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MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION

BETTER OFF TED, S02E08, THE IMPERTENCE OF


COMMUNICATIONIZING IN

Show Summary
Better Off Ted revolves around the concept of characters working for a stereotypically evil company, a fact of which they are all aware. The company, Veridian Dynamics, experiments on its employees, twists the truth, and will stop at nothing to achieve its goals. It has been mentioned that Veridian has swayed presidential elections, created killer pandas and robots, and that there are only three governments left in the world which are more powerful than Veridian. The characters often try to manipulate the system in order to stop bad things from happening to them, but they are also susceptible to the potential rewards the company can offer despite the consequences of their actions, such as the company's attempt to hire Lem's mother, or the company's introduction of scented light bulbs with known flaws. Much of the comedy of the show comes from the characters' navigation of these morally ambiguous areas. Jay Harrington, who plays Ted Crisp on the show, serves as both a main character and as an on-camera narrator. Throughout the show, he breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to viewers, offering inside information and observations while the action continues around him. Another plot element involves the use of mock commercials for Veridian Dynamics, thematically related to individual episodes and placed at the end or beginning of actual commercial breaks.

Cast of Characters
Jay Harrington as Theodore Margaret "Ted" Crisp: Ted is the titular character, and also the show's narrator. He is the senior vice-president of the Research and Development department at Veridian Dynamics, and is well respected and loved by most of the employees and even members of the otherwise difficult upper management. He balances his desire to maintain his position at the company with his feeling that he must demonstrate a moral center to his daughter. He has had sexual relations with his immediate supervisor, although she remains emotionally distant. He also has interest in Linda, who was a new hire to Veridian Dynamics at the launch of the series. Portia de Rossi as Veronica Palmer: Veronica is Ted's boss and immediate supervisor at Veridian Dynamics. She maintains a fierce and unapproachable workplace demeanor, and many employees have a deep fear of her. She seems cold and calculating, but it is also clear that she has more than grudging respect for Ted, and often recognizes what moral action is necessary to maintain balance in the workplace. Andrea Anders as Linda Katherine Zwordling: Linda is a tester in one of Veridian's departments. She finds herself very attracted to Ted, but maintains other relationships and
1 Starling D. Hunter III 2012 | starling@qatar.cmu.edu| Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar | http://qatar.cmu.edu

reminds Ted repeatedly that he has rejected the idea of a workplace romance with her. She seems to be a bit of an outsider to the corporate culture. Often she is the character who demands that Ted consider the horrible ramifications of the company policies or activities. Her relationship with the scientists is strained by her rejection of the weird things they do in the name of science. Jonathan Slavin as Dr. Philip "Phil" Myman: Phil is one of the laboratory scientists in Veridian's Research Department. He is usually working or hanging out with Lem, who works with him on almost every project. He generally does whatever he can to be accepted and avoid conflicts. He is married, and makes frequent references to his wife, who seems to hate him. After being frozen he develops a tic where he would abruptly begin screaming (usually during a meeting). Malcolm Barrett as Dr. Lem Hewitt: Lem is one of the laboratory scientists in Veridian's Research Department. He is best friends with his lab partner Phil, who works with him on almost every project. Lem is just as conflict averse as Phil, and seems just as willing to roll over and take whatever abuse the company has to offer. He grew up in the shadow of his mother (Khandi Alexander) a renowned scientist. Isabella Acres as Rose Crisp: Rose is Ted's preteen daughter. She attends the Veridian Dynamics daycare program when her nanny is not available, but prefers to stay at home. According to Ted, "her mom ran off to Africa to go save the world." She is often the voice of reason on the show. When Ted talks with her about work she points out the terrible choices the company makes, and often helps Ted focus on what needs to be done to set things straight.i

Starling D. Hunter III 2012 | starling@qatar.cmu.edu| Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar | http://qatar.cmu.edu

