To no surprise, ABC’s Better Off Ted has been cancelled after two seasons on the air. Though it was a hit with critics and a devout group of fans, it just never found a mass audience.
Better Off Ted follows Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington) and his fellow employees at Veridian Dynamics, a strange and heartless technology company. The rest of the cast includes Andrea Anders, Jonathan Slavin, Malcolm Barrett, and Portia de Rossi.
Last May, ABC decided to show some faith in the freshman sitcom and renewed Better Off Ted for a second season. At that time, the ratings weren’t great and they got even worse after the renewal announcement.
When the network began airing the remainder of season one during the summer months, they averaged a terrible 0.74 in the 18-49 demographic and 2.09 million viewers.
For season two, Ted debuted with a 1.5 rating in the demo and 3.82 million viewers. As bad as those numbers sound, they got even worse.
Paired with Scrubs, ABC decided to burn off the remaining episodes of Ted in January. Despite campaigning from some loyal fans, viewership hit a new low for the season — a 0.8 rating and 2.17 million viewers.
The writing’s been on the wall for a long time and realistically, based on the numbers, the TV show shouldn’t have been renewed for a second season. Many in the cast have taken other jobs and the series has now been cancelled by ABC.
What do you think? Many really loved this show but it never attracted a big audience. Why?
Image courtesy ABC.
mind boggling……….one after another many of my favorite shows that i invest in get cancelled–ones with ORIGINAL & engaging writing & excellent ensemble casting with characters you actually care about in favor of inane comedies or game shows, or gasp…….those detested reality shows. Is there no one out there with an iq or imagination anymore??????
I don’t know that anyone will even see this….but Leslie, you hit it on the head with your commentary! This Is Ted had an awesome ensemble cast!! To this day, watching the two seasons over and over I still break out with guffaws; we put that show on when we’ve had a bad day, and it never fails to bring us out of our misery. I love Phil and Lem, and Portia de Rossi uses her glamor in such quirky ways….and Phil, yes, he is adorable.
Jerks!
Better off Ted was very funny and I am shocked. ABC should have promoted it better.
How do really boring shows like The Office remain on the air but they remove great innovative and creative shows like this one?
I never knew what time it was on 🙁 I did like the show though.
Ratings. Ratings. Ratings. Did I happen to mention ratings? Thats what their all about. What do they get with good ratings: money. If no good ratings then just kiss it goodbye and rip it off like a band-aid instead of being optimistic and accepting it later. Do not give yourself any false hope. You’ll regret it.
I will Miss Better Off Ted. I just found this show on Netflix and loved it. I can see where the acting was stiff and some of the comedy was forced, but office humor rarely is popular.
I just love how the VD ads were like the old BASF ads.
This is so disappointing. This was one of the funniest shows i’ve ever seen. The episode where they hired white guys to follow the black employees because the security system couldn’t see them, was the most hilarious thing i had ever seen on TV. This has happened to so many great shows:
Arrested Development
Dollhouse
Everwood
CBS -You need to pick up Better Off Ted.It will be a better buy than Medium
Incredible. Leave it to ABC to cancel a brilliantly-written, perfectly-timed comedic masterpiece. Guess the cast and crew needed to lower the bar so as to appeal to the “me don’t want to think” Married With Children masses. What a shame.
” demographic and 2.09 million viewers.” but then you say “campaigning from some loyal fans, viewership hit a disastrous new low — a 0.8 rating and 2.17 million viewers.”
Hm? Unless i’m wrong and too tired to realize it, 17 is higher than 9, meaning 2.09 would be the lowest.
@phil: You’re not the only one who’s tired! lol. You’re correct. I meant to say “low for the season”.
Perhaps if they put it on at a consistant time instead of when they feel like it…
It’s ABC’s own fault for pairing it with the essentially dead sitcom Scrubs and never giving it a consistent, proper airing date during the week. It was as poorly mishandled as Arrested Development, and I hope it reaches the same cult status AD did.
I wish it weren’t so, but I kinda knew it was coming. RIP, Better Off Ted.
ABC never gave BOT a good lead in. Nobody I talked to even new about the show until I talked to the about it. The writing was excellent with great characters. Sometimes I wonder how shows like this get show many viewers and turds like the Office just keep going.
I don’t understand why. I thought it was totally funny and entertaining to watch. I would have continued to watch it faithfully. I hope ABC decides to air the last two remaining episodes over the summer.
Unlike other shows that have been canceled, this is a genuine shame. “Better off Ted” was a truly funny comedy.