Warning: Some SPOILERS lie ahead for Ted season 2, episode 3, “Dungeons & Dealers”!Seth MacFarlane’s partying teddy bear has ventured into a whole new realm for Ted season 2 and he and his co-stars are breaking down the wild new episode.

Entitled “Dungeons & Dealers,” episode 3 of the Peacock prequel series sees Giorgia Whigham’s Blaire coming to Max Burkholder’s John and MacFarlane’s titular character to get some of their weed to prepare for her final exams. When they all find they’ve run out, and the latter pair’s regular dealer is out of town, they turn to one of their classmates, played by Brennan Lee Mulligan, who only agrees to do so in exchange for helping him finish his Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

Ahead of the show’s return, ScreenRant‘s Grant Hermanns interviewed Seth MacFarlane, Giorgia Whigham and Max Burkholder to discuss Ted season 2. When asked about the creation of the Dungeons & Dragons episode, in which much of the episode sees Ted, John, Blaire, Scott Grimes’ Matty and Alanna Ubach’s Susan as their player characters in the game’s setting, the creator/star began by acknowledging that the episode is “[one] you can really only do in a season 2 or season 3 once you’ve established your characters.”

MacFarlane continued by sharing how he was partly inspired by the 1980 Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, in the actual execution of the episode, which he directed. Recalling the feeling that “it would’ve been cool to walk around that Dagobah set,” they sought to bring as practical an approach to the Dungeons & Dragons production as possible, particularly the “forest that they wander through” and “the temple that they visit,” and that, with the use of Fuzzy Door’s ViewScreen technology, he became thoroughly immersed:

Seth MacFarlane: It was a huge set that was all built on a soundstage that takes you a good minute to walk through the whole pathway, and you feel like you’re in a forest. Certainly the caves, which I got lost in a couple of times, and the temple that they visit, all of these were practical sets that were built. We used our ViewScreen technology to do the scene where the walls are closing in. The bug tunnel, Temple of Doom-esque scene. It was just a fun thing to do to mix up our day a little bit. We’re in that suburban house so much of the time, and we thought it’d be fun to build some sets that really kind of take us to someplace completely different. I wish we could find a forest in California, or at least in Southern California, and we can’t. [Chuckles] We used to run into this with Orville. “Is there any place green with a lot of trees?” And it’s like, “Yep, it’s called the East Coast.”

Burkholder and Whigham similarly found themselves enthused by the practical approach to crafting the Dungeons & Dragons sets in the Ted season 2 episode. The former called it “the dopest s–t in the world,” particularly as cast holding “was in the tavern for a while,” and thus gave them more time to hang out there, and similarly describing the cave system as being “really dope.”

Whigham went on to tease that she has “so many BTS photos that I’m excited to share” from the episode, while also praising the costume, hair and makeup as being “such a really awesome collaborative effort” across the board. She and Burkholder also celebrated the episode as an opportunity to be “transported into something so different than we were used to” from the family sitcom setting of most Ted episodes:

Max Burkholder: It felt like we were on a different show for a second. It really did. Completely different way of shooting. I mean, the greens that they flew in, there were real trees in the forest. There were multiple tons of dirt that they used. It was wild. Practicals, man. Practicals. Practicals f—-ng rule. So cool.

To Whigham and Burkholder’s point, the majority of Ted‘s two-season run has seen its cast either in the Bennett family’s house or John and Ted’s high school, occasionally branching out to such places as video stores, hospital rooms and college houses. With the show already putting much of its focus on a CGI talking teddy bear for eight episodes a season, it’s understandable that they’d aim to keep more of the onus on the family comedy and dynamics.

For MacFarlane, Ted season 2’s Dungeons & Dragons episode also marks the most in-depth live-action production he’s undertaken in the director’s chair in a few years. With the help of everyone from Star Wars vet Jon Favreau to Star Trek vet Jonathan Frakes and 24 alum Jon Cassar, the five-time Emmy winner showed off his biggest range of live-action shooting with The Orville, as the sci-fi series ventured to both Earth-like planets, as well as ones complete alien.

As MacFarlane, Whigham and Burkholder discussed above, the Ted season 2 episode certainly showcased the same level of dedication to practical effects as the majority of The Orville‘s three-season run. Between the aforementioned tavern, forest and cavern soundstages, the guest cast also display some very intricate prosthetics and costume work, particularly the demon that serves as the final boss for the group.

Beyond marking MacFarlane’s biggest live-action production yet, the Dungeons & Dragons episode also continues Brennan Lee Mulligan’s expansion into mainstream stardom. Starting with the Upright Citizens Brigade, the launching point of everyone from Amy Poehler to Ben Schwartz, he’s gained more popularity for his work with CollegeHumor’s Dropout, particularly Dimension 20. The latter even served as a springboard for him to eventually take over as gamemaster for Matt Mercer in Critical Role‘s fourth campaign.

Related

TED Season 3: Is It Happening?

Ted is back for season 2 on Peacock, but will there be a season 3? Here’s everything we know about the fate of Seth MacFarlane’s streaming spinoff.

Interestingly, Mulligan’s cameo in Ted season 2 comes alongside Dropout owner Sam Reich and some of his Game Changer regulars making a crossover appearance with The Rookie, as well as Critical Role having two different shows on the air. Between the Peacock and ABC shows turning to viral stars like Mulligan and Reich, it will be interesting to see where else comics such as them pop up.

Be sure to dive into some of ScreenRant‘s other Ted season 2 coverage with:

Ted season 2 is available to stream in its entirety on Peacock.

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  Release Date

  2024 – 2024-00-00

  Network

  Peacock

  Directors

  Seth MacFarlane

  Writers

  Dana Gould, Jon Pollack, Brad Walsh, Julius Sharpe, Paul Corrigan, Seth MacFarlane

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    Seth MacFarlane

    Ted (voice)

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    Max Burkholder

    John Bennett