Well, Apple didn't take my suggestion to replace Microsoft as the new sponsor of Seth MacFarlane's comedy special. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stepped up. Actually, it's Warner Bothers Pictures' Sherlock Holmes that'll sponsor the MacFarlane variety special.
The Fox network cannot risk pissing off Seth MacFarlane. If they do, they run a good chance of suddenly finding most of their entire Sunday night line-up sucking eggs. At least, that's one possible reason for the renewal of American Dadfor a sixth season. That pickup gives MacFarlane the renewal trifecta for Sunday nights.
Actually, of MacFarlane's three series, American Dad is the best one (although I'm finding The Cleveland Show inching closer to first place). As opposed to Family Guy, the storytelling is more linear than the other two and the jokes actually have some relevance to the plot or characters (I'm on Team South Park regarding that "feud").
The Cleveland Show is also better at linear storytelling and jokes than its predecessor, but it's still not up to the standards of American Dad. Sadly, American Dad will likely live in the shadow of Family Guy and The Cleveland Show for years to come. At least MacFarlane has three chances with Fox to keep on working.
In the grand tradition of show business, though, the special will go on November 8, just without Microsoft commercials. Fox is looking for alternate sponsors. Here's my first call if I'm at Fox -- Apple. Don't you think those Mac/PC ads would send a message to viewers who might still think Microsoft is behind this?
It would also be a brilliant PR move by Steve Jobs and Apple. After all, they could say, "Hey, we're not afraid of the content in Seth MacFarlane's show. We have a sense of humor."
Not that the future of this series was ever in doubt, but Fox has extended its original season-and-a-half order of The Cleveland Showto a full two seasons. Given the strong premiere ratings for the show, seasons beyond number two will likely be in the bag. If Fox didn't extend, they'd have to deal with an irate Seth MacFarlane who currently controls most of their Sunday night line-up.
Is The Cleveland Show going to end up being more popular than its progenitor Family Guy? Do these ratings simply represent a high initial interest in the new show that will wane over time? I have used the analogy of The Jeffersons spinning off from All In The Family, but did The Jeffersons ever beat All In The Family in the ratings?
Whatever the case, Seth MacFarlane doesn't have to worry about it for at least two seasons, and probably longer.
The show is called Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show. It'll be broadcast on November 8th and be commercial-free thanks to Microsoft (who will be promoting Windows 7). The special will be a mix of animated and live performances. I've seen Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein (the voice of Lois Griffin) perform together in Family Guy Live and they're certainly better together than anything Rosie could produce.
It's interesting how retro these planned variety shows are going. It used to be that shows like The Colgate Comedy Hour would have live sketches about their sponsors sprinkled throughout the show. I wonder how MacFarlane and company will handle shilling Windows 7. Do they even like Windows 7? MacFarlane strikes me more as a Mac guy. "Mac" is even part of his last name.
This isn't too far from me, so I should check it out. Someone has mowed a maze into the shape of Family Guy characters Brian and Stewie. And yes, FOX says that they're OK with the Connors family using the characters at their farm.
Looking at the photo, it seems like if you make it to Brian's nose, you're completely lost.
This is the third week of the new FOX Sunday night, so it's time to check in and see how the lineup is shaping up. I wanted to give The Cleveland Show a few weeks to settle down and start to figure out what kind of show it wants to be. The pilot wasn't the strongest, but there was so much set-up involved, you couldn't tell anything about what future episodes would be like.
With Seth MacFarlane now providing a full hour-and-a-half of FOX's Sunday programming, we decided to take a look at all of his shows in a single post each week. At first, I wasn't sure if I was even going to like The Cleveland Show enough to do this, but it's already grown on me. And that's much faster than American Dad, which took more than a year of sampling here and there before I tuned in regularly.
AskMen.com has released the list of the 49 most influential men of 2009 (not sure why it's 49 and not 50) and there are several TV people on the list, including FOX News anchor Shepard Smith, chef Mario Batali, and Seth MacFarlane.
But the number one person? The person who AskMen thinks is the most influential? He's from TV too, and he's actually fictional.
I figured I'd post this open thread for the season premiere of American Dad not just because I want fans to have a place to talk about the show but I'm wondering, well, if anyone even cares about it anymore.
