TVSquad

Having watched the first three episodes of The Cleveland Show, I find it's a bit like a 70's black sitcom such as Good Times or What's Happening, but more demented. The standard Family Guy humor and asides are still there, but generally the plots feel a little more linear and directed towards a goal. Of course, going forward that could be an exception and not the general rule. The show could end up being a complete Family Guy copy, but with a black family.

The first episode (airing Sunday at 8:30 ET on FOX) begins in Quahog with the cast of Family Guy. The entire circumstance behind Cleveland's departure from that show is explained before the opening theme song. And what a theme song! It's better than Family Guy's. Very catchy. It's the sort that sticks in your mind like Fun Tac.

The question on everybody's mind is: can an ancillary character like Cleveland Brown carry his own show? The answer is "yes", but only by making the character different than the one you know from Family Guy. He still speaks slowly and calmly, but he is no longer the voice of reason and while he's smarter than Peter Griffin, he does allow himself to get in awkward situations.

The Cleveland Show has its own supporting cast of weirdos. Minor spoiler, but my favorite supporting character thus far in the series is the bear that speaks in a Russian accent. That's all I'm saying.

The show is worth a watch, particularly if you like Family Guy. Seth MacFarlane has stated in interviews that there will be some crossover between the two shows. If you don't watch you will piss off MacFarlane, who is currently the God of Fox Animation (Sunday nights are The Simpsons and his three shows). You don't want to do that.

Clips from The Cleveland Show can be seen here.