Cleveland Brown

This article is about the Family Guy character. For the professional American football team, see Cleveland Browns.

Cleveland Brown, Sr. is a character on the animated television series Family Guy. He is one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends as well as one of the few recurring black characters on the show. He owns a delicatessen named "Cleveland's Deli." His name is a reference to the Cleveland Browns professional football team, howver it may also be a reference to the fact that he is brown. Brown is also the color of the shit that comes out of his ass. Mine is green. He is voiced by Mike Henry.

Personality

Cleveland is usually depicted as almost exceedingly gentle and patient. This is sometimes played for contrast in the show's often-violent humor, such as when Cleveland is compelled to vandalize a taxi that refuses to pick him up, or when he exhibits uncharacteristic remorseless hatred after shooting Skeet Ulrich. When Glenn Quagmire is discovered to be sleeping with Cleveland's wife, Cleveland exhibits a short, comical burst of rage, but ultimately forgives Glenn so the two remain friends. Cleveland often acts as the voice of caution when other characters hatch harebrained schemes.

Cleveland's speech is slow, almost elongated. Various flashbacks give conflicting histories of his speech patterns.

Cleveland displays a political and cultural interest in promoting his fellow African-americans. While Cleveland's race seldom causes conflicts with his entirely white neighbors, and while he serves as President of the local Chamber of Commerce, he remains subject to different treatment by the local police, and Cleveland differs with policeman neighbor Joe Swanson on how black strangers should be viewed in white neighborhoods (all in a symbolic, friendly discussion about a black bowling ball admidst white bowling pins).

The Cleveland household play Afro-centric board games, and Cleveland's wife Loretta "does not allow white literature in the house".

Cleveland and Peter

Cleveland met Peter Griffin one night, apparently in the early-mid 70's, when Peter was attempting to hitchhike a ride back to Rhode Island. Assuming from their dialogue, Cleveland had recently been dating or married to a woman named Maxine and she had cheated on him. After an encounter with the Ku Klux Klan (whom Peter thought were ghosts) near the border of his home state of South Carolina, Peter and Cleveland arrived in Rhode Island, where Cleveland stayed and moved into a house across the street from the Griffins. Peter is also the witness of the miracle that Cleveland performed of making a cow fly as a kite.

As a running gag in the show, Cleveland is often found taking baths when Peter's shenanigans destroy his house.

Family

Template:Family Guy character In the beginning of the series, Cleveland is married to Loretta Brown; the two divorce in season 4 episode 5, The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire. The couple have a son, Cleveland Junior. Cleveland also has a brother named Broderick, a plastic surgeon who makes an appearance in the episode "He's Too Sexy For His Fat," Cleveland now dates Bernice, a bossy African-American woman (like ex-wife Loretta.)

Loretta Brown

Loretta Brown is Cleveland's ex-wife, and the mother of his son Cleveland, Jr. She is voiced by Alex Borstein .

Until the episode "Fifteen Minutes of Shame", Loretta had a minimal quantity of lines (the bulk of which were "Mm-hmm!") but was revealed to be strong-willed and somewhat controlling. Loretta argues that white people should not be allowed to play sports.

In a few episodes Cleveland alludes to the fact that she placed high demands on him in the bedroom. Loretta has an extramarital affair with Glenn Quagmire, and when confronted (gently) by Cleveland — he apologizes for not satisfying her enough — she gives Cleveland's lack of passion as the reason for her infidelity. Cleveland later divorces Loretta.

A DVD commentary reveals that Loretta was retired from the series because doing her voice exhausted Alex Borstein. Loretta is last mentioned when her tacky cars were used by Peter and Lois in the DVD version of Sibling Rivalry to settle an argument on who should get birth control (though Peter forfeits to go duck-watching in a boat).

Cleveland Brown, Jr.

Cleveland Brown, Jr. (generally known as Cleveland, Jr.) is the son of Cleveland and Loretta. He is voiced by Mike Henry.

Cleveland, Jr. is a cheerful, nice, but hyperactive and loud child with a very short attention span (ADHD), in direct contrast to his calm and rather quiet father. In "Love Thy Trophy", his ADHD is demonstrated when they are making a float. Kevin Swanson says that his dad always says to "measure twice and cut once," to which Cleveland Jr. replies "My daddy always say 'Cleveland Jr., stop jumping on the bed.'" He then starts sawing the wood, much to the dismay of Kevin. In "Fore Father", he and Peter Griffin bond over Cleveland Jr.'s natural talent for golf. Then ends when Peter throws a golf ball to him; he drops what he is doing and runs into the distance pretending to be the former Brazilian soccer star Pelé, shouting, "I'm Pelé! I'm Pelé! Yaaaay! Gooooal!!"

Cleveland, Jr. last appeared in a scene during "The Perfect Castaway", when the various families came to mourn the losses of their fathers at sea. He has not had a spoken line since the show's return in 2005. He has also not been mentioned since the divorce of his parents; this leaves viewers to assume his mother received custody.

Post-divorce

In the episode "Believe It Or Not Joe's Walking On Air" Cleveland's new girlfriend, Bernice, is just as controlling (if not more) as his ex-wife Loretta. This is shown when Bernice is with Lois Griffin and Bonnie Swanson, and Cleveland tells her that they haven't been dating long enough for her to hang out with his friends (or their wives), to which she responds by shouting at him.

Alternate timeline depictions

In Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, the red carpet intro has Cleveland coming out of his limo saying that he has a new clothing line, C.C. Brown, in Quahog. (C.C. Brown is the name of a Houston Texans' second-year strong safety.) In the future, Cleveland is mostly bald with white hair around the sides of his head. He uses a wheelchair and speaks even more slowly than in the present.

Trivia

In the episode Death Has a Shadow, Cleveland is shown at the court house behind Lois but doesn't have any lines.

The voice of Cleveland is provided by Family Guy writer Mike Henry (who is white) and his speech is often stereotypically black: in the episode "One If By Clam, Two If By Sea," he is seen in the 1980s dressed in a similar way to the band, Run DMC. Here he says "Oh that's fly."

External links

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