Banking on the success of a hit movie is something that’s been more than a few times in the history of show business, and it hasn’t always paid off. At this time it sounds as though Seth MacFarlane’s hit movie Ted is being turned into a TV series on Peacock, and it’s not bringing Mark Wahlberg or Mila Kunis into the picture as it’s supposedly going to be following the first movie. There are bound to be plenty of fans that might look at this and experience a variety of feelings that might come from the idea, thinking that it might be a great development or that it should be kept in the movies. The fact that Ted is a teddy bear that came to life because of a wish and stayed with the boy that wished him alive for so long isn’t an issue, neither is the fact that Ted is also a foul-mouthed individual that has a bit of an attitude on him. It’s the fact that in the movies he was something special, but once an idea like this comes to TV it tends to lose a bit of the edge that made it something unique.
There are plenty of people that would wave that notion off, but the fact is that movie ideas that have tried to move to TV haven’t always succeeded. Uncle Buck is one great example since it didn’t have the original actors or the original feel. Sometimes movies have that once-in-a-lifetime quality to them that TV shows don’t always manage to replicate that well. A situation such as Ted’s is that as a walking, talking, living teddy bear there is a chance that he might end up becoming a fun idea for a series, especially if Seth MacFarlane really is going to stick around and provide the voice for the character. But without the rest of the actors that made the movies popular, it’s hard to say that things are going to come together quite as efficiently simply because the chemistry that’s involved in making a movie can break down rather quickly in a TV series, which tends to have a great number of moving parts that are changed out frequently and are subject to sticking around or being replace based on the ratings and how well they go with the story.
Those that are doing the thinking at Peacock are no doubt doing what they can to amass content and also make sure that what they accept is going to be something that people will want to watch. But with Ted, it feels as though they’re not fully aware of what happens to a movie once it becomes a TV show more often than not. This could be a decent show if things aligned just right and it’s very possible that it could be another great addition to the streaming service, but at the moment it still feels uncertain simply because while MacFarlane is proven as a TV presence, Ted feels like a story that is best left in the movies. Others might want to disagree and that’s okay since opinions on this matter are bound to go either way, but in the end, Peacock will do what’s necessary to get the ball rolling and make something of the show when it comes.
The streaming game is, for some networks, still brutal enough that turning down content isn’t the best idea until there’s enough content scheduled that it becomes easy to pick and choose what one wants to show. There are a few movies and shows that are featured on more than one network, but some streaming sites want to keep their material and not bother to share it with anyone else. With Netflix, Disney, and Amazon, among others, still adding content at an amazing rate, sites like Peacock have to take whatever is there to snag in order to bolster their lineup and make it possible for people to find their service a little more attractive. Ted is still a very popular movie with many people, but turning the idea into a TV show feels iffy at best.
It could be that this idea will take off and prove a lot of people wrong, that it can work, but until that happens it’s bound to be that some folks will find it to be a good idea, while others will have plenty to say as to why it might not work. If it does then great, more power to the site, but if it doesn’t then the only comfort will be that more people didn’t say ‘I told you so’. There’s always hope that a story will work, but when there’s enough doubt to spread around concerning the execution of the story, it might be wise to listen or to take a different approach.
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