# Better Off Ted (2009)

> A morally conscious R&D chief at a shady corporation tries to keep his integrity while raising his daughter and dodging his company's absurd experiments.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/7232

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 26
- Episode runtime: 22 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Victor Fresco
- Network: ABC
- Cast: Jay Harrington, Portia De Rossi, Andrea Anders, Jonathan Slavin, Malcolm Barrett, Isabella Acres, Kevin Chamberlin, Richard Fancy
- TMDB rating: 8.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235547/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: deadpan, irreverent, witty, breezy, sardonic

## What critics say

Audiences rated the series acclaimed, valuing its sharp satire of a morally compromised corporation and its warm, well-written workplace ensemble.

## Synopsis

Better Off Ted (2009-2010) is an American network sitcom created by Victor Fresco for ABC. Jay Harrington plays Ted Crisp, a successful but morally conscientious head of research and development at Veridian Dynamics, a corporation whose experiments grow stranger and more ethically dubious by the week. Portia De Rossi is his superhuman, coldly ambitious boss Veronica Palmer, while Andrea Anders, Jonathan Slavin and Malcolm Barrett play the colleagues Linda, Phil and Lem who orbit his lab. Ted is also a single father raising his daughter Rose, played by Isabella Acres, so his days are split between the lab and home. The engine of the show is simple: Ted loves his job and wants to keep it, yet keeps noticing the company's questionable practices and must decide how much he will tolerate. Each twenty-two-minute episode is built around a new corporate scheme that sends the team into escalating trouble. The show runs for two seasons, twenty-six episodes in total, with a brisk, dry, deadpan register and a bright, office-set atmosphere. Fans of The Office and Party Down will find resonance in its satirical edge and its ensemble of well-meaning, slightly unhinged colleagues.

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