Sundays With Seth: 'Cleveland Show,' 'Family Guy' and 'American Dad' Recaps

['The Cleveland Show' - 'How Cleveland Got His Groove Back' Season 2, Episode 3 Recap]
['Family Guy' - 'Welcome Back Carter' Season 9, Episode 3 Recap]
['American Dad' - 'Son of Stan, Part 2' Season 6, Episode 2 Recap]

Marriage and parenting are two of the most challenging and yet rewarding things we undertake in our lives, and yet we tackle both of them with zeal and enthusiasm.

This week, Seth MacFarlane used his three Fox animated comedies to explore these themes in greater depth so we can learn how to be better husbands, wives, mothers and fathers in our own lives.

I learned that it is never right to cheat, and that if someone cheats ... maybe there are darker and far more disturbing secrets as well. Never lie to your children about a family vacation, because it can come out in the most embarrassing way. Most importantly, it takes a healthy mixture of discipline and compassion and understanding to raise a well-rounded child.

Trust is at the heart of any marriage, and that's something Carter Pewterschmidt lost sight of somewhere along the way. When Peter caught him cheating on 'Family Guy' this week, it provided a much-needed wake-up call to him that he did love Barbara and want to be with her. Many men feel this way after they've been caught in a state of infidelity, making me think they just get caught up in what they're doing and don't really think things through. What? Men not thinking things through?

I give you Exhibit A: the 'Jackass' franchise. Actually, I'll just rest my case on that one.

The same kind of impulsive stupidity was on display on 'The Cleveland Show,' after the Brown family returned from their vacation. What happened to the neighborhood was representative of the kind of trouble men can get up to if left unsupervised. Particularly the hyper-realized man-children that make up MacFarlane's world. Cleveland isn't necessarily any better than them, but sometimes if there are enough men around, one of them will slip and become the voice of reason, in lieu of a woman setting them straight.



Unfortunately, Donna was swept up right along with Cleveland on the decision to dupe Rallo into thinking Hawaii was Africa. After a layover in Hawaii, the family decided to skip Africa and just vacation there. Who needs to get in touch with their roots when there's beautiful white beaches and poolside service. Even Rallo loved it. "I love Africa," he declared. "Thought there'd be more black people, though."

It's always risky business lying to young children like that. Sure, they'll believe you because they trust you, but that trust can be broken. Rallo may have bought it for now, but after his presentation at the school about "Africa," from his first-hand experience, he's on his way to learning that parents are fallible, too. That they'll lie and deceive you for selfish reasons. Suddenly, he can't always trust what Donna and Cleveland say, and without trust in things like that, how can they trust that you know the proper way to care for them.

From 'American Dad' this week, we learned that it takes a careful balancing act to raise a perfect child. By introducing a clone of Steve in the wake of Haley's having run off and eloped with Jeff, Francine and Stan were able to spotlight how their different parenting techniques might impact their son. Francine represented the lenient parents who want to be cool and be your friends, while Stan was the strict taskmaster who always expected more. It was a representation of the current struggle in parenting, and while exaggerated, their results seemed surprisingly believable.

Stan's over-stressed Steve turned into a psychopath with a penchant for abusing and killing cats, while Francine's Steve was overweight, apathetic and completely without ambition or any real sense of self-worth. It's a worthy debate to keep in the forefront of popular culture. And the obvious solution is that sometimes the best way to get what you want and need out of your children is to just drive them crazy until they finally give in and submit to your will. Who knew Roger would have a valid tip.



But there was a darker side to this week's episode. An ugly face that wasn't as welcome, or funny. Maybe because I'm both a husband and a parent, I'm a little more sensitive to some things. It was disconcerting when Lester chagrined the situation he found himself in; having vowed to strike out Cleveland. "First Kendra and now this," he said. "Thanks a lot, beer." That one line completely invalidated their entire relationship as I'd seen it. While Kendra is obese beyond anything you normally see on television, it always seemed as if there was genuine love there, but now we see a darker potential reality. Lester only first got with her because of alcohol and he is still resentful.

Far darker an implication was the one from Carter, when Barbara woke him from a deep sleep. "It's okay, Lois," he muttered. "Daddy's just taking your temperature." Now, we'd already learned that it's not beneath him to cheat on his wife, but now they're adding in sexual child abuse? I suspect that to the target younger audience this is still probably all fantastic and funny, and it is a cartoon after all. But this would never fly in a live-action prime time show. Particularly because there is no consequence and Carter gets to still be one of the "good" characters on the show.

It's weird that while the pedophile character of Herbert doesn't bother me at all, this potential admission really does. Maybe because it adds an element of incest, or seemed more genuine than Herbert's over-the-top antics. But really, it's just another throwaway gag in the world of Seth MacFarlane.

The cutaways even came back with a vengeance this week, particularly in 'Family Guy.'

Cutaway humor highlights:

--Ken Burns 9-part series on street signs. Tonight's episode: Yield.

--In an effort to "cutesy" up the place, Peter brings in Jonathan Lipnicki, but then immediately wants to rush him to the hospital because of how horrible he looks.

--The expression quiet as a church mouse brings back the old standby joke of priests molesting young boys, only now with cute furry ears and tails.

--Playing footsie with Paul McCartney's ex until her leg falls off.

--Paul Giamatti' last physical. The doctor: "You're gonna want to get this [waving his hands over Paul's entire body] replaced."

--There weren't enough Es and Ws in the world to handle Peter's need when Carter started making excuses about the girl he was caught in bed with.

[Follow Jason @ultraversion21 on Twitter.]