I tried to get into the show but, beyond some funny lines here and there, I just don't find it that amusing. It seems rather forced and off-balance to me. Are you still watching it? It seems to be the FOX animated show that not many people talk about.
[Watch episodes and clips of American Dad and other shows at SlashControl.]
(S01E01)The Cleveland Show begins with the Family Guy crew in Quahog. After his divorce papers with Loretta are finalized and the prerequisite destruction of his house by Peter occurs, Cleveland decides to abandon his deli (you know, the one he never seems to be at anyway) and move to California. On an out-of-the-way detour, he stops in his old hometown of Stoolbend, Virginia and reconnects with an old flame.
Based on the pilot episode, the analogy that can be made is this: Family Guy is to All In The Family what The Cleveland Show is to The Jeffersons (with a little What's Happening!! and Good Times thrown in). Even the theme music is reminiscent of a 70's black sitcom, plus a few visual cues from Soul Train. The theme is catchy and even better than the Family Guy theme.
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.
You've heard it before. The character of Cleveland Brown is the last person in the cast you'd expect to get a spin-off from Family Guy (well, except maybe Herbert, the pedophile down the street). Well, he did in the form of The Cleveland Show. Fox is trying to promote the hell out of this program and as a result, members of the press got a cute press kit to go along with a DVD containing the first three episodes of the show.
This particular press kit contained a body brush (for scrubbing those hard to reach places while in the bath or shower) as well as a plastic bag that contained a towel and some bubble bath . The only thing I can conclude from this particular batch of items is that watching The Cleveland Show will somehow make one feel unclean. This is a nice continuation from the same feeling one would get from watching any given episode of Family Guy.
Actually, the kit is a bit contradictory. The bag is obviously to keep a wet towel from dripping on anything, but who brings such a thing to the bath? That sort of item is usually reserved for the beach. I guess they were afraid the towel would get wet in transit or something.
If you haven't watched Kevin Pollak's Chat Show (every Sunday at 5 PM PT), you're missing some fun interviews. It's a very loose, one-on-one talk between Pollak and a celebrity guest (actor, comic, writer, web entrepreneuer, etc). It's sort of like Charlie Rose, only with more swearing.
Here's a recent interview he did with Famly Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.
Last week, our own Mr. Bob Sassone posted Family Guy's Emmy campaign video. It was a wee bit aggressive towards both The Office and Brian (who just wanted to relax after a nice shower, poor fella), and now it looks like Stewie isn't quite done yet. Videos were made for the rest of the nominees, including 30 Rock, Entourageand Weeds.
All the new videos are available here. Although it's pretty repetitive -- nay, incredibly repetitive -- it's kind of amusing to hear the jabs against each show.
This web-only video below is part of the "Where's My Emmy?" campaign to convince people to vote for Family Guy. It starts out funny (with a joke or two about The Office) but then turns really unfunny when Stewie starts to beat up Brian.
The Fox network cannot risk pissing off Seth MacFarlane. If they do, they run a good chance of suddenly finding most of their entire Sunday night line-up sucking eggs. At least, that's one possible reason for the renewal of American Dad 
Well, it seemed like an unusual pairing when it was announced. Kind of like oil and water. Well, the oil slick has hit the proverbial fan. 
Not that the future of this series 
The man who virtually owns Fox Sunday nights, Seth MacFarlane, will be 
I figured I'd post this open thread for the season premiere of American Dad not just because I want fans to have a place to talk about the show but I'm wondering, well, if anyone even cares about it anymore. 
(S01E01) The Cleveland Show begins with the Family Guy crew in Quahog. After his divorce papers with Loretta are finalized and the prerequisite destruction of his house by Peter occurs, Cleveland decides to abandon his deli (you know, the one he never seems to be at anyway) and move to California. On an out-of-the-way detour, he stops in his old hometown of Stoolbend, Virginia and reconnects with an old flame.
You've heard it before. The character of Cleveland Brown is the last person in the cast you'd expect to get a spin-off from Family Guy (well, except maybe Herbert, the pedophile down the street). Well, he did in the form of 
Last week, our own Mr. 
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