'Better Off Ted: Season One'
(Jay Harrington, Portia de Rossi, et al / 2-DVD / NR / 2009 / 20th Century Fox)
Overview: Ted Crisp, played by Jay Harrington, is the successful and yet conscientious head of research and development at Veridian Dynamics. He has been a single father to his daughter Rose, after a hostile break-up with his wife Stacy (who left to "save the world"). Ted has a somewhat liaison-like position between the workers and the management of Veridian.
DVD Verdict: Put simply, 'Better Off Ted' is irresistible! With its combination of wit, sarcasm, and good old-fashioned silliness, this show is a winner on every level. The characters are engaging, the acting is superb, the storylines and setup are clever and ridiculously believable, and the promotional advertisements for the fictitious Veridian Dynamics are hilarious.
Each episode begins with a commercial for Veridian Dynamics, parodies of commercials put out by real world corporations. These commercials are so biting - and funny - one wonders who would dare advertise on a show like this. Portia De Rodsi steals the show as Ted's boss, Veronica, who embodies all that is beautiful, perfect, devious and heartless at Veridian. Veronica is the kind of woman who likes having Ted's young daughter around, because her presense makes it easier for Veronica to fire people.
If you like 'The Office you'll probably love this show as well - it's like a grownup version at a much larger and more realistic mega-corporation. Even better, although Ted addresses the camera from time to time, there's no film crew that is part of the show, so you feel like he's just sharing some insights with you.
In closing, 'Better Off Ted' is recommended for fans of the rapid fire, occasionally absurd humor of '30 Rock' and 'Arrested Development.' This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs, but (sadly) does not come with any Special Features.
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