[[Black sitcom]]"},"creator":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* [[Seth MacFarlane]]\n* [[Richard Appel]]\n* [[Mike Henry (voice actor)|Mike Henry]]\n}}"},"developer":{"wt":""},"voices":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* Mike Henry\n* [[Sanaa Lathan]]\n* [[Kevin Michael Richardson]]\n* [[Reagan Gomez-Preston]]\n* [[Jason Sudeikis]]\n* Seth MacFarlane\n}}"},"theme_music_composer":{"wt":"[[Walter Murphy]]"},"opentheme":{"wt":"\"The Cleveland Show\" {{small|(performed by [[Mike Henry (voice actor)|Mike Henry]])}}"},"composer":{"wt":"Walter Murphy"},"country":{"wt":"United States"},"language":{"wt":"English"},"num_seasons":{"wt":"4"},"num_episodes":{"wt":"88"},"list_episodes":{"wt":"List of The Cleveland Show episodes"},"executive_producer":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* Seth MacFarlane\n* Richard Appel\n* Mike Henry\n}}"},"producer":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* [[Kara Vallow]]\n* [[Courtney Lilly]] (season 3)\n* Daniel Dratch (season 4)\n}}"},"editor":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* Kirk Benson\n* Dennis McElroy (season 4)\n}}"},"runtime":{"wt":"21–22 minutes"},"company":{"wt":"{{plainlist|\n* [[Fox Television Animation]]\n* Persons Unknown Productions\n* Happy Jack Productions\n* [[Fuzzy Door Productions]]\n* [[20th Century Fox Television]]\n}}"},"network":{"wt":"[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]"},"first_aired":{"wt":"{{Start date|2009|9|27}}"},"last_aired":{"wt":"{{End date|2013|5|19}}"},"related":{"wt":"''[[Family Guy]]''"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBw">
The Cleveland Show | |
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Genre | Animated sitcom Black sitcom |
Created by | |
Voices of |
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Theme music composer | Walter Murphy |
Opening theme | "The Cleveland Show" (performed by Mike Henry) |
Composer | Walter Murphy |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 88 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Editors |
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Running time | 21–22 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Fox |
Release | September 27, 2009 – May 19, 2013 |
Related | |
Family Guy |
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.
The series was conceived by MacFarlane in 2007 after developing Family Guy and American Dad! for the Fox network. MacFarlane centered the show on Family Guy character Cleveland Brown and created new characters for Cleveland's family members. One preexisting character, Cleveland's son Cleveland Jr. (Junior), was redesigned as an obese, soft-spoken teen, as opposed to his depiction as a younger, hyperactive child with average body weight on Family Guy.
The series premiered on September 27, 2009, and ended on May 19, 2013, after four seasons consisting of 88 episodes. The Cleveland Show was nominated for one Annie Award, one Primetime Emmy Award, and two Teen Choice Awards, but received mixed reviews from media critics. Fox cancelled the series after 4 seasons. [1] Nearly a year after the series' cancelation, Cleveland returned to Family Guy, accompanied by the rest of the Brown-Tubbs family, in the season 12 episode "He's Bla-ack!".
Seth MacFarlane initially conceived The Cleveland Show in 2007 while working on his other two animated series, Family Guy and American Dad! . [2] [3]
The Cleveland Show first appeared on the development slate at Fox in early 2008, under no official name for the pilot, after a report that Fox had purchased the series from creators. [4] [5] The pilot was named The Cleveland Show in May 2008, when it appeared on the primetime slate for the 2008–09 television season, although it wasn't officially on the network schedule. [6] Shortly after a report that King of the Hill just ended, leaving air time for The Cleveland Show, the show was picked up for a full season after an additional nine episodes of the show were ordered. [7] In May 2009, The Cleveland Show appeared on the primetime slate for the 2009–10 television season, for airing on Sunday nights at 8:30 pm [8] On June 15, 2009, it was announced that The Cleveland Show would premiere on September 27, 2009. [9]
MacFarlane and Henry pitched a 22-minute to Fox which aired on September 27, 2009, but had been leaked on the internet in June 2009.[ citation needed ] Even before the pilot episode premiered, the show had already been renewed for a 22-episode second season. After the first season of the show aired, it was given the green light to start production. On June 10, 2010, less than three weeks into the first season's summer hiatus, it was announced that Fox was ordering a third season. [10] A fourth season was announced on May 9, 2011, just a few days before the second season concluded. [11]
Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry and Richard Appel served as executive producers on the series for its entire run. [12]
Mike Henry voices two of the show's main characters: Cleveland Brown and Rallo Tubbs. The voice of Cleveland was developed originally for Family Guy by Henry after being influenced by one of his best friends who had a very distinct regional accent. [13] For the voice of Rallo, Henry stated that he created the voice over twenty years before; he had used it while making prank phone calls.
