Refreshing, Yet Familiar Watching Ted On TV…
By Ron Signore
This weekend brought some joy back to my life. Not that I am miserable, but the state and direction of the country via politics isn’t exactly the most joy producing element around. On Friday night, I knew exactly what I wanted to put down on paper, but then the weekend brought some elements that just added to the brighter side of life. Outside of the fact that here in northern Indiana we received a solid amount of snow and are experiencing sub-zero temperatures, it has to be one of the best nonfamily related weekends where we were all stuck inside because of the weather conditions.
It is fun to still be a kid at heart. There is a lot in life, a lot in adulting, that can beat you down. Comedy and sports are both a release from that typical daily beatdown. If I am blessed to have any followers that recollect some writings from the past, you may remember my love for All in the Family. While the tones ring to me similar to Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen, it is understood that you needed to look at the deeper meaning to that show. Some would look at the show and just assume it was racist/sexist/ignoramus comedy. To an extent, the jokes hit those outlooks on the surface. However, the late Norman Lear brought reality to entertainment by giving a look into the experiences of change to a generation observed at the family level. He was brilliant, and I will boldly claim that we would be far worse off than we are now if we didn’t have that show.
Like any brilliant football coach, or musician, talent influence becomes an inspiration and breeds the future. Seth MacFarlane is a perfect example of that alignment in television comedy. Granted, he brought a series in Family Guy that is loosely based around The Simpsons, and the material has always been reflective of the timeframe MacFarlane grew up, he has used these influences to bring entertainment to others. In this instance, the latest release brought to ‘television’ released on Friday was essentially as prequel to his big screen successes of Ted.
Before anything else, I have to admit that I laughed non-stop. I mean, the Peter Griffin voice for the teddy bear who comes to life and learns to love ripping bong hits and guzzling booze provides enough of a laugh. However, it was the ancillaries that caught my attention.
While Ted (MacFarlane) and his best buddy Johnny (Max Burholder), who wished Ted alive by way of a shooting star, the rest of the family resembles an homage to All in the Family. We look at the setting of a middle-class family, not wealthy, but typical struggles for many American families had; Getting by on a modest living but worked for every bit of it. The home wasn’t fancy, but it was homey. The head of the household, Matty (Scott Grimes) is the equivalent of Archie Bunker during that time. He plays the ignorant product of his upbringing, conservative dealing with the progression of times. While racism is present in some tones, I would argue the biggest red and blue issues that brought the All in the Family feel were around women’s rights and sexual orientation.
Matty’s wife Susan (Alanna Ubach) was really what poured me over the top with confidence in this correlation. Susan is a very mild mannered, quirky, but quiet personality that brings an Edith Bunker-like naivety. Despite Matty’s ability to be the hard and gruff traditional republican, she accepted his crudeness unconditionally like Edith to Archie. She took on the traditional household gender role, despite it being found out that she was “wicked smart” when Matty met her in college. She wanted to be a teacher, but still stepped back to fulfill the stereotypical role of wife and mother. Her kindness is a non-intended guilt trip for all. Even as a viewer, you cannot help but fall in love with this character and admire her ability to smile through everything. She clearly takes care of Matty beyond having supper on the table when he arrives home from work. Like Archie and Edith, Susan has a following of faith, and sings in the church choir. Matty, like Archie, is not a strong man of faith, but carries the hypocrisy of the ways of religion.
Instead of ‘the Meathead,’ son in law and daughter living with them, they have Matty’s niece, Blair (Giorgia Whigham). Now, her story aligns more with Stephanie in the later episodes of All in The Family. Her immediate family is disastrous, and she winds up in the care of her uncle Matty and aunt Susan. But her character brings a more liberal edge to the family dynamic. She enjoys injecting her liberal bias into many family discussions, but one storyline that becomes the nail in the coffin is when she brings home her girlfriend, who is also of Indian heritage, for Christmas. The reaction from the bible loving Susan is that typical denial that two women could be romantically involved, suggesting they just identify as really good friends. She also buys her a poster of Ian Ziering citing to Blair that she knows how all the girls love the guys from 90210. Blair never gets combative with Susan, but the focus is always some sort of showdown between her and Matty. The topics of ignorant minded conservativism and bleeding-heart liberal clashing are reminiscent of Archie and Mike.
Overall, the miniseries use this dynamic to draw parallels and aid in the nonsensical debauchery that Ted and Johnny participate in. While we are entertained by these episodes, the bigger picture of the country, regions, households, and student life are highlighted for progression in this comedic portrayal of an Irish-Catholic, working middle-class, Boston family in the early 1990’s. It made a weekend where the Cowboys were eliminated from the NFL playoffs even better.
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