TV PREVIEW TED

Scott Grimes talks Ted, terrible mustaches, and playing an updated take on Archie Bunker.

BY RON HOGAN

Scott Grimes has worked with Hollywood royalty: Bob Hope, Art Carney, Burt Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor, and Ted. A fixture in Seth MacFarlane’s work as the golden voice of American Dad’s Steve Smith and The Orville’s Lt. Malloy, playing a racist Boston boor is just another twist in a storied Hollywood career.

How is Ted the show different from Ted the movie?

Seth MacFarlane likes to tackle societal and political issues. This is watching Ted and John (Max Burkholter) discover marijuana, sex, politics, and racism. Ted is like a real-life walk through the teenage years.

The movies are given two hours to be funny; this is deeper. We’re not making a cartoon. Seth loves oldschool sitcoms; he sent me All in the Family to get the idea. This is a classic sitcom with a foul-mouthed bear.

Matty Bennett is a conservative, blue-collar Boston guy who’s very narrow-minded. Matty’s not mean; he’s an ignorant asshole. You can do that if you have someone like Blaire (Giorgia Whigham) that’s teaching everybody how to be a kind human. It’s more crass, but we’re not just making fun of people.

Are you expecting pushback?

You can do all the screenings in the world, but you just don’t know. Matty is so exaggerated that he can’t be for real. He puts his foot down and says these stupid things, but nobody else changes their position. He doesn’t win any of these battles. Everybody is smarter than him, and they allow him to be the person he’s always been.

There’s a great line that made the show work for me. Matty says to Blaire, “I was raised different.” I love those words because it’s true. If you are raised a certain way, that’s how you live.

There were people back in Archie Bunker’s time that agreed with Archie. You couldn’t make Matty too smart because you get a portion of the audience that agrees with him. We wanted to laugh at his ignorance. Seth’s like, “Even when he’s talking about dinner, he’s really fucking loud. He needs to be the loudest one in the room.” You have to go, “Why did he say that ridiculous stuff? God, I hope he comes around.” He has to have a tiny little light in his eyes. There’s love in there; he just doesn’t know how to show it.

What was it like working with a CGI bear?

The bear is easier than you think. Seth is doing the voice, but he can’t sit where the bear is. You spend most of your time stopping your head from turning because Seth is to your left and behind the camera.

Were there other challenges?

People don’t like mustaches on people like me. It created such a douchebag look for this guy. It wasn’t pleasant to eat because lots of stuff was sticking to it. People would stop me in the grocery store and ask if it was real. Why would I go to the grocery store wearing a fake mustache?

Ted premieres on Peacock in the fall.