TV pick: Better off Ted

Better off Ted. Photo / Supplied

Veridian Technologies has no problem cryogenically freezing its employees in the name of science. It is a company that pioneers technologically enhanced products and that leads the world in weapons technology. No achievement is too far-fetched, no invention too unorthodox. Veridian copyrights terms like "innoscience" and "scinnovationience". And it is making your world better. Whether you want it to or not.

Better Off Ted, a The Office-meets-labcoats spoof-style comedy, comes to C4 after generating rave reviews in the United States. The Hollywood Reporter called it the clever satire we've all been waiting for and the Philadelphia Daily News said that while it might be a little too spot on about the work many people do, it sure is a laugh.

The show is centred around Veridian Technologies, and its scramble of employees who are either highly intelligent or highly power-hungry.

Many of the workers are geniuses, even though they may struggle with toilet-roll dispensers.

Ted (Jay Harrington), though probably not a genius, is the enthusiastic head of research and development. He whole-heartedly believes he has the best job in the world until his wide-eyed 7-year-old daughter starts questioning the morality of force-freezing a family friend who attended her birthday party.

The pressure mounts when Ted is then (forcefully) asked to fire this friend (who has since been thawed), because his post-traumatic screaming could be a bad look for the company.

At the same time, he struggles to suppress his feelings for another colleague, Linda (Andrea Anders). Unfortunately he's already broken his self-imposed rule of having only one office affair by sleeping with his boss, the stunning, power-suited and seemingly conscience-free Veronica, played by Portia de Rossi.

All of a sudden, Ted starts seeing his beloved employer's questionable practices in a different light - like, should you manufacture the best teeth whitener ever if it could also kill off all the planet's fish, just because you can?

Better Off Ted is de Rossi's first major television role since Arrested Development ended in 2006 and since her marriage to Ellen DeGeneres in 2008.

Where: C4
When: Sunday, 8pm
What: Geniuses go wild, R & D-style