The Cleveland Show

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The Cleveland Show
El Show de Cleveland (The Cleveland Show) Logo.png
Genre Animated sitcom
Format
Created by Seth MacFarlane
Mike Henry
Richard Appel
Voices of Mike Henry
Sanaa Lathan
Kevin Michael Richardson
Reagan Gomez-Preston
Jason Sudeikis
Seth MacFarlane
Theme music composer Walter Murphy
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 88 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)

Seth MacFarlane
Mike Henry
Richard Appel

Co-executive producers:
Kirker Butler
John Viener
Dave Jeser
Matt Silverstein
Jonathan Green
Gabe Miller
Producer(s)

Kara Vallow
Courtney Lilly

Co-producers:
Aaron Lee
Matt Murray
Supervising producers:
Aseem Batra
Clarence Livingston
Editor(s) Kirk Benson
Camera setup Animated rendition of single camera
Running time 22–23 minutes
Production company(s) Person Unknown Productions
Happy Jack Productions
Fuzzy Door Productions
20th Century Fox
Distributor 20th Television
Broadcast
Original channel Fox
Picture format 720p (HDTV)
Audio format Dolby Digital 5.1
Original run September 27, 2009 (2009-09-27) – May 19, 2013
Chronology
Related shows Family Guy
American Dad!
External links
Official website

The Cleveland Show is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry, and Richard Appel for the Fox Broadcasting Company as a spin-off of Family Guy. The series centers on the Browns and Tubbs, two dysfunctional families consisting of parents Cleveland Brown and Donna Tubbs and their children Cleveland Brown, Jr., Roberta Tubbs, and Rallo Tubbs, and, like Family Guy, exhibits much of its humor in the form of cutaway gags that often lampoon American culture.

The series was conceived by MacFarlane in 2007 after developing two animated series, Family Guy and American Dad! for the Fox network. MacFarlane centered the show on Family Guy character Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs, his step-children Rallo and Roberta Tubbs, and his son Cleveland, Jr., who, in the show, is depicted as an obese, soft-spoken teen, as opposed to his depiction as a younger, hyperactive child with average body weight on Family Guy.

Since its debut on September 27, 2009, the show has broadcast 88 episodes, and its fourth season started airing on October 7, 2012.

The Cleveland Show has been nominated for one Annie Award, one Primetime Emmy Award, and two Teen Choice Awards. It has mainly received mixed reviews from media critics. The Cleveland Show holds a TV-14 rating.

As of September 29, 2012, Adult Swim airs reruns of The Cleveland Show, which are labeled as "new" on their network. In addition, the fourth season of the series began airing on Fox in the fall.

On April 17, 2013, Fox dismissed increasing rumors that The Cleveland Show had been cancelled, reporting rather that renewal of the series is undetermined as of the present.[1][2]

Contents

Origins

Main articles: Family Guy and American Dad!

Seth MacFarlane initially conceived The Cleveland Show in 2007 while working on two other animated series, Family Guy and American Dad!.[3][4]

Production

Development

The Cleveland Show first appeared on the development slate at Fox in early 2008, under no official name for the pilot, after a report that Fox had purchased the series from creators.[5] On May 5, 2008, MacFarlane and 20th Century Fox Television inked a deal.[6] The pilot was named The Cleveland Show in May 2008, when it appeared on the primetime slate for the 2008–09 television season, although it wasn't officially on the network schedule.[7] Shortly after a report that King of the Hill just ended, leaving air time for The Cleveland Show, the show was picked up for a full season after an additional nine episodes of the show were ordered.[8] In May 2009, The Cleveland Show appeared on the primetime slate for the 2009–10 television season, for airing on Sunday nights at 8:30 pm[9] On June 15, 2009, it was announced that The Cleveland Show would premiere on September 27, 2009.[10]

MacFarlane and Henry pitched a 22-minute pilot to Fox which aired on September 27, 2009, but had been leaked on the internet in June 2009. Even before the pilot episode premiered, the show had already been renewed for a 22-episode second season. After the first season of the show aired, it was given the green light to start production. On June 10, 2010, less than three weeks into the first season's summer hiatus, it was announced that Fox was ordering a third season.[11] A fourth season was announced on May 9, 2011, just a few days before the second season concluded.

