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The Cleveland Show

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The Cleveland Show
File:The Cleveland Show.png
From left to right: Cleveland, Cleveland Jr., Donna, Rallo, and Roberta
GenreSitcom
Created bySeth MacFarlane
Mike Henry
Richard Appel
Voices ofMike Henry
Sanaa Lathan
Kevin Michael Richardson
Nia Long (2009-2010)
Reagan Gomez
Seth MacFarlane
ComposerWalter Murphy
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes22 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersSeth MacFarlane
Mike Henry
Richard Appel[2]
ProducerKara Vallow
Running time22 mins
Production companiesPerson Unknown Productions
Happy Jack Productions
Fuzzy Door Productions
20th Century Fox Television
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseSeptember 27, 2009[1] –
present
Related
Family Guy
American Dad!

The Cleveland Show is an American animated television 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 Brown, 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 mentions 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 The Cleveland Show characters

Family

Cleveland's newly introduced family includes his new wife in her early forties, Donna Tubbs (voiced by Sanaa Lathan);[9] Donna's teenage daughter, Roberta Tubbs (originally voiced by Nia Long, but now voiced by Reagan Gomez-Preston), and Donna's five year-old son Rallo Tubbs (also voiced by 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]

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.[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.[14] 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."[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 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."[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.[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.[14]

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 Gabriel Friedman, a.k.a. "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 Brown, Jr., Lester Krinklesac Tim the Bear Gabriel "Federline Jones" Friedman

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.[15] The show, which was scheduled to debut in the beginning of 2009,[11] premiered on September 27, 2009.[1] Also in the Family Guy episode "Go Stewie Go" Cleveland made a cameo appearance when the neighborhood gathers to see Meg's boyfriend as he claims "This was worth the 500-mile drive."

Due to the cancellation of Mike Judge's King of the Hill,[16] the move of the American adaptation of Sit Down, Shut Up to Saturday nights, followed by its later cancellation,[17] 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.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Cleveland Show episodes

The show, which was picked up to air a first season consisting of 22 episodes,[18] 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.[19]

Critical reception

Reception

Critical reaction for The Cleveland Show was quite mixed. Review aggregator Metacritic gave the show a score of 57 out of 100, with a user score of 3.5/10, suggesting "mixed or average reviews".[20] 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".[21] Roberto Bianco of USA Today wrote a similarly negative review, suggesting that the easiest fix for its problem was "cancellation".[22] 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."[23]

Syndication

Comedy Central picked up ABC's The Goode Family and FOX's Sit Down, Shut Up, and also showed interest in picking up repeats of The Cleveland Show at the time.

Recently, Comedy Central has identified that they will begin airing The Cleveland Show at 10:00PM Thursday, October 7th.[24]

The Cleveland Show also broadcasts in the United Kingdom on E4[25], and in Ireland on 3e[26].

Awards and honors

The show was nominated for Best New TV Comedy at the 36th People's Choice Awards.[27]

DVD release

According to tvshowsondvd.com, a DVD release for Season 1 is now available to be pre-ordered.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Fox ANNOUNCES FALL PREMIERE DATES FOR THE 2009–2010 SEASON
  2. ^ The Cleveland Show fact sheet at FoxFlash
  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) (September 1, 2008). "Baby Not On Board". Family Guy. Season 7. Episode 4. Fox.
  8. ^ Spinning Off Into Uncharted Cartoon Territory
  9. ^ Michael Schnieder (July 13, 2008). "'Cleveland' finds a balance". Variety. Retrieved July 14, 2008.
  10. ^ FoxFlash image page
  11. ^ a b c d Eric Goldman (November 10, 2008). "The Cleveland Show: Update on Family Guy Spinoff". IGN. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  12. ^ The Cleveland Show video: Mike Henry and Seth MacFarlane on TV.com
  13. ^ "Mike Henry: The Origins of Cleveland and Herbert". Retrieved April 16, 2009.
  14. ^ a b c d "The Voices Behind 'Cleveland'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 18, 2009. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Fox Interview 28.7.08
  16. ^ "Fox Not Renewing King of the Hill". comingsoon.net. October 31, 2008. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
  17. ^ EXCLUSIVE: Fox TO "SIT DOWN" IN LATE NIGHT THIS FALL
  18. ^ EW: Fox orders full season of 'Family Guy' spin-off
  19. ^ Fox orders second full season of The Cleveland Show
  20. ^ "The Cleveland Show reviews at Metacritic.com". Metacritic. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  21. ^ Shales, Tom (September 29, 2009). "Fox's 'Cleveland Show' Is a Cartoon Blight". The Washington Post. Katharine Weymouth. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  22. ^ Bianco, Roberto (September 25, 2009). "Embrace Fox's 'Brothers' but stay out of 'Cleveland'". USA Today. David Hunke. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ http://www.comedycentral.com/press/index.jhtml?comingup=true
  25. ^ http://www.e4.com/cleveland/
  26. ^ http://www.tv3.ie/3e/shows.php?request=theclevelandshow
  27. ^ http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/votenow.jsp


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