immediate and massive success of the show, it will surely get renewed for a second season as long as MacFarlane is game.