A new article, published today, from the UK's 'The Guardian' newspaper looks into a few US TV shows airing this month.

Miss Arrested Development? Wish there was a substitute slightly surreal single-camera sitcom that garnered fantastic reviews, devoted admirers and minuscule ratings on a network where it was completely out of place, whose cast included Portia de Rossi and whose title featured the syllable "ted"? Congratulations! ABC's Better Off Ted fulfils all your cravings. The titular Ted is a liaison figure at Veridian Dynamics, a vast, amorphous corporation whose aims, although unstated, are to make the world a far worse place. This position requires him to make the soul-crushing whims of management palatable to the workforce and, conversely, to make sure their pleas to be treated in a vaguely human manner aren't sackable offences. In its barely 20-minute duration, Better Off Ted is three separate, entirely satisfying, shows. When Ted's attempting to interact with the socially unskilled techies in Research & Development, it's a far funnier IT Crowd. When Ted is gazing longingly at his crush, Linda the office rebel, it's a workplace romantic comedy. And when Portia de Rossi's icy-veined, heart-free, management cyborg strides into shot, it's the funniest show currently on TV. A lot of tabloid ink has been spilled on the subject of de Rossi over the past few years and not a drop of it concerned her comedy proficiency. I'm sure she's got a vast untapped range and probably gets frustrated that the only roles she's known for require her to be severe, damaged and/or barely human. But on the strength of her work on Better Off Ted, there's no one I can think of who plays severe, damaged and/or barely human with such verve. Watched by few, woefully under-promoted, Better Off Ted has nonetheless received the go-ahead for a second season. I'd like to shake the hand of the liaison figure who made that miracle happen.