theclevelandshow

The theory goes like this: people who are deemed good looking can skate through life compared to those that are considered unattractive. Such was the case presented to 'The Cleveland Show's Roberta last night.

After her teacher poses this question to her, Roberta is offered a choice to raise her grade from a C to an A. That choice involves donning a fat suit, in the hopes of getting the same treatment from her teachers and peers alike. In the end, it appears Roberta learns that looks are not that deceiving.

Watch the video after the jump.

(S01E11) While Cleveland and the boys down at the bar were trying to come up with the next great invention, Roberta was learning a lesson in what it's like to not be gorgeous. And who better to teach her the lesson than Jane Lynch. With Glee on hiatus until sometime in 2147 -- at least it feels that long -- I'll take what Lynch I can get. And she was great here as a bitter teacher ... wait, that sounds familiar.

I think she was woefully under-utilized, though, as the storyline involving her never really achieved any resolution. More specifically, it started as a storyline for Roberta, became a storyline for both Roberta and Cleveland, Jr. and yet it was really only Jr. who got a somewhat satisfying conclusion. Of course, I'm probably just bitter that Lynch didn't show up again.

Between The Rock's bizarre guest appearance on Family Guy, and Stan's dirty deed on American Dad, it was a strange week in the twisted mind of Seth MacFarlane. But in a twist M. Night Shyamalan would be proud of, it was Family Guy's Meg Griffin who had the most memorable stand-out moment of the night. Uncomfortable, but memorable.

We also got the first episode of American Dad in the 16:9 widescreen ratio for the first time, and they didn't take advantage of the change to make any modification to the intro sequence at all, or spotlight it in any self-aware way. I still wish last week's epic could have been in widescreen, but with Family Guy now the only holdout on Animation Domination, the whole thing feels a little weird. Shouldn't the marquee show for Seth MacFarlane be in widescreen before its offspring?

When Jane Lynch started popping up on my TV promoting Xbox 360, I was amazed how brilliant she was. She had already delighted me on Glee, so why was I surprised? There's not much Jane Lynch can't do. Well, now she's spreading her wings in yet another TV venture.

Seth MacFarland has cast Jane Lynch on The Cleveland Show. That's right; she's turning toon. On the January 10 episode of Fox's The Cleveland Show, Jane will voice the character of Ms. Eck, Roberta's new teacher. And like Coach Sue Sylvester on Glee, Ms. Eck is a forceful, in-your-face educator.

This week may have featured our first Christmas with the Brown family over on The Cleveland Show, which would have normally been enough to elevate it to the top MacFarlane show of the night. But American Dad took itself someplace so bizarre with its Christmas special, that I spent most of it stunned that I was even watching American Dad.

Of the three shows, Dad was always the one that stayed with the characters and avoided trips into fantasy. Wacky asides and over-the-top shenanigans are a staple of Family Guy and have proven a smaller, but still important, part of The Cleveland Show. So I was left with my jaw hanging open when the Rapture kicked in and people started flying off to heaven.

Admittedly, I've not seen every episode of American Dad, so maybe this isn't as surprising an episode as I thought it was. It was, however, a simply fantastic episode.

Fox has announced a new addition to its Sunday night animated comedy bloc.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the network will serve up 13 new episodes of 'Bob's Burgers.' The show is based on Loren Bouchard ('Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist,' 'Home Movies') and Jim Dauterive's ('King of the Hill')12-minute presentation, with a voice cast that includes H. Jon Benjamin, 'Flight of the Conchords' alum Kristen Schaal (pictured), Eugene Mirman and 'Important Things with Demetri Martin' writer Dan Mintz.

The show centers around Bob, a struggling burger joint owner, his "tightly wound wife" and their three reckless kids. Bouchard told the Reporter that the original idea was to write a show about a family of cannibals, but the latter aspect was ultimately dropped -- probably for the best, considering the family runs a burger joint.

Hey look, Scrubs is back early!

Oh wait, never mind. That's just Donald Faison on American Dad. How could I have possibly gotten those two things mixed up? I don't know why, but I still get a kick out of guest appearances on animated shows, particularly when the actor who plays the actual character jumps in to do their own voice, as Faison did here.

Plus, it was an interaction with Roger. Ah, Roger. Let's talk about what has to be the single greatest presence of all three Seth MacFarlane shows. I probably don't mention him enough, because sometimes he's not as integral to the plots of AD. But, he's always a huge part of the laughs. As soon as he waddles into a room, you just wait for the zingers or the costume or the antics that will send you off your rocker. His turn this week as a "madame" was sheer brilliance.

The "All Seth, All the Time" block of animation on FOX is getting stronger every week. I think this may have been the most wholly satisfying episode of The Cleveland Show we've had yet. The show finally knows what it is, the characters are settled in and established, and it even knows where it's going to derive its humor.

There's a sweetness to The Cleveland Show that is more reminiscent of King of the Hill than either of MacFarlane's established shows, and I'm glad to see it. My biggest fear was that Cleveland's star vehicle would be nothing more than Family Guy-lite, but after a very rough start, I'm able to see and appreciate it for what it is.

