Harder, Better, Faster, Browner

Last updated
"Harder, Better, Faster, Browner"
The Cleveland Show episode
Episode no.Season 2
Episode 1
Directed byIan Graham
Written byMatt Murray
Featured music"Touch the Sky" by Kanye West ft. Lupe Fiasco
Production code2APS06
Original air dateSeptember 26, 2010 (2010-09-26)
Guest appearances
Keke Palmer as Kandace West
Kanye West as Kenny West [1]
Episode chronology
 Previous
"You're the Best Man, Cleveland Brown"
Next 
"Cleveland Live!"
List of episodes

"Harder, Better, Faster, Browner" is the second season premiere of the American animated comedy series The Cleveland Show , and the 22nd episode overall. It originally aired on Fox on September 26, 2010. The title is a parody of the song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" by French house duo Daft Punk.

Contents

In this episode, Cleveland attempts to get Kenny West's rap career off the ground, while President Barack Obama pays Stoolbend a visit. The episode was written by Matt Murray and directed by Ian Graham. It features a guest performance by Kanye West (who sampled "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" in his song "Stronger"). It received mostly mixed-to-positive reviews from critics for its storyline and many cultural references. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed in 6.02 million homes in its original airing. The episode featured guest performances by Kanye West and Keke Palmer, along with several recurring guest voice actors for the series.

Plot

When Cleveland beats Rallo and his friends in a basketball game, he reminisces about his childhood playing days including beating a kid named Barry Obama whom Donna informs him is now President Barack Obama. Cleveland takes the news hard, wondering what he has done with his life. When he runs into Kenny West dropping his daughter Candice off at Rallo's school, he invites him to drop her off for a play date which Kenny agrees to do that afternoon, as he has other business to attend to. When Kenny brings Candice over, Rallo is thrilled to see her. When Cleveland forgets that Kenny will pick Candice up, Candice shows Cleveland where he works; As a server in a rap-themed restaurant. Cleveland also finds out they have been living in Kenny's car and invites them to move into the garage in a gesture intended to show up Barack Obama. Kenny decides to sell his rap recording equipment and becomes a cable installer like Cleveland. Rallo is thrilled with Candice's attention until she slowly becomes pushy. Kenny's emulation of Cleveland reaches the point of growing a mustache and even looking like him after Cleveland loans him a shirt. Donna makes Cleveland see that he has taken Kenny out of his element and Cleveland buys back all of Kenny's recording equipment and they write a new song. At first they have no luck in promoting their new song, but when a little girl named Brandi falls down a well they rush off to perform a benefit concert and their song is well received, and garners extra attention when, during a post-performance interview, Cleveland says "Barack Obama doesn't care about black people", causing Twitter to literally explode from the amount of tweets sent about the incident. When they reach success, Kenny fires Cleveland. On a date with Candice, Walt and another friend of Candice, Rallo has had enough of Candice's attitude and leaves the girls behind at a restaurant with every other guy in the place. Cleveland tells Donna about being fired by Kenny, but just then President Obama's helicopter lands on the front lawn and Obama challenges Cleveland to a game of basketball which he wins and then departs. Donna tries to jump on board but is kicked off by the secret service. [2]

Production

The episode was written by series regular Matt Murray and directed by series regular Ian Graham shortly after the conclusion of the first production season.

In addition to the regular cast, rapper Kanye West portrayed Kenny West for the second time. Actress Keke Palmer portrayed Candice.

President Obama is voiced by series regular Kevin Michael Richardson (who voices Cleveland Jr. and Lester Krinklesac).

