Better Off Ted
ABC | Release Date: March 18, 2009
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 2 Review: It means there's finally something good (and funny) on Tuesday nights. Read full review
100
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 2 Review: It's hilarious and even funnier this year than last. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker
Season 2 Review: The first two episodes contain strong subplots about staff downsizing and rolled-back pensions, indicators that Ted is doing a better job of folding real-life resonances into its silliness. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesMisha Davenport
Season 1 Review: It has wit, humor and a set of flawed but likable and offbeat characters not unlike the ones on the sophisticated "Arrested Development." Read full review
88
New York PostLinda Stasi
Season 1 Review: A very funny comedy. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 2 Review: This season, Ted seems to have a looser, even goofier vibe, and it plays to its actors' strengths more consistently while also giving plenty of screen time to my favorite characters, insecure research scientists Phil (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem (Malcolm Barrett). Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyKen Tucker
Season 1 Review: Better Off Ted is certainly the most original sitcom to come along in a while. Read full review
83
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 2 Review: Ok so Better Off Ted can be oxygen-deprived. This is still one of the funniest shows on TV, and the cast sparkles with vets like Harington, Barrett and de Rossi...Anders and Slavin, too. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterRay Richmond
Season 1 Review: It's the clever satire for which we've all been waiting. Read full review
80
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Set in the offices of Veridian Dynamics, a behemoth conglomerate, this single-camera, laugh-track-free comedy is the funniest show ABC has birthed in quite some time. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: Better Off Ted may be a little too right for comfort about the work many of us do and the lives we live. But it's also funny. Read full review
80
Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
Season 2 Review: Not only is it funnier than its lead-in, it’s improved on its impressive (and sadly truncated) first season on ABC. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 2 Review: The droll office comedy Better Off Ted could have quickly turned into a one-joke bore. Instead, it sails into its second season tonight as one of the best sitcoms on television. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 2 Review: It's even funnier than I remember. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 2 Review: Ted is a seriously wacky show and deserves to be seen. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: Better Off Ted is more funny than not, rushing into absurdity with abandon and playing at stylized comedy in a completely fearless way. The pacing doesn't allow for regret. Read full review
75
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: Ted, like most such single-camera sitcoms, is just too mannered and cold, though warming signs do appear in later episodes. Happily, despite its flaws, it's well-cast and reasonably entertaining. Read full review
70
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: The new ABC show is significantly better than its corny title promises. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara
Season 1 Review: Better Off Ted is funny, it's just not as funny as it might be, or should be, or, with any luck, will be. Read full review
70
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: A funny, fast-paced and rather refreshing new ABC sitcom that looks at contemporary office life in much the same way as the comic strip "Dilbert." Read full review
70
Washington PostTom Shales
Season 1 Review: If it isn't pure gold, it still has bright, shiny moments--and unlike so much of what's on TV these days, it's much more likely to make you laugh than cry. Read full review
70
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: At its best, Better Off Ted is like some of the better new comedies on NBC and CBS, shows that blend mordant satire with odd, endearing characters that viewers want to keep watching. Ms. Anders in particular is a very funny, appealing actress who makes even dull patches of dialogue amusing; Mr. Slavin and Mr. Barrett bring comic heft to their small roles. Read full review
70
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: For the seven of you who remember "Andy Richter," Better Off Ted isn't quite as good--in part because star Jay Harrington isn't as innately funny as Richter (and he's mainly used as a straight man), and also because Fresco ditched the fantasy scenes that were often the most memorable part of the earlier series--but it's still a breath of fresh air in the present stale environment for TV comedy, as well as an accidentally timely show. Read full review
70
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 2 Review: With this cast, and the writing of Fresco and company, I expect Ted season two to again hit the heights of that first season. But these two episodes are a reminder of how hard it is to pull that off. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 2 Review: The show remains a chilly affair, which will probably limit its acceptance but for viewers who appreciate satire, particularly of a modern workplace, it's difficult to imagine a show on the subject that's funnier than Ted. Read full review
58
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: Honestly, it's a complete oddball with some charm and a few good lines. Read full review
50
SlateTroy Patterson
Season 1 Review: Better Off Ted, which feels more devoted to establishing its cool than earning some laughs, is hardly so bad to deserve a bleh from halfway-discerning viewers. Eh or meh would be closer to the mark. Read full review
50
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: So thus far, anyway, it's a promising concept inconsistently executed, and perhaps a trifle miscast. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: NBC has some good workplace comedies, most notably "30 Rock" and "The Office." If you do watch Better Off Ted, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself comparing the ABC program to those two shows and finding Ted wanting. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldGlenn Garvin
Season 1 Review: Watching Better Off Ted is a bit like reading old Dilbert comic strips--amusing, but the punch lines seem awfully familiar. Read full review
40
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: Hip TV heads may see strains of "Andy Richter Controls the Universe," a 2002-03 workplace quirk-a-thon that was seriously more amusing because its absurdity sprang from its central character's vivid fantasy life, not from a reviled institution. Read full review
40
Orlando SentinelHal Boedeker
Season 1 Review: This sendup of corporate life is no Office or 30 Rock. Good guy Ted (Jay Harrington) is just too bland, and heartless villain Veronica (Portia de Rossi) constantly upstages him. Read full review
Current TV Shows
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 97 Happy Valley: Season 3
2 90 Sherwood: Season 1
3 88 Rain Dogs: Season 1
4 88 The Curse: Season 1
5 87 I Hate Suzie: Season 2
6 87 Little America: Season 2
7 86 Derry Girls: Season 3
8 84 Poker Face (2023): Season 1
9 84 Slow Horses: Season 2
10 84 The Last of Us: Season 1
11 84 Star Trek: Picard: Season 3
12 83 The Sex Lives of College Girls:...
13 83 Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at...
14 82 Documentary Now!: Season 4
15 82 Cunk on Earth: Season 1
16 82 High School: Season 1
17 82 Servant: Season 4
18 82 The Guardians of the Galaxy...
19 81 Interview With the Vampire:...
20 81 The White Lotus: Season 2
SEE ALL