Better Off Ted

Channel: Comedy Channel
Day & time: Tuesday, 9.30 p.m.
(*as at January 2010)

 

Nose to the - comic - grindstone

The workplace seems to be an increasingly popular setting for TV series, particularly comedies. Series like Scrubs and 30 Rock (and the archetypal office comedy, The Office) have elevated the workplace out of the humdrum and into viable TV fare. Now we can enjoy Better Off Ted, although it's perhaps one of the more outre examples of the genre.

Better Off Ted actually takes the concept of the workplace comedy a step further by setting it in one of those faceless multinational companies that are increasingly the subject of investigative journalism. You know the ones, they're the companies whose unethical research or dealings with repressive regimes makes a great feature article in a prominent newspaper or one of those "behind the news" pieces on current affairs shows. It's an environment that many of us won't be familiar with, and as a result, the show doesn't have the immediate relevance of, say, The Office; but it makes it somewhat easier for the writers to mine for comedic material.

The company in question here is the fictional Veridian Dynamics, a conglomerate that seems to want to be everything to all people. There's seemingly no product they won't manufacture, and no cost cutting they won't consider in the pursuit of higher profits. The eponymous Ted (Jay Harrington) is the head of research and development (R&D to those in the know). He's a high ranking executive, but unlike his ruthless and socially retarded boss Veronica (Portia de Rossi), tries to put a human face to his role. His R&D team includes two brilliant but perhaps stereotypically nerdy scientists, Phil (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Malcolm Barrett); and their misadventures in the lab provide a diversion from the executive suites. Meanwhile, Ted, who's a single father, is being romantically pursued by another Veridian employee, Linda (Andrea Anders).

The mix of office politics, highly dubious research and, shall we say, "workplace relations", doesn't exactly sound like a laugh riot; but in fact the show turns out to be very funny. That could be because it's the brainchild of writer/producer Victor Fresco, whose previous credits include a stint on My Name is Earl. Fresco takes the lead in the writing department and invests the show with a kind of quirky enthusiasm that's hard to dislike. Even in its more out-there moments (and there are plenty of them), the show never crosses that line into sheer stupidity.

I guess it helps that much of the humour is targetted at the company itself; either as an abstract entity or as represented by the frosty Veronica. There's a fair whack of social commentary thrown in (should companies really be developing artificial meat in a petrie dish?) and this allows considerable scope for the comedy to flourish. The other key difference between this show and your regular sitcom is that it fairly barrels along. No sooner has one joke finished than you're into the next (a la the similarly fast-paced The Loop). This keeps the whole thing bubbling along, with little time to ponder anything that doesn't quite work.

Jay Harrington has a rather difficult role here. He's essentially the foil - the straight man, if you like - for all the more bizarre characters that surround him. He's basically the audience's substitute inside the manic world of the show, the voice of reason among the nuts. That means he doesn't actually get to do a lot of comedy, apart from reacting to the foibles of others. Indeed, in some episodes he's more of a minor character than the lead.

Australian actor Portia de Rossi, who's making quite a name for herself in US television, gets many of the show's juiciest moments as the flinty Veronica. Crucially though, she's not just a one-dimensional character, and de Rossi gets to show her expansive range at times. Jonathan Slavin and Malcolm Barrett as the geeky scientists play their parts to a tee, even if the characters are arguably nothing we haven't seen before; while Andrea Anders infuses a much-needed feminine touch as the sultry but rather messed-up Linda.

Although I don't personally regard Better Off Ted as "unmissable" television, it's certainly a whole lot more enjoyable than a lot of the pap on the box presently. There's something about this show that grabs you and won't let go, so it emerges as a more than acceptable alternative on a Tuesday night.

Phil James