If you're going to commit to watching one new television series in 2010, make it Better Off Ted, ABC's critically beloved yet under-appreciated workplace comedy that has been flying under the radar since its premiere last year. The series stars Jay Harrington as the head of research at a heartless technology company, who battles his emotionally devoid boss (played magnificently by Portia de Rossi) while juggling single fatherhood and an interoffice flirtation. ABC recently announced plans to burn through the rest of Ted's second season in January by airing four episodes in two weeks, but fans and critics hold out hope that the deserving series will finally find its audience.
Last week, Movieline caught up with Harrington just before he returned to Boston for the holidays, and discussed Better Off Ted's disappointing numbers (and fantastically loyal fans), sexual harassment and cadaver clubs at Veridian, and Ted's shot after the Rose Bowl.
Congratulations on the second season of Better Off Ted! Hopefully more people will continue to find it.
Thanks, well what helps are people like you and we've had a tough time with that. And it's far from me to discuss the intricacies of viewership but you know, we're not getting the best numbers right now. The quality is there, that's the thing.
For people that have not seen Better Off Ted yet, how would you describe it? It seems like a difficult comedy to pitch to someone.
Well, you know, it's a workplace comedy at its core, without the mockumentary style of The Office. It's not that but it's also not a sitcom. So somewhere in between that. My character talks to the camera so it's more of the style of Frankie Muniz in Malcolm in the Middle. Coming off the strike of last year, I got to meet [creator] Victor [Fresco] and then come in the next day and read for him, hoping that I had done the right job for him. I really felt when I read it that it was something that I had never seen before and then I thought that I hoped people would get it or respond to it and certainly, I have got to say, no matter what happens to the show or what has happened up to this point, the people that do watch it really respond positively to it, which is a big relief because talking to the camera is something that you're either going to like or hate.
There also seem to be threads of Arrested Development's humor in Better Off Ted with the writing, and of course because Portia de Rossi also stars in this.
Right, well I've got to say that a percentage of that is because of Portia but also because of the sharpness of the humor I think. You have to pay attention when you watch both shows. You can't just come in halfway. The show is not just set-up, set-up, joke. There is a long form to it and you have to be invested in the characters. That's the key to any good comedy. The characters are so clearly defined that there is never a cheap joke. And I think that is also the parallel between those two shows.
And like Arrested Development, Better Off Ted has such a solid ensemble cast. Everyone has great chemistry, especially your character and Linda, played by Andrea Anders. I imagine you both read together but did you have any say in casting her?
No, in fact she was cast before I was. Both Portia and Andrea were cast before me but I remember reading for the role and two weeks later, reading that Portia had been cast in the role of Veronica, which I had totally pictured when I read it the first time. And Andrea I was familiar with from watching The Class and Joey, so I thought she was perfect. And that's when I got aggressive, asking, "Hey, where did that Ted" -- well actually it was still The Untitled Victor Fresco Project -- "What happened to that Victor Fresco Project?" And when I talked to Victor later, he said that I was one of the first people he had met for the role and he compared casting me to buying a house. It might be that the first house you see is the one you want but that doesn't mean you're not going to go look at a bunch of other houses. [Laughs]
Victor has been saying that "Ted and Linda make progress with their relationship" this season. Does that mean that they finally will get together?
Well this season, we've both kind of dropped our -- our timing is not quite right so we are both bating but the feelings are there. What's nice is that at the end of this season we come together, both realizing that they like each other and they miss each other.
Good to hear. And sometimes the series delves into touchy subjects. Like with last season's episode "Racial Sensitivity," the company develops a water fountain activated by motion sensors but the motion sensors fail to recognize African Americans by some glitch in the technology. So at one point in the show, the company re-installs a manual water fountain with a sign underneath that says "For Blacks Only." Do you ever get squeamish about filming scenes like that?
No, the episode was so well-written and handled so well because it was talking about the ignorance of the technology and it was a direct parallel to the ignorance so the comedy came from the situation and how we reacted that it was wrong. Even Portia's character knew that it was wrong but she did want everyone to know that the technology recognized Asians and Jews. [Laughs] That's really funny stuff. We have an episode coming up that deals with sexual harassment.
With Linda and Merrin Dungey's character?
Right, Merrin was with us last season and is back this season. She is great, I actually worked with her on Summerland. But Linda accidentally harasses her and I try to smooth things over but end up harassing her. [Laughs]
How do you accidentally sexually harass someone?
There's a moment when I told Sheila that Linda was just trying to be friendly. She did not mean it that way. I think you misunderstood. Maybe we should all just go out and get together the three of us, you two girls and me. The three of us could really clear this up. What Portia decides is that the company should treat sexual harassment like a disease, much like alcoholism, and you can't be responsible. So the entire office begins sexually harassing each other. It's like Caligula in the office, everybody's flirting and making out with everyone in the office. It's very funny.
That's brilliant. Do we ever get to meet Ted's ex-wife this season?
Not yet. No. That's something we've talked about but [the writers] are not quite sure what kind of person she was. It's fun to think about what kind of actresses you'd like to play her but at this point, she's sort of like Vera on Cheers, people talk about her but you don't see her.
Well you had Taye Diggs on the season premiere. Do you have any other big guest stars planned for the season?
Well, we have Kyle Bornheimer, who was on Worst Week. He plays a nemesis of mine. Khandi Alexander (NewsRadio) is playing Malcolm Barrett's mother in an upcoming episode ["Battle of the Bulbs", which aired last week]. Eddie McClintock plays my brother.
I heard something about Eddie and a Cadaver of the Month Club.
Yes! The funny thing is that Eddie and I been going up against each other for years for all sorts of stuff so it was fun to actually hang out and work together. We're roughly the same age and have played a lot of the same characters. But he plays my brother, who is kind of down-on-his-luck and I get him a job as a medical supply salesman. And he convinces the manager to buy all sorts of things they have no need for, including a cadaver, and not just one, but one per month. So my character tries to put the fire out there. That's what's been nice about this season. My character is a little less in control as maybe he was last time and I get myself in a little bit more trouble than the previous season.
How many episodes will Ted's brother be in?
He did just one, but it was the last episode of the season. So hopefully when we get renewed, Eddie will be back.
I haven't seen many Better Off Ted advertisements this season. Do you know if ABC has a game plan for promoting the show in January?
Well what they are doing this season, which is pretty big news for us in the last few days, is that ABC is going to air Better Off Ted directly following the Rose Bowl [on January 1 at 8:30 PM EST]. So that will be our first significant lead-in with a huge number to see how we do. Because we've kind of struggled with Tuesday night at 9:30.
Why do you think ABC didn't put Ted on Wednesday nights when they canceled Hank?
My theory is that 8 PM is more of a family-oriented time slot, not that Better Off Ted is not family-oriented, because it certainly is when you bring [Ted's daughter] Rose into the conversation but 8 PM is usually reserved for the show that in ABC's recent past has been According to Jim or George Lopez or Hank. We would certainly love to fit in Wednesday nights but unfortunately there is no room right us now.
It was nice that ABC made all of the Better Off Ted episodes available on Hulu before the season started.
Right, but I still have friends that haven't seen the show. They're not quite sure when it's on, but I'm doing my best to get the word out. I really hope that maybe after the football game, a new set of viewers will get to see Ted. The people that do see the show, stay with it and enjoy it. We don't have a lot of people that watch it and say "That's not for me."