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.
I’m not so sure I trust the ratings on this show. Perhaps the ratings were reported as low specifically in order to kill this show, because it mocked corporate culture.
Not possible, you say? Then you probably also think it’s impossible to hack political election computers, though it’s been proven to be entirely do-able.
The only reason I ever saw this show was that I found it on the internet and like some other poster thought the title was interesting. I hardly watch any shows on TV anymore as I’d rather watch canceled good shows than current crap. Our kids will someday tell their kids about when people actually had to sit down at a specific time to watch any given show; much the same way I tell my kids that once there was only one station to watch. And like another poster I only found out it had been canceled when I tried… Read more »
What Mike said…
Yes, Arrested Development, now this show. I have a bad record of falling in love with doomed comedies. I found this because I was trying to find out when new episodes were coming. Guess that surprise is on me.
I found the show clever and a breath of fresh air! It makes me sad to see shows like Seinfeld, Friends, Dancing/Trumping/Dieting, etc. . .being watched for years on end while witty and well written shows such as this go unnoticed.
It was canceled because despite being the best comedy in the history of television, it wasn’t promoted or advertised. If I hadn’t seen it in my DVR program list and decided to record it on a whim because the name of the show sounded interesting, I never would have known about it.
The program failed because it’s humor was too intellectual. The majority of the 18-49 demographic would rather watch a reality show like Dancing With the Stars, Lost, American Idol, or any other type of programming which requires no intelligence. They prefer to see people being rude or ruthless toward one another. Let’s face it, they really like ‘mean-spirited’ programs.
All this discussion, hype of ‘NCIS’. Again, another show that requires little-no synapse activity but is a hit amongst the brain-dead populous.
I’m not an elitist or snob, just TIRED of programs that are so ridiculous it’s mind numbing..
What?! This show is canned but shows like ‘Friends’, ‘2 1/2 Men’ and other insipid, moronic laugh-track-laced shows stay on for what seems forever?
I hate television.
It was a great show! ABC never promoted it, moved timeslots, and putting it with Scrubs…that was horrible! This show should be next to Modern Family raking in on the comedy ratings, not sitting with that crap return of Scrubs. This show was funny, well written, had great acting, and made fun of the big businesses we love to hate…it was made for us! Now seeing it go while some of these other crap shows stay just blows my mind.
Never even watched it, so I wont be missing anything. My favorite show NCIS just got renewed, and besides it’s just tv.
Bummer… that show was so funny. I wish people and ABC would have given it a chance!
The show was actually funny with good actors, unlike most sitcoms now, and though probably somewhat exaggerated it totally played true on the big corporation effects on the employees and everyday-life in the company. Too bad ABC wants to cancel a good show when I read somewhere else they were considering picking up “Ghost Whisperer.”
I’m so heartbroken. You have no idea.
I can’t believe this show got cancelled. It was just so wonderful.
Veridian Dynamics. Friendship. It’s so important. But it’s different at work. Time spent with friends at work robs your employer of productivity, and robbing people is wrong. Friendship. It’s the same as stealing.
Well no need to watch abc anymore…