Optimism for Television

Last night I sat down and watched FOX's Sunday evening 'Animation Domination' line-up. I don't catch it all that often, especially since The Simpsons has been god-awful for years, and King of the Hill had been on the decline as well for some time before it was cancelled.


Family Guy is alright, but I personally feel it's nowhere near as good as it used to be either. American Dad is a shining star, that used to really suck but took a real 180 and is actually very watchable now.

But today I'd like to talk about the third installment of Seth MacFarlane's line-up, The Cleveland Show.


As you may know, this is a spin-off from Family Guy starring Cleveland Brown, an exceedingly patient and caring man, who moves to his hometown where he gets married to his high-school sweetheart and all sorts of wacky hijinks ensue.

I'll be blunt about The Cleveland Show. Its debut sucked. I stared at the television and wondered why I was wasting my time with this awful program. It didn't long for me to have a flashback just five years earlier to a time when American Dad had just come out, and I thought the exact same thing. So I grit by teeth in hopes that things would get better.

But since I don't watch Fox's Sunday line-up all that much, I haven't been regularly tuning in to keep up with the program. Until last night I think I'd seen 3 episodes (maybe) of their 12 show run.

But I gave Cleveland a chance last night and, I'm just gonna throw this one out there, I really enjoyed it. Really.

The episode involved Cleveland taking charge of a group of 8 unruly teens. To build their self-confidence he had them start selling cookies on street corners and in bad neighborhoods. But because they're bad apples the kids sell drugs instead, and Cleveland gets into all sorts of trouble.

The absurdity of the show is great, but I find the funniest moments are when Cleveland does his straight-man act and has some clever sex and drug innuendo. This is pretty similar to another show that I find people either loved or hated, King of the Hill (KOTH).

An old roommate of mine protested and railed against KOTH, claiming that he hated it. It's understandable why as the show can be slow, dry, and sometimes you really wanted to reach into your TV and punch Peggy Hill in the face. But the more I made him watch it, the more he enjoyed it.

I think The Cleveland Show is going to need some time to pick up its pace, and I have a feeling the more you watch it, the more you'll enjoy it. But as for me, Season 1, Episode 12, "Our Gang," has won me over. And you gotta believe me when I say I honestly hated The Cleveland Show when it came out!

So for old time's sake, give your friend Cleveland just one more chance. Besides, if the show's ratings stay where they are, and you truly hate it, you only have to ignore the show for just one more season.