TED Season 2 dropped all eight episodes on March 5, 2026, on Peacock, with the same five-person core cast intact from Season 1. Seth MacFarlane, Max Burkholder, Scott Grimes, Alanna Ubach, and Giorgia Whigham all return, playing the Bennett family and Ted through senior year of high school in 1994 Framingham, Massachusetts. Every main cast member had a direct prior relationship with MacFarlane before the show was cast.
Binging a show and thinking “I know that actor from somewhere” is genuinely half the experience with TED, because this ensemble was not assembled from open casting. MacFarlane pulled from a tight circle of collaborators with careers stretching back decades. Here is the full breakdown, including the credits most recaps skip.
Who Voices Ted and Where Do You Know Seth MacFarlane From?
Seth MacFarlane voices Ted and does motion capture for the character in every episode. He started as an animator at Hanna-Barbera, working on Johnny Bravo, before pitching Family Guy to Fox in 1998. That show is still in production. He also created American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, and The Orville, and he directed and wrote both Ted films before developing the Peacock series. On Family Guy alone, he voices Peter, Brian, Stewie, and Quagmire simultaneously.
Who Plays John Bennett and Where Do You Know Max Burkholder From?
Max Burkholder, born November 1, 1997, in Los Angeles, plays teenage John Bennett, the role Mark Wahlberg fills as an adult in the original films. He started acting at age three. His most recognizable prior role is Max Braverman on NBC’s Parenthood, where he appeared in all 103 episodes across six seasons from 2010 to 2015. He also had guest arcs on Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Brothers and Sisters, and previously voiced characters on Family Guy, American Dad!, and The Cleveland Show as a child.
Who Plays Matty Bennett and Where Do You Know Scott Grimes From?
Scott Grimes has been a working actor since age 13, when he co-starred with Mickey Rooney in the 1984 holiday TV movie It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. He also sang at Bob Hope’s 1986 Royal Command Performance in Sweden. His most recognized TV credits are Will McCorkle on Party of Five, Sergeant Donald Malarkey in Band of Brothers, and Dr. Archie Morris across multiple seasons of ER. His film credits include Critters, Robin Hood, and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. He is one of MacFarlane’s most frequent collaborators, appearing in American Dad!, Family Guy, and The Orville.
Who Plays Susan Bennett and Where Do You Know Alanna Ubach From?
Alanna Ubach plays Susan, John’s sheltered stay-at-home mom, and is probably the most recognizable face in the main cast for drama viewers. She is a series regular on Mythic Quest, the Apple TV+ comedy about a video game studio, and appeared in Euphoria and The Flight Attendant. She also has deep voice work history on Family Guy and the Netflix animated series Princess Power. In Season 2, the writers gave her a full standalone arc in Episode 7, “Susan Is the New Black,” where Susan goes to jail, earning specific public praise from co-star Scott Grimes.
Who Plays Blaire Bennett and Where Do You Know Giorgia Whigham From?
Giorgia Whigham plays Blaire, John’s liberal college-age cousin, and first appeared on Shameless before landing her highest-profile role as Amy Bendix in Marvel’s The Punisher on Netflix, where she was a series regular. She also appeared in Scream: Resurrection. Her connection to MacFarlane predates TED, having appeared in The Orville, which is how she entered his casting circle. Whigham has noted that when she first read Season 2 scripts, the storyline involving Blaire’s estranged father was one of the most genuinely surprising she had received.
Does the TED Series Cast Match the Original Films?
No, and that was a deliberate production decision made very early. When Peacock ordered the series straight-to-series in June 2021, MacFarlane originally approached Mark Wahlberg to reprise his role as John. Wahlberg passed due to scheduling conflicts, which led to the entire show being reimagined as a prequel set in the 1990s rather than a continuation. Mila Kunis and Amanda Seyfried also do not appear for the same reason. Burkholder, Grimes, Whigham, and Ubach were all cast between April and May 2022.
Who Are the Guest Stars in TED Season 2?
The guest cast in Season 2 skews heavily toward theater-trained actors, particularly in the jailhouse storyline built around Alanna Ubach’s character. Ubach herself said in interviews that the guest casting for TED is unusually precise compared to other shows she has worked on, and that the theater background of those actors made her own scenes significantly easier to play. Scott Michael Campbell appears in a notable physical comedy scene opposite Grimes in the season premiere. Beyond the main five, most recurring supporting players were already established in Season 1.
Why Does Every Main Cast Member Already Know MacFarlane?
The overlap is not coincidental. Burkholder voiced characters across three MacFarlane animated series as a child. Grimes has been a repertory player on American Dad! and Family Guy for years. Whigham came through The Orville. Ubach did voice work on Family Guy. MacFarlane has publicly stated he agreed to make the show for Peacock only on the condition the CGI on Ted would not be cut short, and that same standard of control extended to how the ensemble was assembled. The result is a cast that had genuine shorthand before the cameras rolled, which is unusual for a network-style ensemble comedy.
The Real Reason This Cast Works as Well as It Does
What most TED Season 2 cast guides miss is that this is essentially Seth MacFarlane’s long-running repertory company, finally doing live-action. Every principal cast member had worked with him before in voice, animation, or on The Orville. That history means the comedic timing in the Bennett household does not feel like actors finding their footing together, because they were not. Burkholder, Grimes, Ubach, and Whigham already understood MacFarlane’s rhythm before Season 1 even filmed. That foundation is what makes Season 2 land harder than most second seasons typically do.
