What do you get when you mix an office comedy with super science? A little show called Better Off Ted on ABC. Let us find out why you should be watching this show.
I know that recommending a show on one of the major networks may not seem like something “under the radar,” but this show is hilarious and under appreciated. ABC describes this show as “a satirical office comedy featuring a successful but morally conscious man Ted, who runs an R&D department at a morally questionable corporation.” Unlike some network descriptions, this one is pretty accurate.
The “morally questionable corporation” is Veridian Dynamics. Veridian is a mega corporation involved in a number of different industries. They deal in government contracts for weapons as well as products to help normal consumers better their lives. As far as the morally questionable aspects I’ll list out a few of their products and you can decide for yourself:
Some of those don’t seem so bad. Right?
So now we know about the company, but what about the man, Ted? Ted, played by Jay Harrington, is a fairly normal executive and plays the straight man on this comedy show. He is a single father who works hard to provide for his daughter, Rose. This is Harrington’s first starring role, though, he has had a number of cameo or guest spots on other shows and one of the things I like about this show is that they don’t have any big name actors.
Ted’s boss, Veronica, is played by Portia de Rossi. She’s the biggest name on this show. She is the up tight, emotionless boss. She rules the office with an iron fist and most of her underlings fear her. She is not, however, without her quirks.
The foil to Veronica is Linda, played by Andrea Anders. Linda is in charge of PR for the company. Her job is putting the best spin on the weird and wild products coming out of the labs. She sticks it to the man by stealing large amounts of creamer from the break room. She and Ted play at romance but they can’t be together because Ted has used up his one office romance on a fling with Veronica.
The head scientists are Phil and Lem played by Jonathan Slavin and Malcolm Barrett respectively. They function as a superbly nerdy duo. They are partners to the point that they act like a married couple. They do have a pretty cool hobby down in the basement of the building.
Here they are dealing with a “hairy situation.”
Now that I’ve given you the basics of the show. Here’s an entire episode for you to watch and judge for yourself. This episode deals with corporate ethics and scapegoating. One thing to watch for the commercials for Veridian that are in each episode. Enjoy!
