The Cleveland Show Series Premiere Review
The New FOX Animated Comedy From Seth MacFarlane Falters in Debut
The Cleveland Show, a spinoff of FOX’s popular Sunday-night comedy Family Guy, may have left some viewers who tuned in unaware of the new series scratching their heads. This new Seth MacFarlane project, which premiered September 27 following The Simpsons, looked very much like a throwaway episode of the show that spawned it.
MacFarlane sought to answer the question, “What would happen if an entire thirty-minute installment of Family Guy focused on Peter Griffin’s longtime friend Cleveland Brown?” The only problem is that few people were asking that question, and it’s obvious that providing a suitable answer was near impossible.
New Setting, Familiar Territory for Cleveland Show
Should the show revolve around Cleveland living his life normally in Quahog, but as the center of every week’s crazy storyline? Well, that’s essentially just Family Guy with slightly less of the best characters. Should the show revolve around Cleveland moving to a new town and meeting new people where he is the center of every week’s crazy storylines? Well, that’s essentially just Family Guy with none of the best characters.
Unfortunately, the show’s producers settled on the latter, uprooting Cleveland and his seldom (if ever) seen son Cleveland, Jr. and moving them to Stoolbend, Virginia, where father Brown runs into his old high school flame and ultimately marries her.
This new down-south backdrop provides a slew of peculiar characters who become Cleveland’s replacement friends, and not a one of them is fit to tie Quagmire’s ever-open bath robe. There is the redneck (how original!) neighbor; another neighbor who is a man-boy living with his mother who enjoys golf and Game Boy; and a bear (that’s right - a talking, beer-drinking, straight-outta-the-forest bear) named Tim.
Each new character introduced in the pilot episode was more annoying than the last, and it’s unfortunate that Cleveland – who had his fair share of humorous moments on Family Guy – has moved from the “A” show to this sub-par block of FOX’s Animation Domination lineup.
Poor Writing, Unfunny Jokes Ruin Spin-Off
The uninspired characters aren’t the only problem in Cleveland’s new home town, though. The biggest problem the new series faces is the writing. The jokes just aren’t there, and the only times that The Cleveland Show elicits a giggle or two are when the format returns to Family Guy territory and employs the overused cutaway gag.
This, then, begs the question – why is this show necessary? In all honesty, it isn’t necessary at all. American Dad!, which featured an entirely new cast of characters and was not tied to Family Guy at all, debuted in 2005 and worked so well because it showcased a somewhat different brand of humor. The Cleveland Show is only different in that it’s a much lamer version of Family Guy – good for a bonus episode in a DVD box set, but certainly not worthy of its own series.
Score: 5 out of 10
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