MovieChat Forums > Queer as Folk (2000) Discussion > Ted Schmidt - Worst char ever?

Ted Schmidt - Worst char ever?


This freaking character has bring annoyance in new heights!!
What's your opinion?

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One of my faves and most realistic character.

His dynamic with Brian in S4 & 5 are highlights of those seasons.

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[deleted]

Liking a character is MUCH MUCH MORE than what they do in their life. I mean will you hate your best friend, if he/she commits a crime? I like a character for their personality. In Oz, everyone killed someone but Ryan O'Reily has grown on me, he cared for the ones he love, dealt with diseases, helped other inmates. I don't know if you've seen the show (if you'd, you'd probably list it next or top of The Sopranos or Dexter) but eventually you'll like someone. Another character is Spike from Buffy and several characters from The Wire. I don't watch Dexter.

I don't hate Ted, I love Ted, but Michael... He didn't kill anybody but hurt his caring friends during custody, if I were Melanie, it would take maybe a year for me to forgive him. He'll always gonna be a whining little kid while those killers are gonna grow as characters.

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Michael sued for partial physical custody of his child. And this was only after Melanie informed him she had no intention of willingly allowing Michael much time with his daughter til she was much older. So what you're saying is, this makes Michael worse than a murderer. Wonder how he would rate if he committed an actual crime.

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Well, I like Teddy a lot. He's sort of got the thankless job of being the 'straight man' of the show, the regular guy, the voice of reason, the everyman, the friggin' accountant, for gosh sakes! Who, unfortunately, a lot of bad stuff happens to throughout the series. The meth addiction storyline was hard to watch, and truthfully when I'm re-watching, I tend to skip over those parts, but I love where he ended up at the end of the series.

I think Scott Lowell did a great job with the part, and he also has the prettiest eyes of all the guys on the show! I can't help it, I notice stuff like that.

One of my favorite Brian/Ted conversations is when Brian is trying to talk Ted into taking the job at Kinnetic:

Brian: You may be a pathetic drug addict who's lost everything - your dignity, your livelihood, your lover, your good name, the respect and trust of everyone you know…
Ted: No one gives a pep talk like you, Bri.
Brian: But there's one thing you haven't lost. You're still an accountant. That's who you are. Not even the lowest form of degradation can take that away from you.

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Totally agree about Ted's eyes.

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I think he was funny and sweet.

Abby: "Olivia, something terrible has happened."

Olivia: "What, did you run out of eye makeup?"

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You have a character like Dr. David Cameron on this show and you're calling TED the worst character ever?

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Ugh I hated Dr. David Cameron from the second he came on screen. First of all, he was a chiropractor that acted like he was a real, medical doctor (and for some reason everyone else treated him like one). Plus he was so controlling and domineering. And I think it's the comparison to David that made me love Ben so much: Ben is occasionally annoyed with Brian and Michael's relationship, but overall he understands why it is important to Michael and respects that and respects Michael. David was just a bitch the entire time. Plus I remember when Brian ran into him at the baths, and that just cemented by opinion that David was a complete f-ck.

Although I watched Queer as Folk during its original airing, I didn't frequent IMDb, so I'm not sure, but does anyone know how the fanbase felt about David throughout his run on QAF? Did people typically hate him right off the bat or was there a time when people liked him and enjoyed seeing him and Michael together?

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[deleted]

Heads up, I have watched the series all the way through multiple times, so to address some of your comments I may mention things from later seasons (I honestly can't remember what happens when sometimes). Since you're in the midst of season 2, I don't want to accidentally spoil you. I don't think I mentioned anything that is a major spoiler, but just a fair warning.


I can kind of see why David was irritated by Michael's relationship with Brian.
Oh I can too. And like I said, even Ben got annoyed with Michael vehemently defending Brian. Hell even I got annoyed with it. That's totally understandable. But David basically wanted Michael to not see Brian anymore, or really any of his friends. And when Michael did see Brian, Ted, and Emmett, David refused to go with him. David created a dichotomy for Michael: at any given moment he had to choose between David or his friends and no matter who he chose, there would be someone who resented him. And then on top of that, David couldn't even make Michael comfortable in their own home. He struggled to incorporate Michael's possessions in the home and wouldn't let Michael pay or contribute anything, which was very important for him to do.

Ben integrated himself in the group. He became friends with Mel, Lindsay, Emmett, Ted, Justin, and to a lesser extent, even Brian. We even had instances where Ben was hanging out with the others without Michael there, indicating to us that Ben was actually friends with all these people. He moved into Michael's home and treated it like it belonged to both of them. It was just a much healthier and happy situation than with David.

