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The Cleveland Show

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The Cleveland Show
File:The Cleveland Show.png
(l-r) Cleveland, Cleveland, Jr., Donna, Rallo, and Roberta
GenreComedy
Created bySeth MacFarlane
Mike Henry
Richard Appel
Voices ofMike Henry
Sanaa Lathan
Kevin Michael Richardson
Reagan Gomez
Nia Long
Seth MacFarlane
ComposerWalter Murphy
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes7 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersSeth MacFarlane
Mike Henry
Richard Appel[1]
ProducerKara Vallow
Running time22 mins
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseSeptember 27, 2009[2] –
present
Related
Family Guy

The Cleveland Show is an American animated series that premiered on September 27, 2009 as a part of the "Animation Domination" lineup on Fox.[3] The series was created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry, and Richard Appel as a spin-off from Family Guy, which was also created by MacFarlane.

Background

In the beginning of the series, Cleveland Brown and his son, Cleveland Jr., move from Quahog, Rhode Island to the fictional town of Stoolbend, Virginia.[4][5]

Cleveland has kind of had enough in Quahog – he kind of realizes that he wants his own friends, his own sidekicks, his own stories. So he sets out to California to make it in a way that we'll have to keep a secret until the show starts, and then he ends up somewhere else, which we'll also keep a secret until the show starts. But he basically goes home – he goes to his hometown in Virginia and rekindles an old high school flame.

— Mike Henry[6]

In the closing scene of the season seven Family Guy episode "Baby Not on Board", Cleveland breaks the fourth wall by mentioning to Quagmire that he is getting a spin-off.[7]

The theme song originally contained a line referring to Cleveland's "happy black-guy face," but this was replaced with "happy mustached face" to make the song more racially sensitive.[8]

Characters

See also: List of characters in The Cleveland Show

Family

Cleveland's newly introduced family includes his new wife in her late thirties, Donna Tubbs (Sanaa Lathan);[9] Donna's teenage daughter, Roberta Tubbs (originally Nia Long, but now portrayed by Reagan Gomez-Preston) and Donna's five year-old son, Rallo Tubbs (Mike Henry).[10][11] Cleveland Jr., who also appears in the show, is now fourteen and is more obese than in his previous appearances on Family Guy,[12] and is now voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.[11]

Neighbors

Cleveland's neighbors also include a family of anthropomorphic bears (the husband, Tim, voiced by MacFarlane,[11] and the wife, Adrianna, voiced by Arianna Huffington),[11][13] a "hipster" wannabe named Holt (voiced by Jason Sudeikis[11][13]), and a redneck family (the husband Lester Krinklesac voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson[9]).

Guests

There will also be an episode in 2010 which features rapper Kanye West playing a character named Kenny West.[14] The producers stated working with West was a very good experience and a reason they chose him was that they knew he was a fan of Family Guy.[14]

Voice cast

See also: List of The Cleveland Show voice actors

The Cleveland Show has four main voice actors, and two additional voice actors, some of which play several roles. Mike Henry voices two of the show's main characters, Cleveland and Rallo. The voice of Cleveland was developed originally for Family Guy by Henry after being influenced by one of his basketball partners in Virginia, who had a very distinct regional accent.[15] 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.[16] In addition, Henry provides the voice of various recurring and one-time characters.

Sanaa Lathan voices Donna, the wife of Cleveland. In developing the character, Lathan said that the producers "wanted her to be educated, but to have some edge."[16] 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 primarily plays Roberta, 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."[16] Before Gomez was cast as Roberta, Nia Long had originally provided the character's voice during the first production season, before leaving to fulfill prior acting commitments.[11]

Kevin Michael Richardson, a recurring guest voice on Family Guy, 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.[16]

In addition to the main cast, the series also features Seth MacFarlane as Tim the Bear, which MacFarlane admits is a "Steve Martin impression [...] a Wild and Crazy Guy impression." Jamie Kennedy also provides the voice of Roberta's boyfriend Federline Jones.

Other voices include that of Jason Sudeikis as Holt Rickter, Arianna Huffington as Arianna the Bear, Will Forte as Principal Wally, Frances Callier as Cookie Brown and Craig Robinson as Freight Train Brown.

