Plot: What’s it about?
After his divorce, Cleveland decided to leave his home, his job, and his friends, to start a new life for himself and his son. The new bachelor traveled back to his hometown, Stoolbend to set down new roots. While the change in scenery offers a chance to start over, it also offers a chance to reconnect with his past. His high school flame happens to still be in town and she also happens to be single, which catches Cleveland’s attention. She has two children of her own, not to mention a nosy ex, but Cleveland is determined to see if the sparks still burn. The road back into her heart won’t be a simple one, but can Cleveland start his new life off by finding love and a new family?
As if Family Guy and American Dad weren’t enough, we now have a third Seth McFarlane animated series. A spin-off from Family Guy, The Cleveland Show offers…well, more of the same. I do think this show has more narrative than Family Guy, but barely and for the most part, all the jokes and plots could be interchanged. If you’re still enamored with the pop culture references and short attention span theater of Family Guy, then you should enjoy The Cleveland Show. As I said, the show does manage to stay a little more focused, but shock humor and unrelated vignettes still rule the roost. As Family Guy continues to run out of steam on a weekly basis, The Cleveland Show proves to be the better show, at least during this first season’s broadcast. I still wouldn’t call this a good show per se, but it has some humorous moments. So if you’re a fan of Family Guy’s style of humor, then The Cleveland Show will give you more of the same.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. The show looks great here, with clear visuals and bright colors that help the animation stand out. The animation style is simplistic, so not much detail is evident, but this looks as crisp as possible, given the source. Not much else to report here, the show looks terrific.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is good, but the show rarely calls for more than the basics. The music has nice depth, but aside from that, there isn’t much pizzazz here. The focus is where it should be, on the dialogue. So every name-drop from pop culture will come through loud and clear. This release also includes subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
The extras here included audio commentaries and uncensored versions of select episodes, which is great news. You can also watch the Get Your Hump On music video, as well as watch a behind the scenes piece on how the video was created. The extras close out with a brief behind the scenes featurette, a table read on the Brotherly Love episode, and some deleted scenes.
