Seth MacFarlane recently told TheWrap that there are “no plans” to produce a third season of the “Ted” prequel series because production costs are too high.
“What I kept hearing from[Peacock and Universal]was, ‘Listen, this show is really expensive to make, and there’s no way to make it cheaper.’ So I said, ‘Okay, I heard you loud and clear.’ So I wrote the final scene where Max (Burkholder) walks into the gym, and I think he appeared as Mark Wahlberg in the first Ted movie,” MacFarlane explained. “So[showrunners]Brad Walsh and Paul Corrigan and I were like, we’ve got ourselves cornered. Is there a way to do that? There’s always a way to do anything. But at this point, it might require some narrative acrobatics. I haven’t heard of any plans to produce a third season at this point.”
According to a report from TheWrap, Peacock has not yet decided whether to air a third season of Ted. Universal did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment.
The “Ted” TV series, based on the 2012 comedy film, follows Mark Wahlberg’s character John as a teenager navigates his way through adolescence with the help of a foul-mouthed teddy bear. Max Burkholder plays young John, and MacFarlane reprises his role as the voice of Ted. Other cast members include Giorgia Whigham, Alana Urbach, Scott Grimes, and Alla Holiday.
The live-action Ted series may be coming to an end, but Peacock has announced an animated series for May 2025, with Wahlberg, Amanda Seyfried and Jessica Barth reprising their roles from the original film.
MacFarlane made sure to give credit to the production team and film crew who made the first two seasons of “Ted” such a success. He said the amount of CGI required was “the equivalent of creating an ‘Avengers’ movie every 22 minutes.”
“Having two Ted movies was a great thing, because it’s such an insurmountable weekly workload, and we were able to do that on a weekly basis thanks to the production team, cinematographer Geoff Myggatt, camera crew, visual effects crew,[visual effects supervisor]Blair Clarke, and the amazing guys at Framestore in Melbourne, Australia,” MacFarlane said. “It’s like making an Avengers movie every 22 minutes, and it requires a tremendous amount of CGI not just to move the bear, but to make the bear act. We couldn’t have done this if we hadn’t had the education of doing two movies 10 years ago.”
