Apparently, animated shows created by Seth McFarlane are in high demand. He has had considerable success with Family Guy and American Dad. It was only a matter of time before Fox would try their luck with a Family Guy spinoff. The subject would be one of Peter’s friends. No, not Quagmire. That will be reserved for Cinemax late night. Giggity giggity. Actually, the subject would be Cleveland. Let us see how this one plays out.
It is another late night at the Drunken Clam, Cleveland is sitting with Peter, Joe and Quagmire. It seems that Cleveland has lost his house to his ex-wife, Loretta. He does have custody of Cleveland Jr. who is now fourteen years old and very overweight. As a result, he is going to leave Quahog and head to California to pursue his dream of becoming a minor league scout for a professional baseball organization.
Cleveland says goodbye to everybody and even gets Lois and Bonnie to kiss each other (Quagmire loses it) as he takes Cleveland Jr. in the car out to California. On the way, he decides to stop in Stoolbend, Virginia which used to be his hometown. Cleveland figures he will spend a few days there meeting old friends and then head out west. He stops at his old high school and then realizes that his old flame Donna Tubbs is working there as a secretary.
The two kinda hit off and he decides to stay with her for a couple of days. Donna has two children. One is named Roberta, a teenage girl who loves the phone and her boyfriend, Federline Jones and the other, a small boy named Rallo who likes Super Sugar Crisps and looking under kindergarten girl’s skirts. This would be the perfect scenario for a Brady Bunch setup if it weren’t for Donna’s ex-husband Robert.
Robert was Donna’s high school flame and always got in the way of something happening between Cleveland and Donna. Initially, Cleveland gives up trying to win Donna over and resumes the journey to California. But he comes back and wins Donna over and moves in with his son. Robert vows revenge and runs off with the family parakeet, Joan.
Stoolbend also introduces Cleveland to several new friends. Lester Krinklesac lives across the street and is 100% redneck. He has a wife named Kendra and a son named Ernie who quickly becomes friends with Cleveland Jr. There is a bear named Tim who keeps his smoking secret from his wife. Another friend named Holt is incredibly short and lives with his mother which would be okay except he is 32 years old.
Soon, Cleveland and Donna decide to tie the knot and get married. As a result, Cleveland willingly gives up his dream of becoming a minor league scout. He tries to become a dad to Roberta and Rallo but finds it difficult. Cleveland also eventually finds work at the local cable provider, Waterman Cable (where Tim the Bear also works). But can Cleveland along with Cleveland Jr. adapt to their new lives and live happily ever after?
I wasn’t sure what to think when I heard Cleveland got his own show. I had watched Family Guy off and on for years and liked it but could never get into American Dad. I was skeptical that a bit character on an animated television series could actually make his own show work. Thankfully, I was completely wrong and it was actually a surprise that show was much better than American Dad and in some ways better than Family Guy.
The main reason the show succeeds is based on the voice talents of Mike Henry who does both Cleveland and Rallo. It is no wonder that those two characters are perhaps the most interesting in the show. The other thing about the show is while it can be outlandish at times, it feels more rooted than Family Guy who tends to focus on Stewie, a talking baby who wants to rule the world and a talking dog named Brian. Cleveland typically solves situations by being practical rather than going over the top like Peter.
Video
The video is in 1.78:1 widescreen presentation. Unlike Family Guy which sticks to fullscreen, the Cleveland Show makes the transition to widescreen (they actually do a bit where they flip the screen). The animation we have become accustomed to is enhanced by the increased aspect ratio. Colors are strong and the animation is well drawn. It’s not amazing, but it certainly is well done leaving the viewer satisfied.
Audio
For the audio portion, we get a 5.1 English Dolby Digital Track. Since this show tends to focus on dialog, we shouldn’t really expect anything more than a clean track. The dialog is clear, and there shouldn’t be any trouble listening to it (even if Lester has a redneck accent and Tim has a Russian one). Curious, there are even occasions where we get some use out of the rear speakers. Range is nice, even if it doesn’t go very far in stretching your sound. There are a variety of subtitles including English, Spanish and French.
Special Features
Disc One
- Automatic Trailers: Family Guy, American Dad, and Just Wright.
- Commentaries by Executive Producer Richard Appel and Mike Henry: These are included on episodes 1,4,5, and 7. In addition to Appel and Henry for each one, we get a variety of guests. These include Seth McFarlane, Producer Kara Vallow, Writer Kirker Butler, Retake Director Stephen Robertson, Director Mike Mayfield, Director Matt Engstrom, and Actors Kevin Michael Richardson, Craig Robinson and Kym Whitley.
- Commentary by Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown: Mike Henry does a commentary in the character of Cleveland Brown for the 1st episode. Pretty funny stuff, good listen.
