Family Guy and The Clevand Show Miss the Mark

Fox has some of the most popular cartoon shows on television: "American Dad," "Family Guy," "The Cleveland Show," and "The Simpsons." However, has their recent season been going so well? Let's talk about "Family Guy" and "The Cleveland Show." Starting with the show most people enjoy referencing, "Family Guy;" it started its season off quite well with an episode about multiple universes. We saw different types of animations used, from a Disney style to a grotesque stick-figure type, and even a real-world, non-cartoon universe! The season begins with Stewie and Brian getting stuck in a universe where dogs and humans switch roles as owner and pet. The next few episodes were not as groundbreaking. Lois finds out her mother is of Jewish ancestry, so the Griffin family goes through yet another religion war, and the episodes following had no clear plot. That is to be expected of "Family Guy," but there were very few good jokes to save it. After those two clunkers, the next few episodes were decent, from Brian dating an older woman to Stewie meeting Hannah Montana. They threw in Quagmire becoming a parent, which ended up being quite a lackluster episode; the side-plot about Stewie making clones was more interesting. The last episode was about Peter finding a new friend to fill a hole in the group where Cleveland used to be, and he finds that friend in a man named Jerome. That episode managed to be what we expect from "Family Guy." Overall, I believe the show is bouncing from good to bad as of late, trying to capture the original allure that brought them back from cancellation, but is trying too hard to repeat the same style of jokes over and over. There used to be an actual plot to episodes that was followed. Lately, the jokes center around breaking the fourth wall and being completely random. Sometimes that is a good thing and makes an episode great, and other times it just gets annoying and in the way of the plot. I generally am not a fan of the newer episodes of "Family Guy" and wish it could manage to regain the balance their old seasons had, but I guess that is not what Fox wants from the show. After all, those are the seasons that got "Family Guy" canceled. "Family Guy" managed to have a spin-off show about Peter's neighbor and friend, Cleveland Brown, who lost his house when his ex-wife claimed it. He and his son, Cleveland Jr., decide to find a home in California, thus also leaving Family Guy. They stop in Cleveland's old hometown in Virginia, where Cleveland runs into his old high school crush. She happens to be a single mother of two children that she seems to be having trouble with. Cleveland manages to woo her by helping her out with the children and helping her get away from her good-for-nothing ex-husband, and they eventually marry, thus starting up "The Cleveland Show." Unfortunately, the whole show's premise is a racist carbon copy of "Family Guy" with lesser quality jokes. It seems that because Cleveland is black and living in south Virginia, every episode must be touched with black and/or "southern hick" stereotypes. They also take Cleveland's character and change it from Family Guy's good-natured man to a constantly frustrated and irritated man. Luckily, there are a few decent episodes, such as the Brown's Thanksgiving episode, when Cleveland's wife has her "Auntie Momma" come over. The joke is that Auntie Momma is a man in a fat suit posing as a woman, like the Eddie Murphy movie, Norbit. The whole episode revolved around Auntie Momma being a man and Cleveland realizing that. He could not tell his wife, Donna, because it would kill her, as Auntie Momma was the closest relative she had. The overall plot sucked, but the jokes were on fire this time, especially when Cleveland's ex-con father falls in love with Auntie Momma. This show seems to be unable to intertwine a good joke with a good plot. The only other episode I found somewhat respectable is an earlier episode where Cleveland gets a job thanks to his bear neighbor (yes, a talking bear). Cleveland suddenly becomes a more successful salesman than his bear neighbor, which makes him jealous. The bear then wishes ill-fortune on Cleveland for his luck, which somehow happens when Cleveland takes the blame for another friend of his for a drunk-driving incident. Cleveland almost loses his new job, but finds a way to keep it by switching positions, thus solving the problem of his jealous bear neighbor while keeping a job. Yes, it isn't terribly interesting, which is why I call it decent. This show is likely to be cancelled and referenced on another season of "Family Guy" as a joke. "The Cleveland Show" really needs to step it up, because the other reviews of the show are not any better. The only reason people seem to be watching it is because it is like an extra, lesser quality episode of "Family Guy." In fact, even on TV.com, "The Cleveland Show" isn't even in the top 100 of the list of top watched shows, while "Family Guy," "American Dad," "The Simpsons," and "South Park" are. Perhaps that is because the show is still new and has yet to find its calling, but its future does not look good. So, "Family Guy" is becoming a hit-or-miss this season and "The Cleveland Show" is trying, but failing to become a good show. "Family Guy" will likely manage to get another ground-breaking episode fit in before its season ends, so I plan to keep watching. "The Cleveland Show," however… I will not lose any sleep over missing an episode or four. I will probably keep watching in hopes it will get better, but it's nothing to get excited over.