Well, the premiere episode of “The Cleveland Show” has aired. During the pilot we discover Cleveland’s reasons for leaving Quahog, learn a little bit more of his past and meet some of the new characters that live in Stoolbend, Virginia. Read on for the full review.
Episode Summary
If you didn’t know any better, you’d think that you were watching an episode of Family Guy, because that’s just how this one begins. In the Drunken Clam, Cleveland tells the guys that his divorce has been finalized and while he got custody of Cleveland Jr, Loretta was awarded the house. The next day, while Cleveland is taking a bath and conversing with his son, Peter once again blows up the house, pushing Cleveland over the edge. He declares that he’s tired of getting kicked around by this world.
After announcing his departure and getting Lois and Bonnie to make out, Cleveland says goodbye to his friends and the opening theme starts. Cleveland plans on moving to California to pursue his dream of becoming a minor league baseball scout but decides to make a stop in his hometown (Stoolbend) for a couple of days.
While visiting his high school, Cleveland runs into Donna, his childhood sweetheart. During a flashback, we see Cleveland escorting Donna to the prom because her boyfriend Robert wanted to get drunk with his friends. Once there, Robert steps in and takes Donna away.
Robert and Donna got married and had two children – Roberta and Rallo. They have since divorced, and Donna is now a single mother raising two rebellious children. We are introduced to Lester, the redneck neighbor and Holt, the extreme hipster wannabe.
Cleveland decides to help out by doing his best to mend the predicaments the children are in. He has a violent encounter with Roberta’s boyfriend, Federline, telling him to bring her home on time. While she’s gone, Cleveland and Donna reminisce and share a tender moment which is interrupted by Roberta coming home — on time!
The next day, Cleveland gets Rallo back into school and seems to be seamlessly stepping into the role of stepfather, when disaster strikes. Convinced of the kids’ need for a father, Donna reunites with Robert and he moves back home. Cleveland is upset, but resolves to accept this outcome.
After going to the town bar, “The Broken Stool”, and chatting with the three neighbors, Cleveland decides to leave Stoolbend early and head to California. During the drive, Cleveland Jr convinces his father that he needs to go after his dreams, and that’s what motivates him to turn the car around and head back.
He storms into Donna’s house, tells Donna how he’s felt and she reciprocates the love. Cleveland finally stands up to Robert and declares himself the owner of Donna’s derriere. The flashbacks begin anew, and we see how Cleveland and Donna were always close, but Cleveland never had the guts to stand up and declare his love.
Their passionate kiss morphs into their wedding, where we see the gang from Quahog and the new friends from Stoolbend in attendance. Cleveland finally wins, gets the girl and they all look forward to their lives together as a new family.
Analysis
Realistically, I didn’t expect much out of this episode. After all, pilots are usually pretty boring in retrospect because they must drudgingly introduce the setting, characters and back story. This was no different, yet because it is a spin-off they decided to seamlessly transition from Family Guy to The Cleveland Show.
Mike Henry knows that his main audience is going to be Family Guy fans, so he ensures that this new show stays true to time tested formulas – controversial humor and cutaway gags. Speaking of gags, we are treated to a few unmemorable ones during the pilot. Kathleen Turner, R. Kelly and Dolly Parton are all used in these random scenes but none of them really stands out as funny.
Many knew that the racial jokes were coming, and the writers waste no time breaking the ice when Peter says
“. . . I’ve never seen a black guy cry before, I always thought you guys just got more pissed off”
Because Cleveland’s personality has been less than dynamic, we see a wide range of emotions, something very new to the Family Guy audience. From whiny and defeated to quick-tempered yet polite to determined and courageous, Mr. Brown steps outside the box in attempt to display his full character. At times this worked well but more often than not it felt a bit forced.
The supporting cast seems to have some potential for laughs — a redneck neighbor battling his own racism, a frisky baby and a witty bear round out the new set of personalities Cleveland will be interacting with.
One thing cannot be disputed, The Cleveland Show looks spectacular. Not only is the animation familiar (McFarlane style), but the show is presented in HD. The colors are gorgeous and the characters are well drawn.
The Verdict
While not a great episode by most standards, The Cleveland Show proves that at the very least it will be interesting to watch. Perhaps true to spin-off form, this was essentially an episode of Family Guy starring Cleveland Brown. The jokes weren’t as sharp and many scenes fell flat. However, it will be a few episodes before we can really start evaluating the show based on its own merits and drawbacks. We look forward to spending more time with Cleveland and his new family, hopefully seeing him break away from the Family Guy mold en route to finally making his own impression on the world.
Final Score: 6.5 out of 10
Related posts:
- Episode 7 “A Brown Thanksgiving” Review
- Episode 15 “Ship’rect” Review
- Stoolbend Character Sketch: Donna Tubbs
- Watch Episode Three of The Cleveland Show
- “Da Doggone Daddy-Daughter Dinner Dance” Review
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Interesting to watch? What in the hell were you smoking while you watched it?!? Are we talking about the same thing? Cancel it! I never want to see that racist dribble ever again.
Didnt find this show funny. Family Guy is always better. As an African American i found this show to offend mostly black people, with too many stereo types. I Always find Family Guy funny, because it targets everyone. Not very interested in seeing another episode. But will always love family guy
I think Rallo (the Cleveland Show’s Stewie) was funny. The show has equivalent characters to Family Guy’s family and neighbors, except for Brian! He’s among my favorite characters, who will be the Cleveland Show’s Brian!!??
This show was as horrible as I expected. The jokes were horrible, the story was just plain awful, and cleveland was the absolute worst character to get his own show. I would have rather seen mayor west get a spinoff then cleveland
I thought the show was hella funny, and not racist at all.
Hope they keep it going, back to back with Family Guy and American Dad.
I like your review, man. The pilot wasn’t great but hey what pilot is. I am excited to see these new characters, I really love these types of cartoons. Don’t let the haters get you down man, this was a well-written review. Thanks for putting such awesome effort into it.
What I find funny is all the people on the internet complaining about the racism in the Cleveland show. For example, Dave’s comment above. Guess what, it’s nowhere near as bad as the racism in Family Guy, let alone South Park! So don’t even argue that crap with me. What the hell were you smoking?!
As for Brent’s comment, it’s only targeted black people so far, it’s only been one episode, and so what if it stays that way. Oh well. They’re just jokes, and if people are that offended they don’t have to watch.
For Chip, how is Cleveland the worst character to get his own show? It could be about Quagmire, and in each episode he has a new girl and goes to a new strip club or some shit like that. Bor-ing. It could be about Joe, a cop in a wheelchair, that’s still active. Wow, very interesting. Brian, a talking dog, writing a novel. Stewie, and his plans for world domination. Meg, being ugly and unliked. Chris, being fat, and fat. Maybe about Carter Pewterschmidt and how he’s better and richer than most other people. Sheesh.
This is pretty much the only good, in depth review out there that was done by someone who obviously isn’t some idiot that doesn’t know what they’re even talking about.
his name is Rilo not Rallo
and the cleveland show’s “brian” is the bear that lives next door.
also, ryan, AGREED. the people here are ****** stupid *** ******* who can’t take a joke, no matter what race. a joke is a joke. respect it. the clevland show is awesome and i thought it was hilarious. Brent Clair is an *********.
Aaron, it actually is Rallo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rallo_Tubbs