The Cleveland Show Premiere - At a Glance
The Cleveland Show: Family Guy's Kid or Red-headed Stepchild?
Oct 1, 2009
On September 27th, The Cleveland Show premiered on Fox just before the season premiere of Family Guy. The episode started with an announcement by Cleveland at the Drunken Clam that his divorce with Loretta, his separated wife, was final and that he was given custody of Cleveland Jr, his son that we have not heard of in several seasons. This leads to him leaving Quahog for good on a journey across the country to California, taking his son with him. The two stop in Cleveland's hometown of Stoolbend, Virginia and leave the Griffin family behind for good.
Parallel Characters between Family Guy and The Cleveland Show
Cleveland Jr has miraculously aged unlike the rest of the cast of Family Guy had. In addition, he was no longer the ADHD-ridden child who weighed 20 pounds and had a high pitched voice. Instead, he is very obese, loves snacks, and speaks in a slower tone like his father. He is basically The Cleveland Show's version of Chris. Donna Tubbs is an old love interest of Cleveland's that he ends up getting with by the end of the episode. She has two children, Roberta and Rallo. Rallo is young, extremely short, but well-spoken, witty, and mature beyond his age. He is Stewie without the homosexuality (rather an obvious heterosexual) and the violent streak. Roberta has an attitude problem and does not like listening to her mother. She is basically Meg, but she actually has some social graces and a real boyfriend. The Cleveland Show features a family that strangely parallels the family the show spins off from. Considering Family Guy is going strong in its eighth season and one of the most popular shows on television, the only response to the parallel is: yes! The Cleveland Show applies the old maxim of if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Viewers love Family Guy, so making the Brown family similar is something America might very well come to love.
Light on the Laughs
The Cleveland Show, despite being created by Seth MacFarlane (the mind and voice behind Family Guy) does not present as many laughs as one would expect in its first episode. However, this is something that viewers should overlook. In the premiere episode Cleveland had to come up with his reason for leaving Quahog. He had to stop in a new town, find some roots, and reconnect with his old love interest. He had to make his way into the heart of Donna Tubbs and find a place among the people of Stoolbend, meeting the neighbors and other key players along the way. From start to finish, the half hour show had to create a spinoff from nothing, which is no easy feat. By the end of the episode the new family is together and all of the questions are answered. Adding in laughs to all of the explanations and story development is not an easy task, and so it falters in the first episode. However, that does not mean there are not laughs to be had. Cleveland's usual demeanor and humor that are featured in Family Guy continue on, and the introduction of Rallo and Tim the Bear (voiced by MacFarlane) add in a lot of laughs just in the simple existence of the characters. So while the premiere of The Cleveland Show might not have as many laughs as Family Guy viewers have come to expect, it sets the stage for a show of equivalent hilarity, and keeps the viewer excited at the prospect.
The Cleveland Show Meets Success
The Cleveland Show took a big risk, spinning off of what has been known as a breakthrough comedy that pushes the envelope and has become a favorite among millions of television viewers. It had a lot to accomplish in its first episode to not only set up the premise of the show, but to also keep people interested enough in the idea to tune in to the coming episodes when it will hopefully settle into the methods that Family Guy has employed for years. It did it wonderfully and introduced an array of colorful characters that should only get even more hilarious as time goes on. While it might not be its predecessor, it certainly has the hopes to live up to something that Family Guy's fans will love and enjoy just as much. It is indeed Family Guy Jr., and a show that will hopefully be what every Family Guy viewer wants.
The Cleveland Show airs on Fox at 8:30 pm on Sundays, just before Family Guy.
