Peacock has added three new cast members, as well as co-showrunners, to its upcoming television series adaptation of Seth MacFarlane‘s hit film franchise, Ted. MacFarlane, who will reprise his voice role the titular teddy bear on the live-action comedy show, will now be joined by series regular stars Giorgia Whigham, Max Burkholder and Scott Grimes, Variety is reporting.
Besides once again voicing the eponymous character, MacFarlane will also direct, write, co-showrun and executive produce all of the show’s episodes, after he made his helming debut on the original Ted movie. He’ll be joined by Modern Family alums Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh, who will serve as co-showrunners, scribes and executive producers on the upcoming series.
Ted, which is being developed by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, and MRC Television, reunites MacFarlane with several of his upcoming co-stars. Burkholder has voiced characters on MacFarlane’s animated sitcoms, Family Guy and American Dad!.
Grimes, who has been a longtime friend of MacFarlane, has been a main cast member of American Dad! and the latter’s popular live-action comedy-drama show, The Orville. Grimes has also done voice work on Family Guy.
The actor is able to star on Ted because the castmembers of The Orville were released from their contracts in August. There aren’t any current plans to make a fourth season.
The upcoming Ted series is set in 1993, after the titular bear’s popularity has faded, which leaves him living with his best friend, 16-year-old John Bennett. Burkholder will take over the role of John on the show, after Mark Wahlberg portrayed him in the two films.
The duo lives in a working-class Boston home with John’s parents and cousin. Ted might not be the best influence on the teenager, but the bear’s willing to help his friend navigate adolescence at any cost.
Whigham (The Punisher, 13 Reasons Why) will play John’s older cousin, Blaire Bennett, who’s a smart and politically correct college student. She isn’t afraid to be outspoken, and frequently clashes with her more traditionalist family.
Grimes will play John’s father, Matty Bennett, a blue-collar Bostonian who thinks he’s the unequivocal boss in the family. He doesn’t like anyone challenging him, particularly his liberal-minded niece, Blaire. John’s mother, Susan has not yet been cast for the show.
The Ted television series is being developed by MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door, and will be executive produced by the company’s president, Erica Huggins. Alana Kleiman and Jason Clark, who produced the movie franchise, will also serve as executive producers on the show.
The first Ted film, which was released in 2012, is the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy of all time that’s not a sequel or based on other projects. It grossed nearly $550 million on a budget of $65 million. Its sequel was released in 2015, and grossed over $215 million. Both movies were produced by Universal Pictures and MRC Films.
The Ted series falls under the sizable overall television deal MacFarlane and Fuzzy Door signed with UCP in 2020. It’s the second show order to come out of the deal so far.
Fuzzy Door announced in March 2021 that it was se to produce a new Peacock science series hosted by Bill Nye called The End Is Nye, which is set to debut later this year. The Ted show was originally announced three months after The End Is Nye was revealed, in June 2021.