What I’m Watching: Better Off Ted

Better Off Ted: Season 1, Episode 11 “Father, Can You Hair Me?” (B+)

Now here’s a show that really knows its characters. Veronica is highly competitive and generally unsentimental, and a deeply spirited back-and-forth battle with her father to release new products first makes a lot of sense. Her very literal Frisbee-tossing and park bench hangout with her father were both very funny moments, and Geoff Pierson (President Keeler on “24”) was a fitting choice to portray her dying father. The episode’s end with Veronica tricking her father into picking up the hair-growing parasite after hugging and kissing him was a nice coda for their relationship. Ted’s personality is also very well-defined. He’s highly motivated to excel, and projects that same determination onto his daughter. Similarly, he wants to be the first out of the gate with the patent for the hair-growing product, even testing it on himself. He is grounded enough, however, to realize and accept that his daughter doesn’t necessarily have the same desires he does, and that’s what makes him a good parent – and “Better Off Ted” a good show.