Pilot Review: The Cleveland Show

The Cleveland Show
FOX. Sundays at 8:30


So, I’d say I’m a fan of Family Guy. It’s nowhere near must see TV for me, but it still is mostly amusing, and can on occasion be very funny. However, moreso than any other comedy on TV, it completely misses the mark and ends up in wildly unfunny/disgusting territory.

I’m not sure what I was entirely expecting The Cleveland Show to be then, other than, you know, a second version of Family Guy. There are still random absurd cutaways, pop culture jokes that hit, pop culture jokes that miss, and various other stock characters. Which is to say that The Cleveland Show is about just as watchable as Family Guy, could be good for a laugh but not TV you need to go out of your way to see.

To be fair, there are some very funny things in the pilot. Cleveland’s new neighbor, a Christian Conservative bear (literally, a talking bear, I wonder how long until a shit in the woods joke occurs) with a pseudo-European accent, is probably the best character in the show, and brings some comedic energy to the scenes he’s in. And in one either very clever or entirely preposterous moment, there’s a jab at black sitcoms made by white people based on stereotypes. Which is kind of what The Cleveland Show is, making Seth McFarlane either an idiot or a hypocrite, I’m not sure which. But it’s the most interesting moment of the whole pilot.

That being said, this is much more like late era Family Guy than pre-cancellation. The tone of the show is still uneven, and, save Cleveland, none of the main family members are particularly funny. There are moments, but overall, it’s just not a laugh riot. I’d be interested whether to see if they balance out the tone, figure out a way to be more than just Family Guy 2.0, or take the show down a different road altogether, maybe something more along the lines of the now-much-funnier-than-Family-Guy American Dad. So, basically, this gets a rating that falls somewhere between…

RATING: If Nothing Else Is On/I’ll Give It Another Episode

Sunday Premieres

While it’s no longer premiere week, tonight boasts 5 returning shows worth mentioning, so I thought I’d let you know who’s making their first weekly reappearance in your homes…

Dexter: America’s favorite serial killer is back tonight. When I originally watched the first episode I didn’t dig it that much, but upon rewatching it this summer, I actually discovered what an awesome show it is. That actually is the case with a bunch of other shows that I now love too (for example, House and How I Met Your Mother both didn’t wow me the first time around). I’ve seen the first two episodes of this season, and boy, they do still rock. Especially the end of episode one, which will be the event to propel the season forward. So watch this.

Desperate Housewives: Welcome back to Wisteria Lane. This show had a really good first season, a dismal second one, and a meh third one. There’s a decent chance I’ll abandon this one if it looks to be going downhill. Tonight brings the introduction of the first gay couple on Wisteria lane who play foils to the town skeleton, Teri Hatcher, as well as a few veteran TV actors playing a new family. Yay for Nathan Fillion getting work…

Brothers and Sisters: I gotta say, it’s really a tossup for my favorite new show from last season. Sometimes I think it’s Heroes, other times I think it’s this one. The Walker family returns tonight and sees Justin coming back from war injured, Kitty doing things that will most likely aggravate me, and some other dramatic stuff. I actually do like this show; don’t let the blurb mislead you.

American Dad: I’m kind of ashamed to say that I watch this show occasionally. It’s really not very good, yet I still watch it. I don’t know why. So, yeah, may or may not watch this one.

Brotherhood: I tried to get into Brotherhood. I really did. I recognize that it’s a really good show, which is why I’m mentioning it here. I just couldn’t get into it. Maybe some other time.

If none of these float your boat, you’ve got the continuing seasons of The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Robot Chicken tonight. But the show that I KNOW I will be watching is the season finale of Rock of Love. Will it be Heather, the 32 year old stripper with a healthy appetite and not enough foresight to get Bret Michael’s name tattooed on the back of her neck, or Jes, the younger, prettier, pink haired girl who wasn’t going to be eliminated but got a reprieve when another girl dropped out (cough cough Heather). The suspense is killing me. That and the alcohol poisoning one gets simply from watching the show. But how I love it…