What I’m Watching: Better Off Ted

Better Off Ted: Season 1, Episode 10 “Trust and Consequences” (B+)

It’s always a bit of a risk to utilize a flashback device so early in a show’s run, but this is a harmless comedy, and here it’s entirely effective. Ted and Veronica are completely the same, Linda’s just as awkwardly over-chatty, and both Lem and Phil have hilarious hairstyles (which, of course, makes for a terrific joke about it being 60s day rather than actually a really long time ago). The premise for the episode is perfectly appropriate for the tone of the show. Linda’s willingness to be acknowledged as the scapegoat was entertaining, and everyone being interviewed and showing how they perform under pressure was fun. Lem and Phil’s lies to each other were also completely hilarious – and the reactions each of them had to Phil’s attendance at the University of Aruba (his comment about the academics there was great) and Lem’s superfluous wearing of glasses were terrific. The whole existence of the sex tape and its story was a great driving plot point – and the interactions between Ted and Veronica, and Linda for that matter, in the episode were all high quality. The best part was a recurring player who it seems will now be off the show, Dr. Bhamba, played by Maz Jobrani from “The Knights of Prosperity.” Jobrani has a very distinctive style which many probably find grating, but in this case it was incredible. His continuous declaration of all the drugs he smoked, and the places he smoked them, was a major highlight.