(S01E01) The Cleveland Show begins with the Family Guy crew in Quahog. After his divorce papers with Loretta are finalized and the prerequisite destruction of his house by Peter occurs, Cleveland decides to abandon his deli (you know, the one he never seems to be at anyway) and move to California. On an out-of-the-way detour, he stops in his old hometown of Stoolbend, Virginia and reconnects with an old flame.

Based on the pilot episode, the analogy that can be made is this: Family Guy is to All In The Family what The Cleveland Show is to The Jeffersons (with a little What's Happening!! and Good Times thrown in). Even the theme music is reminiscent of a 70's black sitcom, plus a few visual cues from Soul Train. The theme is catchy and even better than the Family Guy theme.


As with Family Guy, each of the supporting cast has their characterizations: Cleveland's love interest Donna (who became his wife at the end of the episode) is the cliché "female voice of reason". Cleveland's son Cleveland Jr., who was seen in the progenitor series, is also a regular. However, since Family Guy he's gained weight, stopped talking so fast, and turned into a nerd. There is also his step-kids Roberta, the rebellious teenage girl and Rollo, the underage perverted boy (their version of Stewie, but a little older).

Cleveland's neighbors are Holt, a braggart with low self-esteem that lives with his mother, Lester, a typical redneck, and Tim, the Russian anthropomorphic bear. Tim is my favorite character on the show so far (he's voiced by Seth MacFarlane himself, naturally). I guess the show did need at least one anthropomorphic animal otherwise there would be union problems.

Interesting side note: Tim's wife Arianna is voiced by Arianna Huffington. Actually, the show uses several celebrity voices besides the Family Guy cast. Roberta's boyfriend Federline Jones is voiced by Jamie Kennedy and the voice of the neighbor Holt is done by Jason Sudeikis.

The show follows the formula set by Family Guy and American Dad and represents a strange hybrid of the two. There are asides as with the former, but the plot is more linear like the latter. Cleveland himself seems more emotionally stable than either of his predecessors. How do you make a character interesting who was meant to be boring? You put him in a strange universe.

While Tim the Bear is the most fun, I also find the character of Rollo interesting. If Quagmire shows up in Stoolbend, we could have a case of a Jedi master and apprentice. Rollo should have some sort of partner in the show with which to trade quips, as with Stewie and Brian. Perhaps they could team him with Tim?

While I wasn't overwhelmed by The Cleveland Show, it did give me a chuckle or two. The show will likely be successful like its predecessor. If Seth MacFarlane keeps up this pattern, we should be seeing his version of Maude sometime in the not-to-distant future.

[Watch clips and free episodes of The Cleveland Show at SlashControl]