Episode Recap
Ted insists that communication is important in any relationship, with friends or with company employees. He greets one employee, Debbie, and tries to communicate with her, but she insists that she isn't prepared to talk with him. She asks him to send him his ideas and scurries off. That leaves memos. However, a memo comes out saying that employees must "now use offensive language" instead of "not use offensive language." He shows the memory to Veronica and Linda, and worries that people blindly follow all the company memos. Ted goes to fix the problem, much to Veronica's amusement. However, she notes that she seems to be feeling an emotion because of the memos. Linda tries to pin it down and Veronica admits it reminds her of a memo when she was promoted five years ago, and she was up against a man named Walter Palmer. Her promotion was announced in a memo, but Veronica has always wondered if it was for her or Walter. Linda points out that she's probably feeling guilt, and suggests Veronica talk to Walter. Ted talks to the HR representative, Janet, who says they won't look into the matter because the company doesn't make mistakes. Ever. She wants to tell people what she really thinks. At the next meeting, Ted realizes there's a new problem. Phil and Lem never read their memos, so have no idea why people are insulting them. Linda joins in to insult the people insulting them, and Phil wonders what is going on. Linda shows them the memo but Ted insists they're not going to insult people in his meetings. Veronica goes to the basement with a cake and a jar of herring for Walter. He's glad to see her and is surprised that she's there. Walter admits he regretted mocking her after she got the promotion, and Veronica offers to buy him something. He feels guilty himself and asks to take her out of a drink. Veronica refuses until Walter feels more guilty than ever. After the meeting, Linda admits that she's happy to hear people speaking their mind. Even Debbie spoke up and presented an idea. Linda thinks that Ted is a control freak and doesn't like the chaos, but she thinks chaos can be a good thing sometime. Phil and Lem go back and read all their memos. They find the offensive language memo and Lem steps up to the occasion. Phil admits that he isn't able to come up with very good comebacks, and Lem promises to help him. Ted takes Linda's advice, dressing more casually. Linda isn't impressed and insults him for real. Veronica comes in and admits that her "date" with Walter went horribly. She blames Ted, who questioned memos and brought up her guilt. It turns out that after he lost his promotion, Walter's wife left him and he lost his house. Now he lives in his parents' basement. Veronica felt so guilt she let Walter kiss her and feel her up. Despite that, she still feels guilt. Walter comes over and says he had a great time, and invites her to dinner again. Veronica offers to buy him a boat instead, but he explains that would just make him feel guilty. Veronica reluctantly agrees to go on the date. When Debbie gets in the elevator with Phil and Lem, Lem coaches Phil in insulting. It doesn't go well. Ted begins the next meeting about their MRE development project and explains that he's no longer intimidating, and wants to hear everyone's ideas. Phil tries to insult him without much luck. When Linda insults Ted, Ted finally snaps and starts insulting everyone right back. People finally start talking about their feelings and Ted writes everything down. Veronica finally comes to see Linda and ask for help. She wants Walter to run screaming from her life, because if she drops him, Walter will realize she feels guilty. Linda suggests that she say "futures," "babies," and "commitment" in heavy rotation, and Veronica realizes the terror they can inspire.
3 Starling D. Hunter III 2012 | starling@qatar.cmu.edu| Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar | http://qatar.cmu.edu

Phil decides to create his own insults and creates a mathematical formula. Lem reviews it and makes an improvement or two, and they try it out on a fellow worker. It actually goes pretty well. Veronica goes to see Walter and drops the three magic words. Unfortunately, she does it randomly but she still manages to startle Walter until he agrees to have as many babies as she wants. Ted takes everyone's ideas and ends up with a MRE 2' square. Veronica stops by and tells Ted that her plan didn't work as planned, but he isn't interested. He goes to find Phil and Lem in the lab. However, they're busy trying their insult formula on workers throughout the company. Unfortunately, Phil insults a water deliveryman and realizes too late he's made a mistake. Ted opens the elevator and finds Phil and Lem soaked in water. As they leave early, Ted says that the insults have to end. He goes to see Janet, but she insists that there's nothing she can do because the company won't make a mistake. Ted suggests they make a new memo to counteract the old policy, and Janet is briefly turned on. Ted sets her back on course and they come up with a plan that will let Veridian change their policy based on a groundswell and feel good about themselves. Later, the new memo comes out saying that they don't have to swear because of a "groundsmell." Ted admits that he put everything in the MRE because he cared about Linda's opinion. They got one good idea from Debbie: Ethiopian stew shoes. Veronica comes in and Ted tells her that he found her promotion memo, which confirms that Veronica was who they intended to promote all along. She goes to scrape Walter off her shoe, noting he put a hickey on her belly. Veronica crushes Walter by breaking up with him, but then gives him an above-ground office. Phil and Lem apologize to the water guy. Ted thanks Debbie for her work on the MRE and tells her he's open to any ideas she has. When she says they should go out and he can do whatever he wants with her, he beats a hasty exit.ii

Discussion Questions
1. The episode is built around miscommunication of an important message. Using the communication model described in Figure 15.2, explain who or what are the communicator, encoding, message, medium, decoding, receiver, feedback, and noise. 2. Provide examples of three non-verbal messages that are sent in the episode. 3. In what direction(s) does the focal message first move? What about afterwards? 4. What role, if any, does technology play in the communication process described above? 5. What barriers were created by the sender(s) of the focal message? By the receivers? By both senders and receivers? 6. Are any of the techniques for improving communication observed?

Solutions
Write to starling@qatar.cmu.edu for to obtain a copy of the solution to this case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Off_Ted#Plot http://www.tv.com/better-off-ted/the-impertence-of-communicationizing/episode/1313557/recap.html, see also http://www.tvrage.com/Better_Off_Ted/episodes/1064884072/recap
i ii

Starling D. Hunter III 2012 | starling@qatar.cmu.edu| Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar | http://qatar.cmu.edu

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