‘Better Off Ted’ Turns 15: Where’s the Cast Now?
As the head of research and development at the fictional Veridian Dynamics, Better Off Ted’s Ted Crisp (Jay Harrington) thinks he has the best job in the world, and there’s no technological innovation too far-fetched for his team. But when his corporate overloads want one of Ted’s team members cryogenically frozen, our sitcom protagonist begins to understand he’s a morally conscious guy working for a morally questionable company.
Also starring Portia de Rossi as Ted’s boss, Andrea Anders as his workplace crush, Jonathan Slavin and Malcolm Barrett as his lab scientists, and Isabella Acres as his daughter, Better Off Ted premiered on March 18, 2009, and ran for two critically approved seasons on ABC before getting scrubbed from the schedule.
Since then, the Ted cast members have periodically re-entered each other’s orbits, reuniting in 2011 for Barrett’s “Revenge of the Nerds” music video and again in 2020 for a charitable virtual read-through. Scroll down to find out what else they’ve been doing.
Jay Harrington (Ted Crisp)
Since 2017, Harrington has been starring as Sergeant David Kay on the CBS action drama S.W.A.T., the final season of which is currently underway. His other post-Ted roles include recurring parts on the TV comedies Hot in Cleveland and Benched and the dramas Code Black and Suits.
Portia de Rossi (Veronica Palmer)
De Rossi, who starred in Scandal and Arrested Development after Ted, announced her retirement from acting in 2018. Around the same time, she launched the art publishing company General Public and gifted her famous wife with the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda.
Andrea Anders (Linda Zwordling)
After Ted, Anders starred in the TV comedies Mr. Sunshine and Mr. Mom. She recently recurred on That ‘90s Show, Young Sheldon, and Ted Lasso (as the title character’s ex-wife). Now Anders stars in the Max comedy Bookie, which will return for a second season.
Jonathan Slavin (Phil Myman)
In 2015, Slavin starred in the ABC sitcom Dr. Ken opposite Ken Jeong, and the following year, he married his partner of 22 years. He recently guest-starred in Grace and Frankie and Station 19 and has a role in the upcoming Apple TV+ drama Sugar.
Malcolm Barrett (Lem Hewitt)
Barrett starred as Rufus Carlin in the NBC adventure series Timeless and now plays Leon in the BET+ comedy-drama Average Joe. Barrett and Slavin both had voice roles in the same episode of Krapopolis in 2023, and earlier this year, Barrett starred in a Los Angeles production of the play Brushstroke.
Isabella Acres (Rose Crisp)
Acres played Mirabelle Harris in the Prime Video comedy The Kicks and voiced Jade in more than a dozen episodes of Disney Junior’s Sofia the First. Later, she guest-starred on Station 19 and Into the Dark and did voice work on Frozen II. On Instagram, Acres says she’s a singer-songwriter and a screenwriter.
