The Cleveland Show: Season 1

[Andrew]

So, the debut is finally upon us. The Cleveland Show is set to premiere September 27th and has already been picked up for 35 episodes. Fox obviouly has a lot of faith in Seth MacFarlane, which isn't surprising given the amount of money they've seen fit to pay him.

I'll give it a shot but if the quality of recent Family Guy episodes is anything to go by, this one could be downright awful. Cleveland doesn't strike me as a particularly interesting character to spin off either, but I guess I'll have to wait and see.

[el badman]

I don't even know if I'll give that one a try. The previews are just awful, it doesn't seem to add anything remotely fresh to what we already have with FG and American Dad, and that's saying something...
Honestly, I don't expect that one to survive more than a few episodes.

[Andrew]

I don't blame you, it's really only out of morbid curiosity that I'm checking it out. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised but I'm not expecting great things. Amazing that it's been picked up for a season and a half already, though it could well get canned with the unaired episodes being released on DVD.

[JaoSming]

i thought the first part with everyone was hilarious, but the intro was, well, just dumb

rest of it, was up and down, some funny parts, other, just, ugh, parts

[el badman]

I thought most of it was just absolutely bland and predictable. The "new" family and neighbors all seem as boring and uninspired as it gets.
And yeah, that intro is just really bad.

[Andrew]

I'd agree with that, it was pretty bland. A couple of moments raised a smile and it could've been worse I guess, but I'm not sure I care to watch it every week. Maybe I'll give a few more episodes a try but a few more like that and I'll probably be out. And yes, that intro is atrocious.

[ixcuincle]

It's the same person

Didn't even bother watching this shit. I did see American Dad though. That show is actually funny

[Andrew]

Yeah, they took some liberties there. They made a sly reference to that at the beginning of the episode.

[Null17]

Halfway through and I only snickered during the chocolate people comment.

[Oznogrd]

just watched it...this is just awful...we needed family guy in virginia based around cleveland? just...blah..not funny, not original, not edgy..fox needs to reevaluate their strategy

[Andrew]

It is sad to think that ultimately King of the Hill was axed to make way for this.

[Al Ka Pwn]

You enjoyed the propane talk?

Guess I am the only one who liked the show. It's not original, but what is these days?

[benji]

I see. has that helped make your life better?

[Al Ka Pwn]

Watching a cartoon has little to no impact on my overal happiness. It's more like 20 mins that I don't have to think about what I am going to do. So in a sense, when you look at it in context, it has.

[Andrew]

You enjoyed the propane talk?

I found Hank's obsession with propane funny in its own way, yes.

[Al Ka Pwn]

You enjoyed the propane talk?

I found Hank's obsession with propane funny in its own way, yes.

Fair enough.

[Null17]

I barely watch these shows anymore (rarely catch it on their timeslots and I don't want to download mid-season), but when I do KIng of the Hill is the most entertaining and consistent. Family Guy has become overly random like The Simpsons and The Cleveland Show is as well.

[Andrew]

I thought the Cleveland Show actually did a decent job of telling a story and not just being a random mish-mash of jokes and cutaways tied together by some semblance of a plot, but I didn't find the characters particularly interesting or funny. I think I will watch a few more episodes as not all pilots are brilliant but if it doesn't get better than this I can't see myself getting hooked.

[Null17]

I wasn't referring to the plot but more about the characters. It's like everyone was too over-the-top for me.

[Andrew]

Fair enough. I thought they were pretty tame by Seth MacFarlane standards, but then perhaps a talking bear and a five year old that acts like an adult are too familiar and unoriginal after Brian, Stewie, Klaus and Roger.

[JaoSming]

I chuckled once, when he slammed his fingers in the car hood. Other than that I just kept wondering why the hell am I watching this?

[el badman]

I don't know what possessed me to watch the second episode, the commercials in between were almost more enjoyable.
This is just one of those spin-offs that should not be, it shows nothing remotely funny to look forward to. Complete waste of time.

[Andrew]

In trying to flesh out Cleveland, they've only proven how one-dimensional he really is. The other characters are uninteresting, unfunny and unlikeable. A couple of the jokes were decent, but for the most part it was no better than the pilot. I admire that they're actually trying to go for a story and even a bit of heart but they're still failing miserably. They even went Family Guy with a couple of overlong, unfunny celebrity swipes. Halle Berry's Oscar speech was what, five or six years ago and even Jennifer Aniston's worst projects are miles ahead of this rubbish.

The fact that Seth MacFarlane has the nerve to rip into Fox for bowing to James L. Brooks demands that the childish feud between The Simpsons and Family Guy end when they've made him the highest paid writer in television to produce what is largely complete and utter garbage is almost sickening. He's actually a fairly good voice over actor who can definitely sing and from what I hear is a skilled pianist as well. And he can obviously draw as well. But a writer and a brilliant creative mind he is not.

One more episode. I might go for just one more episode to see if it improves because it's early stages and they're still establishing things to a certain extent but not much about it is fresh or interesting.

[Al Ka Pwn]

Whole life is idiots getting paid to do shit they are unqualified for.
I did have to laugh once during Cleveland.

[Andrew]

Whole life is idiots getting paid to do shit they are unqualified for.

True, but that doesn't mean we can't be armchair critics all the same. Especially on a discussion forum, where the traditions of cyberspace all but dictate that we are to be.

One has to give Seth MacFarlane credit though. He's found an audience, he's sold his ideas and he's sold himself to Fox as being a creative genius even though he's basically tweaking the one idea and gotten three primetime shows out of it.