Ranking Seth MacFarlane's Properties From Worst To Best

Ted's relationship with Family Guy is very, very obvious, which is entirely the point of the film's success. The film, spun off a genius little idea that proved both nostalgic and mythological (in that it fills in one of those nagging What Ifs), could actually have been a Family Guy episode, but there's something a little more nuanced in the writing, as if MacFarlane was putting lessons learned into practice.

As a character, Ted works because he's a very conscious amalgamation of the best three characters in Family Guy - he has Peter Griffin's lack of self-awareness (or lack of interest in it), he's as whip-smart but self-destructive as Brian, and he has the whole cute/outrageous contradiction that Stuey stole from Bart Simpson. 

All in all, you could be forgiven for thinking that a long series of jokes based on the simple question of "...but what if it was a teddy bear doing it" wouldn't work for long, but it's such a compelling idea that the film is hugely charming. There's also a surprising amount of heart in to balance the furry sex and weed smoking shtick, and the right casting blend that One Million Ways To Die In The West ignored horribly.

There will presumably be more films from Seth MacFarlane in future, but he'll probably be hard pushed to beat the immediate appeal of this one, no matter how many times he tries the same formula.