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.
So how will we start this petition to bring it back??
I want it back I watched the first two seasons the last week on netflix and am hooked. It’s funny, why didn’t everyone else like it?? 🙁
There really aren’t a lot of show out there that are as interesting to watch as they are hilarious. ABC needs to bring back the show and market it properly.
This cancellation is a shame.
I’ve noticed a trend in all of these comments. I feel that all of us together can change this. if ur interested in getting this show a 3rd season go on facebook and look up “better off ted season 3 petition” They can’t just leave us hanging with ted and veronica stuck in the tiny office.
I think one of the reasons it didn’t have a great following was it wasn’t consistently on. They would air new episodes for a few weeks and then wouldn’t air another one for a few months. It was a fantastic show, but they didn’t give it the consistency it needed.
Seriously, I’m super pissed right now. Sure, they didn’t make a lot of marketing. But you know, I live in Québec, Canada, where pretty much only french tv shows are on tv and I STILL KNEW ABOUT IT! That series was amazing! I agree, I think it was because people were way too stupid to understand the humour of Better off Ted. I bet some were even insulted because they took everything on the first letvel of understanding… The worst is that I just bought the first season and finished it, and now that I want the second season, there… Read more »
This show had poor ratings because it had no marketing whatsoever. I stumbled across it one evening, and LOVE it!!! Then it was canceled. I’ve never seen a preview or a trailer for it. Not one advertisement for it anywhere. That’s why the ratings were so low. Nobody knew about it. But I saw a lot of commercials for really stupid crap nobody should care about!!!
They canceled the show b/c it’s too intelligent for the general population. I am sad to say goodbye to such a witty, well done show.
i just found this show last week! I LOVE it and am horrified that such a true-to-life portrayal has been canned! Yikes! No finale, no closure–that stinks!
I am so sad this show got cancelled. It was so funny, the acting was great and they had such great chemistry, all of them.
Canceling this show, is just, tragic.
And, I just found it, did they not air any commercials of it when it was out? Bad marketing abc, boo. Hopefully some other network will buy it, and air it. Maybe….
Better Off Ted is freaking awesome! It really is a shame that it’s been canceled. I don’t have cable and I generally only see shows at a friends house or on Netflix. I know most of my friends are the same way. Also, there is so much crap on cable (hence the reason I don’t have it) that it actually makes it less likely people will check out new shows. Another reason why I don’t watch TV anymore is the ridiculous amount of commercials. To me it’s annoying just having to FF through all of them on a DVR. I’d… Read more »
Bring it back! I must be honest…I just spent the last 2 days watching season 1 and 2 and I am so sad it is over. Such a fantastic TV show. One of my favorite ever!!!!
I did the same as Ryan. I can’t believe this show got cancelled… I’m so upset. This show most definitely deserved more credit than it got. This show is one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. DAMN YOU STUPID RATINGS!!!!!!
I just discovered Ted 2 weeks ago on NetFlicks. My whole family loved it and just finished episode 13 last night. We went to upload the next season only to see it cancelled. We are so disappointed. Loved the banter, the acting, the themes, the characters.
i never knew the show existed…i would LOVe to see it!!!