Seth MacFarlane Bringing Teddy Bear Comedy to Big Screen

Seth MacFarlane, the man who almost single-handedly keeps Fox's Sunday night lineup afloat, is packing a feature film in around his already busy schedule.

"Ted," a sure-to-be raunchy comedy, tells the story of a man and his teddy bear in a mix of live-action and CG. One shudders to think what the exact nature of their relationship might be. Little is known about the project other than that -- and its $65-million price tag.

The budget has to have folks nervous. Just yesterday it was learned that "Hangover" director Todd Phillips, about as hot a property as there is in Hollywood right now, launched a film that's going to cost just $12 million.

As successful as MacFarlane is, a look at the ratings for "Family Guy" shows a viewership of that has settled into the 7 to 8 million range. The average price of a movie ticket is just short of $8. So if every single "Family Guy" fan were to buy a ticket to see "Ted," it would take in $64 million. And that doesn't take into account all the fans who won't get in because of the R rating.

It's hard to imagine that MacFarlane will develop much of a new audience with what one suspects will be his same brand of humor, only with dirty words. This is no disrespect to MacFarlane -- it's just that if someone in America hasn't become a MacFarlane fan by now...

MacFarlane currently writes, directs and does most of the voices for "Family Guy," "American Dad," and "The Cleveland Show." That he even has time to make a movie is impressive.

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