Sanaa Lathan voices Donna Tubbs, the wife of Cleveland, stepmother of Cleveland Brown Jr., and mother of Roberta and Rallo Tubbs. In developing the character, Lathan said that the producers "wanted her to be educated, but to have some edge." [14] Prior to voicing Donna, Lathan had only one other voice credit in a relatively low-budget film entitled The Golden Blaze . In addition to the show, she also primarily worked as an actress in such films as Alien vs. Predator , Blade , Love & Basketball and The Family That Preys .
Reagan Gomez-Preston plays Roberta Tubbs, the stepdaughter of Cleveland. Gomez has stated that she uses her own voice to portray Roberta and that she herself gets mistaken for a fifteen-year-old over the phone "all the time." [14] Before Gomez was cast as Roberta, Nia Long (who co-starred with Lathan in The Best Man franchise) provided the character's voice during the first thirteen episodes. According to Long, she was replaced because producers decided they wanted an actress with a younger-sounding voice, given that the character is a teenager. [15]
Kevin Michael Richardson, a recurring guest voice on Family Guy and American Dad!, portrays Cleveland, Jr., as well as Cleveland's next-door neighbor Lester Krinklesac. In portraying Cleveland, Jr., Richardson drew inspiration from a character named Patrick that he had played on the NBC drama series ER who was mentally impaired and wore a football helmet. For Lester, Richardson stated in an interview that, being African American, he had "run into a few rednecks in [his] time", and decided to simply perform a stereotypical redneck impression for the voice of Lester. [14]
Jason Sudeikis plays Holt Richter, one of Cleveland's drinking buddies with short stature, and Terry Kimple, one of Cleveland's longtime friends who now works with him at Waterman Cable. Sudeikis originally began as a recurring cast member, but starting with the episode "Harder, Better, Faster, Browner", he was promoted to a series regular.
Seth MacFarlane played Tim the Bear up until season 3 episode 10, which MacFarlane admits is a "Steve Martin impression [...] a Wild and Crazy Guy impression". Jess Harnell voices the character for the rest of the series from the next episode onward, as MacFarlane had a busy schedule which kept him away from voicing the character, while he was working on Ted.
Other voices include that of Arianna Huffington as Tim's wife Arianna the Bear, Nat Faxon as Tim and Arianna's son Raymond the Bear, Jamie Kennedy as Roberta's boyfriend Gabriel Friedman, a.k.a. "Federline Jones", Will Forte as Principal Wally, Frances Callier as Evelyn "Cookie" Brown, Craig Robinson as LeVar "Freight Train" Brown and David Lynch as Gus the bartender.
Main cast members | |||||
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Mike Henry | Sanaa Lathan | Reagan Gomez-Preston | Kevin Michael Richardson | Jason Sudeikis | Seth MacFarlane |
Cleveland Brown and Rallo Tubbs | Donna Tubbs | Roberta Tubbs | Cleveland Brown, Jr. and Lester Krinklesac | Holt Richter and Terry Kimple | Tim the Bear (seasons 1–3) and Dr. Fist (seasons 1–2) |
Cleveland's newly introduced family includes his new wife, Donna Tubbs-Brown (voiced by Sanaa Lathan); [16] Donna's daughter Roberta (originally voiced by Nia Long, but later voiced by Reagan Gomez-Preston); and Donna's son Rallo (voiced by Mike Henry). [17] [18] Cleveland, Jr. underwent a complete redesign for the show, becoming sensitive and soft-spoken.
