Better of Ted, Dead?

What’s the point America? It seems like every time I really get into a show it gets cancelled.
Today I learned of the pretty much certain death of one of those said shows. Better of Ted will not return tonight with its counterpart Scrubs (2.0). The show about middle management and office sociology echoes that of NBC’s The Office, except without all the whiney documentary and general downhill slide that that particular show has been experiencing. Don’t get me wrong I love The Office; it was one of my favorite shows. But it doesn’t hold a flame to what Better Off Ted was. For however smart The Office was, Better of Ted was smarter.
And that was probably its downfall. America doesn’t get smart comedies (Arrested Development, cough, cough). Instead we’re stuck with the same terrible comedy, the likes of which are only twisted further by “class-acts” like NBC’s The Marriage Ref and shows that should have been left to rot, yet somehow live forever (Simpsons).
In short, there was nothing wrong with Better Off Ted, save from this one seemingly fatal flaw. Sure it had a fairly bizarre name (is it a play off of ‘better off dead’?) but there wasn’t anything else wrong with it. Most people can appreciate the fight against a seemingly evil company who puts money before people. And each of the characters was unique and funny in their own way. Portia de Rossi, as boss Veronica Palmer, always stole every scene. In the end it was all the characters together playing off each other and in the situations that gave the show its amazing life. This only got better in the second series, making it definitively the funniest show to return this season—nothing had me laughing out loud quite like Better Off Ted did for its short 11 episode, second season, run.
So thanks ‘Ted for the laughs. And honestly ABC, I thought you were better than this. I thought you were a place where smart comedies would be respected (I’m looking at you NBC and FOX). After LOST is finished there will be officially nothing to watch on your network.
If you're looking for an first-class episode of this amazing show. check out ‘Impertinence of Communicationizing’ on Hulu.com, although it my opinion they’re all good.