The average person would NOT be okay with their partner open-mouth kissing their best friend.
Honestly, I think it depends on the context. If you were dating someone from Italy or Greece, where culturally men commonly kiss one another on the mouth as a greeting, then within that context, it would be kind of unreasonable to be upset about it. That was just something Michael and Brian did. I know Michael had unresolved feelings for Brian, but for the most part, it was entirely platonic. Strange? Sure. But if it didn't mean anything beyond a friendly kiss, then I think that's something you kind of just have to deal with. And we even get a sense of that with both guys. David had a huge problem with Michael and Brian's relationship. With Ben, we get one instance where Michael and Brian kiss on the mouth and Ben asks Ted and Emmett if they do that a lot and they basically replied with "yes" and Ben's reaction after that was like, "oh okay" and it just became a non-issue with him.

Also, Michael did seem to put Brian before David.
Yeah he did, but I liked that. Granted I hated David, but I think very highly of people who hold their close friends in high regard. I like that Michael didn't just blow off Brian for David. And Michael putting Brian ahead of David was always a point of contention with them. It was very rarely brought up with Ben.

It's why David and Michael's relationship eventually crumbled because Michael realized he wasn't 100% for going to Portland, but that was after he found out Brian was no longer moving to New York.
Absolutely, but I think an important thing to acknowledge at this point is that Michael wasn't just not 100% for going to Portland, he wasn't 100% into being with David. And like Michael said, in Portland he didn't have a job, couldn't find a job, didn't have any friends, and David worked all the time so he barely saw him. David certainly didn't make sure the transition was easy for Michael.

Lastly, David pretty much knew (because Michael told him) that Brian and the others had been making fun of him before they got to know him.
As friends tend to do. But David put absolutely no effort into trying to get to know Michael's friends to change that. He was this separate entity that did very little but make Michael feel bad for doing the things he enjoyed doing. Why would Brian, Justin, Emmett, and Ted like David?

I think David was a little too uptight at times, but I think Michael still had a lot of growing up to do.
Absolutely. They weren't good for each other at all. David was too uptight and kind of an ass and Michael wasn't mature enough to tell David what he needed. He was far too concerned with losing his "doctor" boyfriend. By the time Michael is with Ben he is much more of an adult.

It only worked out with Ben because Ben himself still was a bit of a kid at heart with still frequenting clubs and being into comic books.
It's not so much that he still frequented clubs and was into comic books, but he was willing to go to clubs and learn about comic books because those were things Michael enjoyed and they were important to him. The first time Ben and Michael went to Babylon together, I got the impression that it had been some time since Ben was out at a dance club, but the first thing he did when he got there was take off his shirt and drag Michael out onto the dance floor. When David went to Babylon with Michael he wouldn't dance with him and almost made it a point to inform Michael of how uncomfortable he was. Ben wanted to be a part of Michael's life so he tried to learn about the things Michael liked. David only ever bothered to do that after he and Michael fought and it was a half-assed effort anyway; and don't get me wrong, if David genuinely didn't want to do those things, then he is under no obligation to. But then he needs to reevaluate his relationship with Michael. David wanted all the concessions to come from Michael and he was not particularly willing to concede anything himself.

However, I have always hated David (since the first time I saw him on screen 15 years ago), so I am absolutely biased.

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Very comprehensive assessment about why Ben was better for Michael than David. A lot was touched on that I hadn't considered.

Agree that people who hold their friends in high esteem should be thought of highly.

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[deleted]

Bump

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I liked David a lot. I wanted them to be together, but I knew that it wouldn't work because David was pretty much inconsiderate.

I do like how you touch on Michael being more mature when he meets Ben

Honestly, I don't see how they really were matches for Michael, since Michael wasn't usually in circles where he would meet those kinds of men. I rarely see a chiropractor or College Professor at a bar clubbing with the frequency that the guys did.

Just my thoughts on that

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I happen to be greek and I just wanted to say that straight men here almost never kiss each other on the mouth (at least in my city) And Greece is still a pretty homophobic country in general

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sorry for resurrecting this old thread but I just want to say that my most favorite lines are from teddy especially when he says thank you sarcastically.

"Thank you Arthur Miller"

"Thank you Doogie Howser"

"Thank you Doctor Kinney, you've just saved me years worth of therapy. Not to mention several thousand dollars"

LOL
How can Ted be the worst char ever?

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I love the scene in the video- "took drugs, *beep* around, reached rock bottom, regrets it deeply" it was delivered to perefection- all Ted's heartbreak in a few dispassionate words!!!