Main cast members
Mike Henry Sanaa Lathan Reagan Gomez-Preston Kevin Michael Richardson Seth MacFarlane Jamie Kennedy
Cleveland, Rallo Donna Roberta Cleveland Jr., Lester Krinklesac Tim the Bear Federline Jones

Debut

Cleveland officially left Family Guy, but MacFarlane has hinted that he may come back for occasional visits if necessary, as in the end of the episode Spies Reminiscent of Us, and has also hinted Family Guy characters will visit Cleveland in Virginia.[17] The show, which was scheduled to debut in the beginning of 2009,[11] premiered on September 27, 2009.[2]

Due to the cancellation of Mike Judge's King of the Hill,[18] the American adaptation of Sit Down, Shut Up being moved to Saturday nights,[19] and the renewal of American Dad!, The Simpsons is now the only cartoon on Fox's "Animation Domination" line-up that was not created by Seth MacFarlane.

While both Family Guy and American Dad! air in the UK on BBC Three, The Cleveland Show will instead air on E4 in December 2009.[20]

Episodes

Main article: List of The Cleveland Show episodes

The show, which was picked up to air a first season consisting of 22 episodes,[21] was picked up by Fox for a second season, consisting of 13 episodes, bringing the total number to 35 episodes. The announcement was made on May 3, 2009 before the first season even premiered.[3] Due to strong ratings FOX picked up the back 9 episodes of season 2 which would make a 22 episode season and bring the total episode count of the show to 44.[22]

Controversy

The show has generated significant controversy and debate in the blogosphere[23][24] and other internet media venues[25] for perceived stereotyping of African-Americans and denegratory depiction of women.[26][27] Further, because the lead character is portrayed by voice actor Mike Henry, who is white, it had been suggested that the show is a modern-day animated blackface version of Family Guy.[28][29].

Opposing viewpoints point out that most of the African Americans characters in the show are portrayed by African American voice actors and that African American voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson portrays Lester Krinklesac, a white character.[30].


References

  1. ^ The Cleveland Show fact sheet at FoxFlash
  2. ^ a b Fox ANNOUNCES FALL PREMIERE DATES FOR THE 2009-2010 SEASON
  3. ^ a b The Cleveland Show renewed before it begins
  4. ^ Fox Broadcasting Company: THE CLEVELAND SHOW
  5. ^ MacFarlane reveals next season 'Family Guy' details
  6. ^ A soundclip from Fox Audio Central
  7. ^ Mark Hentemann (writer) & Julius Wu (director) (2008-09-01). "Baby Not On Board". Family Guy. Season 7. Episode 4. Fox.
  8. ^ Spinning Off Into Uncharted Cartoon Territory
  9. ^ a b Michael Schnieder (2008-07-13). "'Cleveland' finds a balance". Variety. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  10. ^ FoxFlash image page
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Eric Goldman (2008-11-10). "The Cleveland Show: Update on Family Guy Spinoff". IGN. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  12. ^ The Cleveland Show video: Mike Henry and Seth MacFarlane on TV.com
  13. ^ a b Fox Seems Keen on 'Cleveland'
  14. ^ a b Jocelyn Vena (March 17, 2009). Kanye West Gets Animated In 'Family Guy' Spinoff MTV.com Accessed March 17, 2009.
  15. ^ "Mike Henry: The Origins of Cleveland and Herbert". Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  16. ^ a b c d "The Voices Behind 'Cleveland'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-11-18. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Fox Interview 28.7.08
  18. ^ "Fox Not Renewing King of the Hill". comingsoon.net. October 31, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  19. ^ EXCLUSIVE: Fox TO "SIT DOWN" IN LATE NIGHT THIS FALL
  20. ^ BBC 'will continue to bid for imported programmes'
  21. ^ EW: Fox orders full season of 'Family Guy' spin-off
  22. ^ Fox orders second full season of The Cleveland Show
  23. ^ "The Cleveland Show" Family Guy Spin-Off is Looking Questionable". Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  24. ^ "The Cleveland Show Racist? Shocking!". Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  25. ^ "The BIG Story: Can The Cleveland Show Last?". Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  26. ^ "Leave it to Fox's 'The Cleveland Show' to Pick Up Where BET's 'We Got to Do Better' Left Off". Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  27. ^ "The Cleveland Show: Why MacFarlane Needs To Stop Writing About Marginalized Bodies". Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  28. ^ "Just a Cartoon, But Still: Is Family Guy in Blackface Funny?". Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  29. ^ "The Cleveland Show: 'Family Guy in blackface'? How race is handled in Seth MacFarlane's new show". Retrieved 2009-11-27.
  30. ^ "Is The Cleveland Show Racist?". Retrieved 2009-11-27.
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