In July 2010, the Turner Broadcasting System picked up syndication rights, for their networks TBS and later, Adult Swim. [23] The series first aired on Adult Swim in the United States on September 29, 2012. On July 14, 2018, Viacom later picked up the rights to the series and the series left Adult Swim and TBS on September 9, 2018. The series began airing on Comedy Central in the United States on October 8, 2018, until April 29, 2022 and then again since November 6, 2023 airing sporadically on the network, previously along with BET and VH1. [24] [25]
The series aired on FXX from September 20, 2021 to September 20, 2024. [26]
On April 17, 2013, Fox dismissed increasing rumors that The Cleveland Show had been canceled, reporting rather that renewal of the series was undetermined as of that time. [27] [28] However, on May 13, 2013, in the New York Daily News , Fox Chairman of Entertainment Kevin Reilly confirmed the show's cancellation. [1] Following the series cancellation, it was confirmed that Cleveland would be moving back to Quahog with the rest of the Brown-Tubbs family to rejoin the Family Guy cast. [29]
The series is available for streaming on Hulu. [30] Internationally, The Cleveland Show is available to stream on Star on Disney+. [31]
DVD Title | # of Disc(s) | Years active | # of Episodes | DVD release | |||
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Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||||
Season One | 4 | 2009 & 2010 | 21 | September 28, 2010 [32] | October 11, 2010 [33] | June 29, 2011 [34] | |
Season Two | 4 | 2010 & 2011 | 22 | September 27, 2011 [35] | January 30, 2012 [36] | November 2, 2011 [37] | |
Season Three | 3 | 2011 & 2012 | 22 | March 1, 2013 [38] Manufactured on demand (MOD) on DVD-R | N/A | N/A | |
Season Four | 3 | 2012 & 2013 | 23 | December 17, 2013 [39] Manufactured on demand (MOD) on DVD-R | N/A | N/A |
The Cleveland Show initially received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 44% approval rating for the first season, with an average rating of 5.10/10 and based on 18 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Cleveland Show is simply not interesting enough to capture the same comedic lightning of Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy." [40] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave the season a score of 57 out of 100 based on 18 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews." [41]
Ahsan Haque of IGN gave the pilot episode a grade of 8.3 out of 10, praised the opening theme and the humor of the show, and said, "While it seems to be missing some of the over-the-top offensive bite we're used to on Family Guy, and Cleveland's new drinking buddies aren't quite as amusing as the Quagmire, Joe and Peter combination - there's a lot to like here. It might take a while for the show to grow out of its Family Guy shadow, but with a greater focus on wacky family focused stories, we might get to see much personality burst out of the normally sedate Cleveland." [42] Jonathan Storm of The Philadelphia Inquirer found The Cleveland Show to be "a little warmer and sillier" than Family Guy. [43] Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stated that although The Cleveland Show is "just as rude-crude" as Family Guy, it also had "more warmth" due to Cleveland being a more likable character than Peter Griffin. Owen also praised the character of Tim the Bear, stating that "Tim is by far the most amusing creation." [44]
Tom Shales of The Washington Post spoke very negatively about both the show and MacFarlane himself, describing him as "no better than the dirty old man hanging around playgrounds with naughty pictures or risque jokes as lures". [45] Roberto Bianco of USA Today wrote a similarly negative review, suggesting that the easiest fix for its problem was "cancellation". [46] John McWhorter of The New Republic called it "a patronizing mess" and "basically Family Guy in blackface". He added: "What isn't black in it is so shamelessly ripped off from Family Guy that it's hard to believe it's the product of creators who are usually so studiously 'post-' obvious stunts of the sort." [47] Matt Rouse of TV Guide wrote, "The lamest, most unnecessary spin-off since Private Practice , Cleveland rests on the shoulders of the hopelessly bland title character." [48]
Season | No. of episodes | Timeslot (ET) | First aired | Last aired | Overall ratings | ||||
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Date | Premiere viewers (in millions) | Date | Finale viewers (in millions) | Rank | Viewers (in millions) | ||||
1 | 2009–10 | 21 | Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 1–4, 6–10, 12–21) Sunday 9:30 pm (Episodes 5, 11) | September 27, 2009 | 9.51 | May 23, 2010 | 4.94 | 72 | 6.38 |
2 | 2010–11 | 22 | Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 1–8) Sunday 9:00 pm (Episode 9) Sunday 9:30 pm (Episodes 10–22) | September 26, 2010 | 6.61 | May 15, 2011 | 4.9 | 90 | 6.12 |
3 | 2011–12 | 22 | Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 1–2, 7–8) Sunday 9:30 pm (Episodes 3, 6, 17, 19) Sunday 7:30 pm (4–5, 8–16, 18, 20–22) | September 25, 2011 | 6.13 | May 20, 2012 | 3.01 | 144 | 4.03 |
4 | 2012–13 | 23 | Sunday 7:30 pm (Episodes 1–3, 5–11, 14, 17–19, 21, 23) Sunday 9:30 pm (Episodes 4, 16) Sunday 8:30 pm (Episodes 12–13, 15) Sunday 7:00 pm (Episodes 20, 22) | October 7, 2012 | 4.47 | May 19, 2013 | 2.43 | 129 | 3.05 |
Year | Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Result | Ref. |
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2010 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV: Animated Show | The Cleveland Show | Nominated | |
People's Choice Awards | Favorite New TV Comedy | Nominated | |||
2011 | Annie Awards | Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production | Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown | Nominated | |
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Animated Program | "Murray Christmas" | Nominated | [49] | |
NAMIC Vision Awards | Animation | The Cleveland Show | Nominated | ||
Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV: Animated Show | Nominated | |||
2012 | Artios Award | Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Animation | Robert McGee and Ruth Lambert | Nominated | |
2013 | ASCAP Awards | Top Television Series | The Cleveland Show | Won | [50] |
People's Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon Show | Nominated |
The Cleveland Show characters have appeared on other animated sitcoms and vice versa. The Cleveland Show crossovers have all involved two other animated programs. Both the other two animated programs were also created by Seth MacFarlane— Family Guy and American Dad! . There are also many brief cameos of characters from three other Fox animated shows, The Simpsons , Futurama , and King of the Hill .
