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The Cleveland Show is a spin-off from the animated juggernaut that is Family Guy, much beloved of students worldwide. It follows the adventures of a titular Cleveland Brown and his family in the charming town of Stoolbend Virginia, complete with talking bears and rednecks. The setting gives creator Seth MacFarlane ample opportunity to mock the ‘blaxploitation’ phase of the ‘70s, and of course, satirise American TV Shows from the ‘80s. However, the first season had mixed reviews, being savagely criticised by some, and even descried as Family Guy in blackface.
The second season tries to develop Cleveland as a character, the opening episode focusing on his budding relationship with a wannabe rapper Kenny West (the song Touch the Sky is played later if you’re braindead and miss the pun, as MacFarlane assumes we are). There were a few snappy lines, namely Cleveland’s wife, Donna, saying “any 19 year-old man who has your life Cleveland should kill himself” but the story is trite, old and has been done before. It all moves from predictable stereotype to resolution with barely a murmur and not an ounce of innovation or excitement. Even the reappearance of the “oh hey!” guy from Family Guy raises little more than a smile.
Slightly more interesting was the second episode, shown back-to-back on the launch night. MacFarlane tried a “live” animated episode, complete with gaffs, drunken cast members and flimsy scenery. While the deliberate cack-handedness of it had me giggling remembering the truly awful live Eastenders episode, a live comedic episode has already been done by MacFarlane, in the form of a telethon in American Dad a few seasons ago. In addition the latter series also mocked the live performance of a sitcom and I can literally recall a dozen episodes of Family Guy off the top of my head that satirise the TV industry in a similar manner. The satire about cameo actors being forced in was grin-worthy and that was about it.
One side note would be the obvious politicisation of the show. I understand that Barack Obama is seen as the best thing since sliced bread by many in the media, but the portrayal of him in the opening episode as nothing less than a basketball God is a panegyric too much, especially when you consider MacFarlane’s robust treatment of Bush. It’s proof that any venom has been lost, as a thorough deconstruction of Obama would truly be radical.
This review has mentioned MacFarlane’s other shows so much because The Cleveland Show is a hybrid of both. Lacking Family Guy’s over the top references or American Dad’s more cohesive structure, it falls in between and fails to achieve the high points of either show. It’s quite ironic that Family Guy started off as a satirisation of animated shows and has ended up becoming the benchmark for them. The end product of this is a watered-down product of a watered-down product, sustained by a handful of jokes that have been recycled several times through other shows. This isn’t Frasier, but Joey.
The Cleveland Show airs on Tuesdays at 10pm on E4
Great review.
"Even the reappearance of the “oh hey!” guy from Family Guy raises little more than a smile."
His name is Bruce.
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