Published Sep 30, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT
Ryan O’Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided’s CubbiesCrib. Whether it’s taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what’s going on. Outside of entertainment, he’s a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor’s in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.
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Back in March, Ted returned for its second season on Peacock after a two-year gap and gave the Bennett family a fitting sendoff as John and his rude bear pal enjoyed their last days of high school before college. The series has thrived as a prequel to the 2010s blockbuster comedies starring Mark Wahlberg, with its sophomore outing racking up over 1.2 billion minutes watched within seven weeks of release and becoming the top comedy on television in that time by Nielsen’s ratings. Despite being beloved by critics and audiences and being one of the streamer’s biggest series to date, creator and star Seth MacFarlane has said there were “no plans” at the time to continue the sitcom with Season 3 and onward. However, he’s far from done with his talking stuffed animal.
It was announced last year that MacFarlane would return to his adult animation expertise with Ted: The Animated Series, which will leave John and Ted’s past behind to return to their adult years. Alongside his Ted co-showrunners and executive producers Paul Corrigan and Brad Walsh, the Family Guy creator will pick up 12 years after the events of Ted 2 as the thunder-buddies navigate the trials of adulthood as husbands with families and dead-end jobs. Now neighbors, they’re always willing to lend an ear, smoke a joint, or enable each other’s worst ideas about marriage, parenting, or whatever else is on their minds. Most exciting of all, however, was the confirmation that MacFarlane would reunite with his main movie cast at last, including Wahlberg as John, Amanda Seyfried as Sam, and Jessica Barth as Tami-Lynn.
After a long wait for some official news, Peacock has now confirmed that John and the bear he wished to life will be back on the platform before the year’s end. Ted: The Animated Series will drop all eight episodes of its first season on December 17, with additional episodes to follow sometime in 2027. Accompanying the release date was the first official teaser, showing John and Ted in 2D animated form for the first time and teasing the possibilities of what they can do now that they’re loose from the bounds of live-action reality. Unfortunately for John, the animators are cruel and not only make him injure himself on a backflip, but also drop an anvil on him, Looney Tunes style. If that’s the sort of slapstick they’re doing for the announcement, as Ted says, “This is gonna be fun.”
Your answers point to the iconic universe your values, your instincts, and your particular way of seeing the world were built for. This is where you would find your people — and your purpose.
You believe in the cause — in the idea that freedom is worth fighting for even when the odds are impossible and the empire is vast.
You understand, in the deepest part of yourself, that the journey matters as much as the destination — and that the world’s beauty is worth protecting even at great cost.
You believe that love, loyalty, and doing what’s right are not naive sentiments — they are the most powerful forces in any world, magical or otherwise.
You see the world clearly — its power structures, its hypocrisies, its brutal arithmetic — and you are not paralysed by that clarity. You use it.
You believe the future is worth building — that curiosity, cooperation, and the expansion of understanding are not just ideals but the most practical path forward for any civilisation.
While the Ted series was viewed as a breath of fresh air for MacFarlane that married raunchy comedy with some surprising heart, the new animated show will look to keep that same spirit while returning to what made Ted so beloved in the first place. The first film’s release in 2012 was warmly received with a $549 million global box office haul, and while the sequel wasn’t quite as highly praised, it still earned a respectable $216 million. In addition to the returning stars, Saturday Night Live alum and Y2K helmer Kyle Mooney is coming aboard as Apollo, while Liz Richman, who appeared in the live-action show as Polly, will lend her voice to Ruth. Rough Draft Studios, which has worked on Futurama, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Disenchantment, and more, is handling the animation.
Ted: The Animated Series premieres on Peacock with eight episodes on December 17. Check out the first teaser in the player above.
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2024 - 2026-00-00