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The
spin-off is a
different kind of
animal for
television writers
and producers. You
have to come up with
a new idea for a
show with old
characters. You have
to develop them but
keep them true to
their roots. You
don’t get the free
pass of the first
season, the pressure
to produce something
of value is
immediate and that’s
why so many of them
fail. Seth McFarlane
and his group of
writers aren’t
trying to make a
terrible
Friends
spinoff here though,
and they’ve already
been making two
shows for a number
of seasons. The
announcement of a
spin-off with
The
Cleveland Show
was a bit of a
surprise, but it was
quickly accepted and
the show has been a
hit so far.
The show follows
Cleveland as he
leaves Rhode Island
to head west to take
a job scouting with
his old friend Joe
Torre. He’s well on
his way, xcept he
gets sidetracked in
his hometown of
Stoolbend, Virginia
where he catches up
with his old flame
Donna Tubbs. Donna
and Cleveland get
together, Cleveland
stays in Stoolbend
with his son
Cleveland Jr. and
his new step kids
Rollo and Roberta.
He also gets some
new friends in
Stoolbend… There’s
new friends and old
friends and even a
bear, yes I just
wrote part of the
theme song.
The
Cleveland Show
is awesome. The
first season of the
show gave Cleveland
fans plenty of
laughs and plenty of
jokes with several
classic episodes
with my personal
favorite being “Gone
with the Wind.” In
the episode,
Cleveland’s high
fiber diet is
causing some social
stigma and becomes a
problem until he
gets to the bar and
gets involved in a
farting karaoke
contest. In the same
episode Loretta dies
and he deals with
some lingering
feelings for her
too… it just shows
unpredictable the
show is and how tons
of jokes and tons of
different storylines
can be put into one
episode.
The
Cleveland Show
does a few things
different from
Family Guy
but it also does
some of the same
things too.
Cleveland has three
main friends to
drink with. He’s
also got three kids-
two of them are
older and one is
younger (like Meg,
Chris, and Stewie.)
The shows main
difference between
Family Guy
is it’s usually more
family centric while
Cleveland and the
others get used to
each other and the
characters find out
more about each
other as the show
goes on- not like
Family Guy
now, but how it was
the first couple of
seasons.
This DVD package is
full of extra
content. It has some
great commentary-
including the pilot
of the show that has
commentary of the
show by Cleveland
himself. That’s the
biggest must-see
extra on the set. It
also includes some
show clips for you
to put into iTunes
so you can watch
wherever you go.
The
Cleveland Show
had a great first
season and it’s
available to own on
DVD. You can get the
set complete with
Cleveland’s awesome
mustache on the box
and tons of
commentary.
The
Cleveland Show
is stellar on DVD
and it’s turned out
to be a successful
spin-off.
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