Reception

The Simpsons' 3.7 adults 18-49 rating was down 14% from last season's premiere (9/27/09). The Cleveland Show's 3.1 rating was down 37% from its series premiere last season. Family Guy's 4.5 rating lead the night, but was down 15% vs. last season's premiere. [3]

Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club graded the episode a B, stating "I laughed quite a few times at it, enjoying the idea that Cleveland had played basketball against a young Barack Obama (and the fact that the show's Obama is kind of an asshole on the court) and the performance of Kanye West as Kenny West. But none of those laughs graduated from mild chuckles. It was all clever, but none of it was inspired. The Cleveland Show, more than any other show in the animated bloc, feels assembled by a joke-writing committee, and that hurts it, even in a pretty good episode like this one". [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger</span> 2001 song by Daft Punk

"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is a song by French duo Daft Punk, released on 13 October 2001 as the fourth single from their second studio album Discovery. A live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was released as a single from the album Alive 2007 on 15 October 2007. This version won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2009. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 132 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland Brown</span> Family Guy and The Cleveland Show character

Cleveland Orenthal Brown Sr. is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy, and its spin-off series The Cleveland Show. He is a neighbor and friend of the Griffin family and is best known for his mild-mannered deadpan delivery. His established profession was that of a deli owner, before he switched over to being a postal worker after his return to Family Guy.

<i>The Cleveland Show</i> American animated sitcom

The Cleveland Show is an American adult animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A spin-off of Family Guy, and the second television series in the franchise, the series centers on Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs-Brown, and their children Cleveland Brown Jr., Roberta Tubbs, and Rallo Tubbs. The animation was produced by Fox Television Animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">It's a New Day (will.i.am song)</span> 2008 song by will.i.am

"It's a New Day" is a song produced and organized by American rapper and producer will.i.am. It was released as promotional single on November 7, 2008, from the political compilation album Change Is Now: Renewing America's Promise (2009). Will performed the song for the first time on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The song was written as a tribute to President Barack Obama's victory. It was used in an episode of the second season of Gossip Girl. A parody of the song was featured on the Boondocks episode "It's a Black President, Huey Freeman". It was titled "Dick Riding Obama", and featured will.i.am, rapper Thugnificent, Gangstalicious and a George Clooney lookalike debating whether Obama's victory was really a success. A scene from the episode was released on YouTube before the episode aired as a form of viral marketing.

<i>South Park</i> season 13 Season of television series

The thirteenth season of South Park, an American animated television comedy series, originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central between March 11 and November 18, 2009. The season was headed by the series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who served as executive producers along with Anne Garefino. The season continued to focus on the exploits of protagonists Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny and Butters in the fictional Colorado mountain town of South Park.

"Pilot" is the pilot episode and the first episode of the first season of the animated comedy series The Cleveland Show. Directed by Anthony Lioi and written by series creators Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry and Richard Appel, the episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 27, 2009, along with the season 8 premiere of Family Guy. The episode follows Cleveland Brown, and his son, Cleveland, Jr., as they begin their journey across the country, with a final destination of California. The two give a final farewell to their friends in Quahog, Rhode Island, but along the way to their destination, they decide to stop in Cleveland's hometown of Stoolbend, Virginia. While there, Cleveland reconnects with an old crush he had in high school, named Donna Tubbs, and immediately finds love, and eventually a new family. Cleveland and Donna ultimately decide to get married, and the two families begin to accept each other into their new lives.

Showmance (<i>Glee</i>) 2nd episode of the 1st season of Glee

"Showmance" is the second episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on September 9, 2009. It was written by series co-creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan and directed by Murphy. The episode sees the glee club attempt to recruit new members by performing Salt-n-Pepa's "Push It" in a school assembly. It advances the love triangles between Rachel, Finn and Quinn and Emma, Will and Terri, and sees antagonist Sue Sylvester begin to conspire against the club.

<i>The Cleveland Show</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of The Cleveland Show aired from September 27, 2009, to May 23, 2010. Production of the 22 episode season began in May 2008 and was expected to begin broadcast in January 2009 but was later pushed back to September 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Brown Thanksgiving</span> 7th episode of the 1st season of The Cleveland Show

"A Brown Thanksgiving" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American animated television series The Cleveland Show. Written by Matt Murray and directed by Chuck Klein and Matt Engstrom, the episode originally aired on November 22, 2009 on Fox in the United States. In this episode, Cleveland Brown celebrates his first Thanksgiving with his new family, including his own parents and Donna's Auntie Momma.

<i>The Cleveland Show</i> season 2 Season of television series

The second season of The Cleveland Show aired from September 26, 2010, to May 15, 2011. Fox ordered a second production series of 22 episodes (2APSxx) in October 2009.

