jonathan slavin-related stories
Posted Sep 7th 2009 11:03AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Late Night, OpEd, Talk Show, Reality-Free, Gone Too Soon
When
Andy Richter left
Late Night With Conan O'Brien to establish his own career in acting, nobody knew that he'd come full circle and rejoin O'Brien years later. At the same time, nobody knew that creator
Victor Fresco would do much the same thing.
Andy Richter Controls the Universe was one of those quirky shows that most people, who enjoy a dash of nonsense in their comedy, really dug. It was a very playful show about a guy working in a massive company. It featured a small ensemble with great chemistry on-screen, and had a unique look at big corporations.
A few years later, Fresco tapped that well again, and we got
Better Off Ted, another comedy with absurdist tendencies set in a massive corporation with a small cast. Like
Andy, it eked out a second season based more on critical acclaim than ratings. As someone who enjoys both shows, I find myself worrying that
Ted will share
Andy's ultimate fate, cancellation after the second season.
Continue reading Gone Too Soon: Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Posted Jul 1st 2009 8:02AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
Why is ABC running new episodes of
Better Off Ted during the summer? Not that fans aren't incredibly happy to see new episodes, but I would have thought that ABC would rerun the earlier episodes of the show and then start running new ones this fall (the show has been renewed for the fall).
Posted May 6th 2009 8:09AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
This was the season finale of
Better Off Ted, and it could turn out to be the series finale. ABC will reveal their fall schedule on May 19, so for the next couple of weeks fans of this show will be acting like
Arrested Development fans, praying that their favorite sitcom continues and ready to send letters to the network. ABC doesn't really do well with comedies. They usually don't last long or they're grabbed from another network (
Scrubs and
maybe Old Christine), so maybe this is a show they'd like to keep around.
What did you think of this series finale?
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 1:35PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
ABC's new comedy
Better Off Ted - which aired last night - is one of the
on the bubble shows. It certainly has its fan base, but it's also one of those quirky sitcoms that just "feels" like one you can imagine ABC canceling after one short season, and then it goes away forever. And then we grumble about it for months and hope for a DVD release. What do you think? Do you think the show deserves a second season or do you think it's ... better off dead (sorry)?
Posted Mar 17th 2009 10:01AM by Jonathan Toomey
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Early Looks, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
![[L-R]: Lem (Malcolm Barrett), Ted (Jay Harrington), and Phil (Jonathan Slavin)](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tvsquad.com/media/2009/03/113205_2346_pretvs425.jpg)
Better Off Ted, ABC's new workplace comedy, debuts Wednesday at 8:30PM ET. However, the timing of the show's release couldn't be more fortuitous... or disastrous, depending on how you look at it. The show revolves around an ethically inept conglomerate, Veridian Dynamics, and as a result, viewers will unavoidably end up thinking about everything that's wrong with our economy - from Bernie Madoff to AIG to Enron (a stretch yes, but still relevant). As a comedy, it's a decidedly glass half-full approach. Unfortunately, this comes at a time when most viewers will probably have more in common with a glass half-empty mantra. Will it work? I'm thinking yes.
Continue reading Better Off Ted -- An early look
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