Seth MacFarlane’s foul-mouthed buddy comedy “Ted” is
surprising. Not because of the story—there is nothing at all unusual there—but
because it’s actually pretty funny. It isn’t brilliant, or game changing, or
anything like that, but it’s amusing enough. I’m one of the legions who have
long since abandoned MacFarlane’s most well known product, “Family Guy”. The
“do something enough times it automatically becomes funny” has run its course,
and you can only watch an extended fist fight between Peter Griffin and a giant
chicken so many times before you’ve had enough. While the story of “Ted” is
painfully bland and obvious—you know exactly what is coming every step of the
way—MacFarlane avoids some the pitfalls “Family Guy” is prone to.