Executive producers

Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry and Richard Appel serve as executive producers on the series since the first season.[12]

Voice cast

Main article: List of The Cleveland Show voice actors

Mike Henry voices two of the show's main characters: Cleveland Brown and Rallo Tubbs. The voice of Cleveland was developed originally for Family Guy by Henry after being influenced by one of his best friends who had a very distinct regional accent.[13] For the voice of Rallo, Henry has stated that he had originally created the voice over twenty years ago, when he had made a series of prank calls.

Sanaa Lathan voices Donna Tubbs, the wife of Cleveland. In developing the character, Lathan said that the producers "wanted her to be educated, but to have some edge."[14] Prior to voicing Donna, Lathan had only one other voice credit in a relatively low-budget film entitled The Golden Blaze. In addition to the show, she also primarily worked as an actress in such films as Alien vs. Predator, Love & Basketball and The Family That Preys.

Reagan Gomez-Preston plays Roberta Tubbs, the stepdaughter of Cleveland. Gomez has stated that she uses her own voice to portray Roberta, and that she herself gets mistaken to be a fifteen-year-old over the phone "all the time."[14] Before Gomez was cast as Roberta, Nia Long had provided the character's voice during the first production season, before leaving to fulfill prior acting commitments.[15]

Kevin Michael Richardson, a recurring guest voice on Family Guy and American Dad, portrays Cleveland, Jr., as well as Cleveland's next door neighbor Lester Krinklesac. In portraying Cleveland, Jr., Richardson drew inspiration from a character named Patrick that he had played on the NBC drama series ER who was mentally impaired and wore a football helmet. For Lester, Richardson stated in an interview that, being African American, he had "run into a few rednecks in [his] time," and decided to simply perform a stereotypical redneck impression for the voice of Lester.[14]

Jason Sudeikis plays Holt Richter, one of Cleveland's drinking buddies with a short stature, and Terry Kimple, one of Cleveland's longtime friends who now works with him at Waterman Cable. Sudeikis originally began as a recurring cast member, but starting with the episode "Harder, Better, Faster, Browner", he was promoted to a series regular.

Seth MacFarlane played Tim the Bear up until episode 3APS10, which MacFarlane admits is a "Steve Martin impression [...] a Wild and Crazy Guy impression". Jess Harnell voices Tim from episode 3APS11 onwards.

Other voices include that of Arianna Huffington as Tim's wife Arianna the Bear, Nat Faxon as Tim and Arianna's son Raymond the Bear, Jamie Kennedy as Roberta's boyfriend Gabriel Friedman, a.k.a. "Federline Jones", Will Forte as Principal Wally, Frances Callier as Evelyn "Cookie" Brown, Craig Robinson as LeVar "Freight Train" Brown and David Lynch as Gus the bartender.

Main cast members
Mike Henry by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg Sanaa Lathan by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg Reagan Gomez by Gage Skidmore.jpg Kevin Michael Richardson by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg Jason Sudeikis at 2009 NYTVF.jpg Seth MacFarlane by Gage Skidmore 5.jpg
Mike Henry Sanaa Lathan Reagan Gomez-Preston Kevin Michael Richardson Jason Sudeikis Seth MacFarlane
Cleveland Brown and Rallo Tubbs Donna Tubbs Roberta Tubbs Cleveland Brown, Jr. and Lester Krinklesac Holt Richter
and Terry Kimple		 Tim the Bear

Characters

Main article: List of The Cleveland Show characters
The Brown/Tubbs family. From left to right: Back: Cleveland, Donna, Roberta. Front: Cleveland, Jr. and Rallo.

Cleveland's newly introduced family includes his new wife in her early forties, Donna Tubbs Brown (voiced by Sanaa Lathan);[16] Donna's teenage daughter Roberta (originally voiced by Nia Long, but now voiced by Reagan Gomez-Preston); and Donna's five year-old son Rallo (also voiced by Mike Henry).[15][17] Cleveland, Jr. underwent a complete redesign for the show, becoming sensitive and soft-spoken.


