GET TO KNOW

From turning co-workers into human popsicles to converting ordinary fruit into a military weapon, nothing is off limits at the company depicted in this satire. Better Off Ted gives us a bird’s-eye view into the clockworks of a soulless corporation, Veridian Dynamics. As the corporation makes technological advancements, morals and human rights are heavily neglected. Don’t drop your kids off at the Veridian daycare, unless you don’t mind them doubling as janitors!

Every episode comes with a humorous-yet-bizarre advertisement from Veridian that is based around a given topic. The show focuses on a successful good guy named Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington) who heads the research-and-development department. At the office, Ted struggles with his “one office affair” rule. You see, Ted has an office crush on Linda Zwordling (Andrea Anders), a rebellious and energetic co-worker who loves to challenge management, but already had a onetime run-in with his automaton-like boss, Veronica Palmer (Portia de Rossi). Veronica is friendless, heartless, and lets nothing stand in her way of serving Veridian’s unscrupulous needs. Veronica’s idea of fun usually involves demeaning those around her, especially the two lab nerds Phil Mymen (Jonathan Slavin) and Lem Hewitt (Malcolm Barrett)—who are the mad scientists behind every new Veridian contraption. These two geniuses have spent way too much time together and their relationship is closer to that of a married couple than co-workers.

You wouldn’t believe the insanity and daily goofs that take place at this corporate conglomerate. Why would anyone want to work there? There‘s no consideration for the employees (all budget cuts are at their expense), upper management is run by tyrants and the cafeteria food stinks. Hmmm, on second thought, maybe Veridian isn’t that farfetched after all.