Running a comedy is already hard enough. But, running one built around a CGI teddy bear presents its own unique challenges. For co-showrunners and EPs Seth MacFarlane, Brad Walsh and Paul Corrigan, Ted requires the same creative instincts as any sitcom: building stories, developing character arcs and eliciting laughs in the writers’ room. Season 2 takes some worthy swings that blend broad comedy with surprising emotional depth, all while pulling off some of TV’s most ambitious VFX feats across various sight gags.
Below, MacFarlane, Walsh and Corrigan talk to Deadline about the realities of showrunning Ted, their new Ted animated series, the collaborative process behind bringing laughs to life and why the show’s VFX team remains integral to every creative decision.
DEADLINE: You’ve got a dildo to a lute ballad regarding the movie Philadelphia. How did you push the boundaries with the humor that you’re doing this time around in Season 2?
SETH MACFARLANE: I think with any comedy of this type, there’s always the pressure to top yourself from season to season or from episode to episode. I remember when they sent me the sculpt of the dildo from the props department, and that was definitely a career moment, where I thought to myself, “God, all I ever wanted to do was a musical. Now I’m looking at plastic dicks and giving a thumbs up or thumbs down.”
DEADLINE: How do you all get together in the writers’ room and figure out what jokes sell and which ones don’t?
BRAD WALSH: I mean, I certainly think the reaction of the room is to be trusted first and foremost. Then we do step back sometimes and double-check, do a gut check on whether we want something to go out into the world, but you can sort of tell when the reaction, if you fill a table with people whose opinions you respect and then they react, you know that something is real.
CORRIGAN: What Brad was saying is pretty true. If there’s 10 people around a room and someone says something and we all laugh, it’s a pretty good indication that it’s funny. And by the same token, if there are a few people sitting there going, “I’m not comfortable with that,” you think twice and you really do make sure it’s something you want to put out in the world, because once it’s out, it’s out.
DEADLINE: You’ve got Susan going to jail, an abortion storyline and themes of having vulnerabilities while maintaining your masculinity. Was there a challenging storyline to get through this season?
MACFARLANE: I don’t think so. It’s a pretty great writers’ room. It’s one of the best writers’ rooms I’ve ever been in. It’s shocking how manageable the hours were that we worked from day to day, because the amount that we got done during that time that was of the caliber that we hoped to achieve for the show was really impressive. And I don’t remember any particularly challenging story. I mean, it’s not like we’re doing The Handmaid’s Tale here. [Laughs].
DEADLINE: Right, totally. I’m wondering more about how you balanced the comedy and humor in the abortion episode.
MACFARLANE: I mean, for that kind of stuff, for me personally, I’ll just say, I always go by the Norman Lear rule that anything that treads on controversial topics has to feel like everything is coming from the character. The characters always have to remain in character. You don’t ever want a situation where you can hear the writer’s voice speaking through the character, who effectively turns into a mouthpiece. Matty has to sound like Matty. Blaire has to sound like Blaire. Susan has to sound like Susan. The truth of the characters has to come first, and I think that protects you from falling into the soapboxy trap that some shows fall into.
DEADLINE: Ted makes this joke about possibly being able to live for a thousand years, but he isn’t sure if that’s true or not. On the backend for you all, is there any other bear science that you still need to work out that you haven’t yet?
CORRIGAN: Oh, that’s a good question. We didn’t wind up turning this into an episode, but in pre-production we did talk about Ted losing an eye and watching the eye go on a journey, that he had to figure out where the eye was, and he could still see through it. That’s something that hopefully we’ll explore in the future, perhaps on the animated show.
DEADLINE: What do you think is the most underrated aspect about the show that people aren’t talking about enough?
MACFARLANE: I think, in a broad sense, all of us would like to really get back to comedies being comedies on the Emmy ballot, as opposed to dramas that sneak into the category. I know there’s a lot of comedy writers, most comedy writers, in my experience that are done rolling their eyes at that. But for me specifically, look, there’s some great performances from these actors. Alanna Ubach, a thousand percent deserves recognition. But the one that really is my crusade is the VFX team. What they did, even in Season 1, is something that I have not ever seen done on television. I’ve been in animation for years, so I pay attention to this stuff. And the quality of what they did and the quantity of what they did, coupled with each other, is just unprecedented on TV. You see it in features, for sure. But in television, for eight episodes, with not just a CGI character, but a CGI character who really has to be acted in the most subtle way in every single shot — and you’re talking about thousands of shots — it’s really extraordinary.
In some ways, the show suffered from how good the work was that that team did, that you almost don’t even think about the fact that Ted is CGI, because the animators are so good. It’s Blair Clark and his team here and then the team in Framestore Melbourne. They’re just extraordinary and they just blew my mind on a daily basis with their talent. I’m not somebody who obsesses over awards, but that was the first time that I thought, “Oh, maybe people aren’t paying attention. Maybe nobody’s watching this shit.” Because what these guys did was unprecedented for TV. I’ve just never seen anything like it, and they deserve recognition this time around. I think that’s something that really needs to happen.
WALSH: Yeah. It’s not just photoreal, which would be impressive enough, but it’s a comedic performance and it’s carrying the show. It’s pretty remarkable.
DEADLINE: What are you excited for fans to see in the Ted animated series?
CORRIGAN: Obviously, the core of Ted for me has always been the friendship between John and Ted. And in the animated show, seeing them take that friendship to when they’re adults and they have families and how they help each other deal with those challenges, that’s, for me, going forward, what I’m excited about.
WALSH: I think the live-action movie and TV show and hopefully the animated series have a surprising amount of heart considering how raunchy and TV-MA they are. And we’re trying to continue that as well, where they’re wrestling with what does it mean to be a good dad? What does it mean to be a good spouse? What does it mean to be a good friend? And also, of course, expanding the world, as one always does with a TV show.
DEADLINE: Do you feel you’ve completed everything you wanted to do in the live-action version?
MACFARLANE: Yeah, where the prequel goes from here is really up to Peacock. It’s a show that’s quite costly to produce, but it’s also a show that fortunately has been very successful. So, it is one of those nice situations where it has justified its budget with audience response.
But yeah, I mean, it’s a lot of work to spend two years doing eight episodes of a TV series. And so, for me going forward, I love this group, I love this cast. As I’ve said before, I’d be game to do a one-off feature with this cast that tells a single story. As far as another eight episodes, it’s certainly a discussion I’m willing to have, but that’s kind of where my head is at the moment.
DEADLINE: Also, I mean, I don’t think this property is going anywhere. You have that giant Ted statue on the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot tram tour.
MACFARLANE: As close as we’re ever getting to a theme park ride.
DEADLINE: Oh, do you want to get a theme park ride for Ted?
MACFARLANE: I mean, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, right? [Laughs].
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