Broadcast

Syndication

In July 2010, the Turner Broadcasting System picked up syndication rights, for their networks TBS and Adult Swim.[18] The show premiered on Adult Swim on Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 10:30/9:30c.[19] The show will debut in syndication on local stations on September 16, 2013.[20]

International broadcast

Country Network Premiere date
Belgium JIM TV  ?
Canada Global September 27, 2009
Australia Network Ten
Eleven
FOX8		 December 2, 2009 – January 12, 2011
January 12, 2011 – present
March 13, 2011 – present
United Kingdom E4
Fox (UK)		 February 1, 2010 – present
January 6, 2011 – present
United States Fox
Adult Swim
TBS		 September 27, 2009 – present
September 29, 2012 – present
September 16, 2013 – present
Mexico FX Latin America April 25, 2010
Brazil FX Latin America April 25, 2010
Latin America FX Latin America April 25, 2010
Bulgaria KinoNova 2011
Ireland 3e February 21, 2010
Portugal Fox June 5, 2010
Denmark TV 2 Zulu June 23, 2010
Israel Yes Comedy July 2, 2010
Greece FX
Fox		 March 2010
October 2012
Hungary Comedy Central July 7, 2010
Russia 2x2 September 2, 2010
Italy FOX
Italia 2		 September 7, 2010
Spain FOX
Neox		 July 19, 2010
Norway TV2 August 13, 2010
Netherlands Comedy Central September 12, 2010
New Zealand C4
Four
Comedy Central		 2010
February 10, 2011 – present
2011–present
Philippines Jack TV October 2010
South Africa Vuzu November 29, 2010
Uruguay Monte Carlo TV December 18, 2010
Sweden Kanal 5 January 3, 2011
Czech Republic Prima Cool February 5, 2011
Poland Fox February 16, 2011
France France Ô April 8, 2011
Estonia TV6 June 1, 2011
Latvia TV6 Latvia December 1, 2010
Palestinian territories FX July 2011
Argentina FX January 29, 2012
Southeast Asia Fox April 2, 2012 (Season 2)
(Mondays to Wednesdays 11:40 pm (UTC+8))
Finland Fox August 2012
Lithuania TV6 September 19, 2010

Reception

Critical reception

The Cleveland Show has received mixed reviews. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the show a score of 57 out of 100.[21] Tom Shales of The Washington Post spoke very negatively about both the show and MacFarlane himself, describing him as "no better than the dirty old man hanging around playgrounds with naughty pictures or risque jokes as lures".[22] Roberto Bianco of USA Today wrote a similarly negative review, suggesting that the easiest fix for its problem was "cancellation".[23] John McWhorter of The New Republic called it "a patronizing mess" and "basically Family Guy in blackface". He added: "What isn't black in it is so shamelessly ripped off from Family Guy that it's hard to believe it's the product of creators who are usually so studiously 'post-' obvious stunts of the sort."[24] Matt Rouse of TV Guide wrote, "The lamest, least unnecessary spin-off since Private Practice, Cleveland rests on the shoulders of the hopelessly bland title character".[25] However, Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was more positive about the program, writing that although The Cleveland Show was "just as rude-crude" as Family Guy, it also had "more warmth" due to Cleveland being a more likeable character than Peter Griffin. Owen also praised the character of Tim the Bear, stating that "Tim is by far the most amusing creation".[26]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipients and nominees Outcome
2011 Annie Awards Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown Nominated
2011 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Animated Program The Cleveland Show Nominated
2011 NAMIC Vision Awards Animation The Cleveland Show Nominated
2011 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Animated Show The Cleveland Show Nominated
2010 Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Animated Show The Cleveland Show Nominated

Home media

DVD releases

DVD Title # of Disc(s) Year # of Episodes DVD release
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Season One 4 2009 & 2010 21 September 28, 2010[27] October 11, 2010[28] June 29, 2011[29]
Season Two 4 2010 & 2011 22 September 27, 2011[30] January 30, 2012[31] November 2, 2011[32]
Season Three* MOD (DVD-R only) 3 2011 & 2012 22 March 1, 2013[33]
Portal icon Animation portal
Portal icon Comedy portal
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References

