Sumith Prasad
In Peacock’s comedy series ‘Ted,’ John Bennett and his best friend Ted attend John Hancock High School, where they often deal with bullies such as Clive. Along with the Bennetts’ house, the high school is one of the most significant settings of the series since a major part of John’s life unfolds in the place. His experiences as a junior high student are an integral part of the show. The high school also succeeds in captivating the audience with its architecture and ambiance, which are quite different from the typical education institutions in the country!
John Hancock High School is Fictional
John Hancock High School does not exist in Framingham, Massachusetts. The school is a fictional institution created by Seth MacFarlane and his writers to conceive John’s life as a teenage student navigating his life through the harsh realities of the high school period. In the series, John deals with numerous concerns several high school students must have dealt with in their lives. He tries his best to avoid bullies and figure out how to express his interest in Sheila. The sequences set in the school also show the strength and nuances of the friendships that prosper during such a period in life.
Ted’s sacrifices to protect John and his betrayal of the latter’s trust in him to not become a laughing stock in front of other schoolmates portray the intricacies of high school life well. One of the major reasons why ‘Ted’ works as a comedy-drama series is it is immensely relatable. MacFarlane twisted several high school tropes to make John’s journey rooted in reality without falling for cliches. John’s heroic efforts to win the heart of Betheny and Ted’s attempts to “create” a friend can be paralleled with the reality of high school life. Since all these realistic plot developments unfold in the high school, the viewers can’t be blamed for wondering whether the institution is real as well.
The scenes set in John Hancock High School were not even shot in Framingham. They were filmed at the iconic Courthouse Square located in the Universal Studios Backlot, Universal City, California. The particular set was built for the 1948 film ‘An Act of Murder.’ It gained popularity for standing in for Downtown Hill Valley in the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy. In the last six decades, the location has featured in several renowned productions, including recent projects such as Peacock’s ‘Rutherford Falls,’ NBC’s ‘A.P. Bio,’ and ‘Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween.’
The creative heads behind the show named the school after John Hancock, the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, seemingly to fit the institution in the setting. Although there is a real Hancock School in Massachusetts, it is an elementary school situated in the town of Hancock, located over 130 miles away from Framingham.
Read More: Do Ted and Betheny End Up Together?