"And Then There Were Fewer" is the hour-long season premiere of the ninth season of the American animated television series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 26, 2010. The episode follows the citizens of the fictional city of Quahog in the U.S. state of Rhode Island after they are invited by actor James Woods to his stately mansion on a remote island. While there, a series of murders occur, and the group struggles to determine who committed the mysterious acts, before ultimately attempting to escape from the island, and avoid being murdered themselves. The episode borrows its premise and title from Agatha Christie's 1939 murder mystery And Then There Were None, while also serving as a parody of the 1985 film Clue.

It's the Great Pancake, Cleveland Brown is the fourth episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Cleveland Show, and the 25th episode overall. It originally aired on November 7, 2010 on Fox.

"New Kidney in Town" is the tenth episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 9, 2011. The episode follows Peter, after he drinks kerosene, causing him to suffer immediate kidney failure. In need of a replacement kidney, Peter is unable to locate a match, until it is discovered that his anthropomorphic dog Brian is a match, but would require the donation of both his kidneys. Meanwhile, Chris is instructed by his English teacher to write an essay about hope, in preparation of United States President Barack Obama's appearance at their school. Unable to write anything inspiring, he decides to pick his sister Meg's brain and use her ideas.

"How Do You Solve a Problem Like Roberta?" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American animated television sitcom The Cleveland Show, and the 32nd episode overall. Written by Aaron Lee and directed by Anthony Agrusa, it originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 16, 2011. The episode had guest appearances by Wilmer Valderrama and cast members of the show Glee.

<i>The Cleveland Show</i> season 3 Season of television series

The third season of The Cleveland Show aired on the Fox network from September 25, 2011, to May 20, 2012. On June 10, 2010, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a third season. According to co-creator Mike Henry, musical guests in season three were originally to include Kanye West, will.i.am, Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Darren Criss, Questlove, and Fergie. With the exception of Fergie and Darren Criss, these guests' appearances were instead in season four. The hurricane-themed crossover episode with Family Guy and American Dad! aired on October 2, 2011. It was originally going to air in the second season, but was postponed due to the 2011 Super Outbreak in the Southern United States.

"Your Show of Shows" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Cleveland Show, and the 42nd episode overall. It originally aired May 8, 2011 on Fox in the United States. In this episode, Rallo and his friends perform in the school talent show, but their rap about fiscal responsibility is not well received by their classmates. Meanwhile, after Cleveland gets his own Public-access television cable TV show, the reviews are less than positive so he takes some tips from the most successful daytime talk shows that appeal to women.

"Turkey Pot Die" is the fourth episode of the fourth season of the animated comedy series The Cleveland Show. The 69th episode overall, it originally aired on Fox on November 25, 2012.

"He's Bla-ack!" is the twentieth and penultimate episode of the twelfth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy, and the 230th episode overall. Written by Julius Sharpe and directed by Steve Robertson, the episode first aired on Fox in the United States on May 11, 2014. The episode features the return of Cleveland Brown after the cancellation of his spin-off The Cleveland Show. In the episode, Cleveland and his family return to Quahog, but his friendship with Peter is tested when their wives argue about parenting.

<i>My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman</i> American television talk show

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman is an American television talk show hosted by David Letterman that premiered on January 12, 2018, on Netflix. The series consists of interviews with one guest per episode both inside and outside a studio setting. The show has received generally positive reviews, with its format, Letterman's hosting, choice of guests, and insightful conversations receiving praise. My Next Guest has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special four times.

References

  1. "Kanye West Spoofs Himself on 'The Cleveland Show'". MTV . Archived from the original on September 30, 2010.
  2. "Description: Harder, Better, Faster, Browner".
  3. Gorman, Bill. "TV Ratings: Sunday Night Football Wins; Simpsons, Cleveland Show, Family Guy, Makeover, Housewives All Down vs. Last Season's Premieres". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  4. VanDerWerrf, Emily (2010-09-27). ""Elementary School Musical"/"Harder, Better, Faster, Browner"/"And Then There Were Fewer"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2011-10-06.