  1. ^ Bierly, Mandi (2013-01-22). "'Cleveland Show' may be cancelled | Inside TV | EW.com". Insidetv.ew.com. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  2. ^ 21 HRS (2011-11-17). "Fox: No Decision Yet on Fate of 'Cleveland Show'". Hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  3. ^ Breaking News – FOX Announces Fall Premiere Dates for the 2009–2010 Season. TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  4. ^ Fox Primetime. Fox Flash (September 27, 2009). Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  5. ^ Breaking News – Development Update: February 29 – March 4. TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  6. ^ Breaking News – Development Update: Monday, May 5. TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  7. ^ Breaking News – FOX Announces Primetime Slate for 2008–2009 Season. TheFutonCritic.com (May 15, 2008). Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  8. ^ Breaking News – OH... Hey, Y'All! FOX Orders Full Season of "The Cleveland Show". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  9. ^ Breaking News – FOX Announces Primetime Slate for 2009–2010 Season. TheFutonCritic.com (May 18, 2009). Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  10. ^ Breaking News – FOX Announces Fall Premiere Dates for the 2009–2010 Season. TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  11. ^ Breaking News – FOX Picks Up Third Season of "The Cleveland Show". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  12. ^ Breaking News – Development Update: Monday, May 4. TheFutonCritic.com (May 4, 2009). Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  13. ^ "Mike Henry: The Origins of Cleveland and Herbert". Retrieved April 16, 2009. 
  14. ^ a b c "The Voices Behind 'Cleveland'". Entertainment Weekly. October 2, 2009. Retrieved November 18, 2009. 
  15. ^ a b Goldman, Eric (November 10, 2008). "The Cleveland Show: Update on Family Guy Spinoff". IGN. Retrieved November 10, 2008. 
  16. ^ Schnieder, Michael (July 13, 2008). "'Cleveland' finds a balance". Variety. Retrieved July 14, 2008. 
  17. ^ FoxFlash image page. Foxflash.com. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  18. ^ Adult Swim, TBS Acquire Syndicated Rights To ‘The Cleveland Show’ For Fall 2013 – Ratings | TVbytheNumbers. Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com (July 6, 2010). Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  19. ^ "Adult Swim: On Air Schedule". August 28, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012. 
  20. ^ "Program". SNTA. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  21. ^ "The Cleveland Show reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. Retrieved December 20, 2012. 
  22. ^ Shales, Tom (September 29, 2009). "Fox's 'Cleveland Show' Is a Cartoon Blight". The Washington Post (Katharine Weymouth). Retrieved January 13, 2010. 
  23. ^ Bianco, Roberto (September 25, 2009). "Embrace Fox's 'Brothers' but stay out of 'Cleveland'". USA Today (David Hunke). Retrieved January 13, 2010. 
  24. ^ McWhorter, John (October 13, 2009). "Just a Cartoon, But Still: Is Family Guy in Blackface Funny?". The New Republic (Elizabeth W. Sheldon). Retrieved February 8, 2010. 
  25. ^ TV Guide September 7.13. 2009 pg. 60. 
  26. ^ Owen, Rob (September 27, 2009). "Tuned In: At home with Cleveland". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (John Robinson Block). Retrieved June 5, 2010. 
  27. ^ "The Cleveland Show: The Complete Season One: Mike Henry, Sanaa Lathan: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  28. ^ "The Cleveland Show - Season 1 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Mike Henry, Sanaa Lathan, Kevin Michael Richardson: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  29. ^ "Cleveland Show, The: Season 1 | DVD Movies & TV Shows, Genres, Comedy : JB HI-FI". Jbhifionline.com.au. 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  30. ^ "The Cleveland Show: The Complete Season Two: Cleveland Show: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  31. ^ "The Cleveland Show - Season 2 [DVD] [NTSC]: Amazon.co.uk: Mike Henry, Sanaa Lathan, Kevin Michael Richardson, Reagan Gomez, Seth MacFarlane: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  32. ^ "Cleveland Show, The - Season 2 | DVD Movies & TV Shows, Genres, Comedy : JB HI-FI". Jbhifionline.com.au. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  33. ^ "The Cleveland Show Season 3: Mike Henry, Sanaa Lathan, Kevin Michael Richardson, Regan Gomez, Jason Sudeikis, Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 

External links

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