- Original Televised Episodes: Included for episodes 2,4,5, and 7. Since the dvds are uncut, these are good for comparison or for the kiddies (if you allow them to watch the show).
- Deleted Scenes: Included for all episodes on this disc. Great stuff all around.
Disc Two
- Commentaries by Executive Producer Richard Appel and Mike Henry: These are included on episodes 2,3 and 4. In addition to Appel and Henry for each one, we get a variety of guests. These include Writers Jonathan Green, Gabe Miller, Aaron Lee, Director Ian Graham, Ron Rubio and Actors Corey Holcomb and Kevin Michael Richardson.
- Original Televised Episodes: Included for all the episodes on the 2nd disc.
- Deleted Scenes: Included for all episodes on this disc.
Disc Three
- Commentaries by Executive Producer Richard Appel and Mike Henry: These are included on episodes 1,3 and 5. In addition to Appel and Henry for each one, we get a variety of guests. These include Writer Julius Sharpe, Director Ian Graham, Mike Mayfield, Ron Rubio and Actors Kevin Michael Richardson and Sanaa Lathan.
- Original Televised Episodes: Included for all the episodes on the third disc.
- Deleted Scenes: Included for all episodes on this disc.
Disc Four
- Commentaries by Executive Producer Richard Appel and Mike Henry: These are included on episodes 1 and 4. In addition to Appel and Henry for each one, we get a variety of guests. These include Producer Kara Vallow, Director Anthony Argusa, Director Justin Ridge and Actor Frances Callier.
- Original Televised Episodes: Included for episodes 1 and 3.
- Deleted Scenes: Included for all episodes on this disc.
- Meet Cleveland 24:35: They start the meet and greet obviously with Mike Henry who voices Cleveland who explains the character, often in his voice. Sketch work is included here and they explain how they used real images outside of Richmond, Virginia to create the look of Stoolbend. They talk a lot about supporting characters which include Jaime Kennedy who supplies the voice of Federline Jones. They even had an idea of British family as neighbors until it was ultimately axed. There is a ton of talk about voice work here (makes me wish I pursued a career in the field). They finish off the featurette where they talk about the music of the show. Composer Walter Murphy gets some emphasis as well as they mention such music guest stars like Kayne West.
- ”Get Your Hump On” with Earth, Wind and Fire 2:51: This is the video of the Christmas Song performed by Earth, Wind. It is exactly what I would like to be doing this Christmas.
- The Making of “Get Your Hump On” with Earth, Wind and Fire 5:28: The making of featurette where we get to meet the band and the idea behind the song. Interestingly enough, the group did sit for the table read. The original lyrics were a little dirtier entitled, “Take a Dump on Christmas”. The group voted these down and Humping was the replacement. They knocked it out of the park as Richard Appel likes to say constantly.
- The Brotherly Love Table Read 45:10: This is the table read to the Brotherly Love episode which features Kayne West and Taraji Henson. They do a whole bunch of introductions before they get to the two guest stars. There are also a bunch of people on the phone as well during this read. It’s funny how if they lose somebody on the phone, somebody else is there to pick up the part. All of the actors stay in their voice and character despite it being a simple read session. Occasionally they do split screen with the cartoon. In many ways, this is funnier than the actual episode as you genuinely feel the laughter that is felt through the room.
Final Thoughts
After going through the extras, I found that I was really forgetting so many voice talents in this show. One in particular, Kevin Michael Richardson who does the parts of Cleveland Jr.and Lester is really impressive to watch (table read/featurette). It makes me wish that I would have extended my voice talents into something beyond clever accents for my friends. The show really tries to separate itself from Funny Guy but at the same time provide a very funny show that uses those staples we are familiar with.
The discs are fantastic with above average audio and video as well as a ton of extras to go through. They even include a 5th disc which has clips from the show for your I-Tunes compatible mp3 player. The case barely shuts (one area they could have improved) but is full of goodness. It is a great show and full of fantastic voice talent (I can’t say that enough). Outside of the 1st season Family Guy and their Star Wars parodies, the Cleveland Show is a better show than the one it spinned off from. Highly recommend, I look forward to Season 2.
Episodes
Disc One
Pilot
Da Doggone Daddy-Daughter Dinner Dance
The One About Friends
Birth of a Salesman
Cleveland Jr’s Cherry Bomb
Ladies’ Night
A Brown Thanksgiving
Disc Two
From Bed to Worse
A Cleveland Brown Christmas
Field of Streams
Love Rollercoaster
Our Gang
Disc Three
Buried Pleasure
The Curious Case of Jr. Working at the Stool
Once Upon A Tyne in New York
Brown Knight
Gone with the Wind
Disc Four
Brotherly Love
Brown History Month
Cleveland’s Angels
You’re the Best Man, Cleveland Brown