Family Guy is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois, their children, Meg, Chris, and Stewie, and their anthropomorphic pet dog, Brian. Set in the fictional city of Quahog, Rhode Island, the show exhibits much of its humor in the form of metafictional cutaway gags that often lampoon American culture.
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television series Family Guy and The Orville (2017–2022), and co-creator of the television series American Dad! and The Cleveland Show (2009–2013). He also co-wrote, co-produced, directed, and starred in the films Ted (2012) and its sequel Ted 2 (2015), and A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014).
American Dad! is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series moved to TBS for its twelfth season in 2014 and continues to air new episodes to this day. American Dad! is the first television series made to premiere on Fox's Animation Domination block. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the rest of the first season airing from May 1, 2005.
Lois Patrice Griffin is a fictional character from the animated television series Family Guy. She is voiced by Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Griffin family, in the episode "Death Has a Shadow" on January 31, 1999. Lois was originally created and designed by series creator Seth MacFarlane for his 1995 student film, The Life of Larry.
Brian Griffin is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom Family Guy. He is one of the main characters of the series and a member of the Griffin family. Created, designed, and voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is an anthropomorphic white labrador retriever who is the best friend of both Peter and Stewie and comic foil with the ability to speak, drive, and stand on two legs.
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.
Michael Robert Henry is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known for his work on the animated sitcom Family Guy, where he was a writer and producer, as well as the voice of Cleveland Brown, Herbert, Bruce, Consuela, the Greased-up Deaf Guy, among others. Henry is also known for co-creating and starring in the spin-off The Cleveland Show (2009–2013), for which he voiced Cleveland Brown and Rallo Tubbs, among others. He is also known for his recurring role as Dann in the television series The Orville.
The first season of Family Guy aired on Fox from January 31 to May 16, 1999, and consisted of only seven episodes, making it the shortest season to date. The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, son Stewie and their anthropomorphic dog Brian, all of whom reside in their hometown of Quahog, a fictional city in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The show features the voices of series creator Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, and Lacey Chabert in the roles of the Griffin family. The executive producers for the first season were David Zuckerman and MacFarlane. It is also the only full season to feature Chabert, before she was replaced by Mila Kunis for the rest of the series' run, starting with the season two episode "Da Boom".
The eighth season of animated television series Family Guy first aired on the Fox network in twenty-one episodes from September 27, 2009, to May 23, 2010, before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It ran on Sunday nights between May and July 2010 on BBC Three in the UK. The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stewie and dog Brian, all of whom reside in their hometown of Quahog.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
"The Hurricane!" is the second episode of the third season of the animated comedy series The Cleveland Show. The 45th episode overall, it was written by Kirker Butler and directed by Ron Rubio, and is the first part of the Night of the Hurricane block with Family Guy and American Dad!, the first such event in the animated television line-up of Fox. The episode first aired on Fox in the United States on October 2, 2011.
The fourth and final season of The Cleveland Show aired on the Fox network from October 7, 2012, to May 19, 2013. On May 9, 2011, Fox announced that the series had been renewed for a fourth season. Guest stars for the season included George Clinton, Nick Offerman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Shorty Rossi, Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart. On May 13, 2013, Fox announced that they would not be renewing The Cleveland Show for another season, making this one the final season. The series ended with the episode "Wheel! Of! Family!" on May 19, 2013. In August 2013, series creator Seth MacFarlane announced that Cleveland would be moving back to Quahog along with the Tubbs family to rejoin the Family Guy cast.
Night of the Hurricane is a 2011 crossover event on the Animation Domination lineup on Fox. The event involved the three animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane: The Cleveland Show,Family Guy andAmerican Dad!. The event depicts a hurricane which hits the towns of Stoolbend, Quahog and Langley Falls. The actual three-way crossover of the event occurs at the end on American Dad! with the three fathers of each family in the same scene.
Seth MacFarlane is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. MacFarlane began his career as an animator and writer for Hanna-Barbera for several television series, including Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, Dexter's Laboratory, and created a sequel to his college thesis film Larry & Steve.
Family Guy is an American animated comedy franchise created by Seth MacFarlane and originally developed for Fox. Consisting of two television series: Family Guy (1999–present) and The Cleveland Show (2009–2013), the franchise primarily focuses on the Griffin family and their friends and associates. The franchise also shares a fictional universe with American Dad! (2005–present), another series developed by MacFarlane with the same art style, to which it features numerous crossovers and shared characters.