Brian cetainly had a way with words!!!?

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I love how Brian gave Ted the chance to pretty much start a new life, with the Kinnetic job offer. And Ted took it and ran with it! He ended up being Brian's right hand man at the company; nothing to sneeze at by any means.

I love that, by middle of the series, Brian actually considered Ted a friend, and even admitted so to himself and everyone else. It shows Brian's growth as well, that he could have normal friendships with his circle of friends. Well, as normal as his relationships ever get! Although I do love that he continues to call Ted "Theodore"!

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I agree. Though Brian in a way contributed to the shutting down of Ted's porn site because he somehow enabled Stockwell to have that kind of influence, it was really a blessing in disguise. Brian took a part of Ted's life away but in the end replaced it with something more dignified and fulfilling.

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After Brian, Ted does have some of the best lines in the show.

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I feel *beep* for me it is between Ben or Debbie. I think Ben could learn to tone his petty ways down. His attitude towards Michael in season four pissed me off and made me wish that Michael would leave him.

But..Debbie..she is *beep* toxic to the three main leading roles(Brian, Michael, and Justin.)

Ted was the realistic character ever. I know they(Cowlip) went on about his porn addiction so much that it was just annoying, but out of all of them, he was the realistic one. Works at a boring job because he gets money, like everyone else has very low self-esteem about his personality and looks. And etc. Oh! And he has done drugs and dramatic relationship that mind-boggles you. His relationship with Emmett was just gross though. He was too good for Emmett.

My favorites conversations with Brian/Ted were:

Brian: "My mother was a frigid bitch, my father an abusive drunk. They had a hateful marriage, which is probably why I am unwilling or unable to perform a long term, committed relationship of my own. The fact that I drink like a fish, abuse drugs, and have more or less redefined promiscuous sex doesn't help, much. As a result, I've lost the two people in my life that mean the most to me."
Ted: "There, don't you feel better?"
Brian: "No, but I'm sure you do."

Brian: "Listen to me. Are you listening?"
Ted: "I'm listening."
Brian: "You may be a pathetic drug addict who's lost everything - your dignity, your livelihood, your lover, your good name, the respect and trust of everyone you know…"
Ted: "No one gives a pep talk like you, Bri."
Brian: "But there's one thing you haven't lost. You're still an accountant. That's who you are. Not even the lowest form of degradation can take that away from you."

I love that no one seems to realize that Ted is the only one Brian allowed to call him Bri. Not even Lindsay or Michael call him that.




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I didn't like Ted very much but I wouldn't say he's the worst character. I hated how pathetic he was and instead of feeling sorry for him when he'd put himself down, I'd feel like slapping him. But I like his scenes with Emmett (before they become "a couple") both the funny ones and intense one. Some of my most re-watched clips are when he and Emmett are goofing around.
And I love that second scene you mentioned.

My perspective changed a bit about him in season 5 when he gained Brian's respect and somewhat equal friendship. I liked assertive, accountant Ted better than the pathetic accountant going to places where he doesn't fit in (like Babylon) only to be rejected while he seemed to be looking for a "traditional" type of relationship.

I'm not sure if the nickname means anything though. Brian was the only one calling Ted Theodore, so maybe Ted was just countering that? :)

Brianwashed!

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I always thought after Gus/Michael/Justin, Ted was Brian's other close best friend. Emmett was more of Michael's other best friend.

I loved him in season five. He was wonderful!

Hmmm...you may be right.

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Also liked Ted in his job as Brian's accountant. But this did not make Ted and Brian become close friends. The two had a work relationship that also involved friendship. But Ted was still Brian's employee, and their interactions reflected that, with Ted never being as candid with Brian as he was in the past.

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I loved Ted and thought he was underrated. His s/l with Blake was fascinating and I almost wish they'd spent more time on it; Blake was a fantastic actor as well and, to me, he and Ted had as much chemistry as Brian and Justin.

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I'm in the midst of watching Season 1 (again!), and I love Ted even more now. He's just so sweet, and cute (those eyes!), and caring to his friends and Blake. I just watched the episode where he runs into a twinked-out Blake at Babylon, and then finds him in the bathroom passed out, takes him to the hospital, and sits with him all night holding his hand. He's just so genuine.

Plus, he has that dry wit that I love. He can definitely give both Brian and Emmett a run for their money in the deadpan snark department!

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bump

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He was the first main character that I liked for his personality. He is so normal. He could be anyone. He's someone with whom you can identify. Overdose coma aside. ☺

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