Family Guy may have found their replacement for Cleveland in this week's episode. I hope the boys do find a new "fourth," and I don't think I'd mind if it's the guy they find themselves hanging out with this week. On American Dad, Stan discovers rock music, and he'll do anything to hang out with his new favorite band: My Morning Jacket.

A year ago, before there was a Cleveland Show, when the Family Guy spinoff was still just a possibility, the show's first guest stars, Daryl Hall and John Oates, were brought aboard. They'll finally make their debut, playing an angel and a devil, respectively, on Cleveland Brown's shoulder on the Thanksgiving episode which airs Sunday at 8:30PM on Fox.

According to show co-creator, producer, and voice of Cleveland Mike Henry, the appearance came out of a trip to Las Vegas where a casting director arranged for Henry to meet the guys backstage after a show. When they showed interest, that was that. "We wrote the part and sent it on over," says Henry, speaking at a conference call with media.

"You planted the seed a year ago saying, hey, would you like to be on the show that's not on TV yet?" says Hall.

Whatever big decision Cleveland is making in the episode, Henry is a bit cagey. "Maybe Auntie Mamma has got a penis," says Henry. "Let's just say that. There. I've given it away."

It was nice to cut back Seth MacFarlane's domination of Sunday nights to only three shows. As much as I enjoy all three shows in a general sense, two-and-a-half hours of MacFarlane's brand of humor was a bit much. I continue to enjoy the growth of The Cleveland Show more and more; I'm beginning to see why FOX went ahead and gave it an early season two pick-up.

After a shaky start, we're starting to get a better feel for all these new characters, and I'm finding little things about them to enjoy. It's little things like Arianna's love of confetti that add layers to the character. And while I'm sure it's politically incorrect of me, I find Kendra tooling around in her Rascal absolutely hilarious. That and the over-eating, but all with such a sweet disposition and voice.

Are you still losing sleep over FOX's unsurprising yet tragic cancellation of Josh Joss Whedon's Dollhouse? This may be the melatonin you need.

CollegeHumor has uncovered the true reason FOX nixed the action drama from its airwaves. It needed more room for more Seth MacFarlane cartoons about pop-culture spewing families with anthropomorphic pets and American Idol. I never thought I'd long for the good ol' days was Fox was known for quality programming like Bad Orderlies Caught on Tape 2 and When Lawn Equipment Goes Screwy 4.

FOX pushed the boundaries of their Seth MacFarlane-filled Sundays about as far as they could. It wasn't enough to have three animated series already in the lineup, but they had to give him his own "variety show" as well. They bumped The Simpsons to make room for a two-hour block of Seth madness!

But that's not all! If you watch new episodes of American Dad, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show AND the all-new Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show, we'll throw in a bonus episode of Family Guy absolutely free! The real question is... was America really ready for that much Seth?

I thought I was.

The Fox network cannot risk pissing off Seth MacFarlane. If they do, they run a good chance of suddenly finding most of their entire Sunday night line-up sucking eggs. At least, that's one possible reason for the renewal of American Dad for a sixth season. That pickup gives MacFarlane the renewal trifecta for Sunday nights.

Actually, of MacFarlane's three series, American Dad is the best one (although I'm finding The Cleveland Show inching closer to first place). As opposed to Family Guy, the storytelling is more linear than the other two and the jokes actually have some relevance to the plot or characters (I'm on Team South Park regarding that "feud").

The Cleveland Show is also better at linear storytelling and jokes than its predecessor, but it's still not up to the standards of American Dad. Sadly, American Dad will likely live in the shadow of Family Guy and The Cleveland Show for years to come. At least MacFarlane has three chances with Fox to keep on working.

Well, it seemed like an unusual pairing when it was announced. Kind of like oil and water. Well, the oil slick has hit the proverbial fan. Microsoft has withdrawn its sole sponsorship of Fox's Seth MacFarlane comedy special. That's the special that Fox was promoting like crazy yesterday all during the NFL games, the special called Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show.

In the grand tradition of show business, though, the special will go on November 8, just without Microsoft commercials. Fox is looking for alternate sponsors. Here's my first call if I'm at Fox -- Apple. Don't you think those Mac/PC ads would send a message to viewers who might still think Microsoft is behind this?

It would also be a brilliant PR move by Steve Jobs and Apple. After all, they could say, "Hey, we're not afraid of the content in Seth MacFarlane's show. We have a sense of humor."

Not that the future of this series was ever in doubt, but Fox has extended its original season-and-a-half order of The Cleveland Show to a full two seasons. Given the strong premiere ratings for the show, seasons beyond number two will likely be in the bag. If Fox didn't extend, they'd have to deal with an irate Seth MacFarlane who currently controls most of their Sunday night line-up.

Is The Cleveland Show going to end up being more popular than its progenitor Family Guy? Do these ratings simply represent a high initial interest in the new show that will wane over time? I have used the analogy of The Jeffersons spinning off from All In The Family, but did The Jeffersons ever beat All In The Family in the ratings?

Whatever the case, Seth MacFarlane doesn't have to worry about it for at least two seasons, and probably longer.

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