Episode Commentary: “The One About Friends”

The newest episode of “The Cleveland Show,” is entitled “The One About Friends,” but make no mistake about it, if this show was a person, it would be bi-polar and lonelier than a bear during hibernation.

And that sleeping bear would be much funnier than the one featured on this show.

After a solid second episode that had its fair share of funny moments last week, this newest episode fails to make Lester an intriguing character and drags Cleveland Jr. in the mud after he seemed to be on the right path.

Additionally, the audience knows little about other supporting characters, including Tim the Bear. Why he and Mike would go to Vegas and why Mike is obsessed with “Entourage” are never explained, making many of the jokes in this episode fall flat. The same thing goes for the little jokes in between the plot that are far too reminiscent of “Family Guy” and aren’t nearly as funny. After showing its potential last week by developing a plot and having fun with it, this week’s episode failed to compare.

Seeing rednecks shoot at foster parents to get their children back is an interesting idea, but it isn’t executed properly at all. Nowhere in this segment of this show is there anything remotely funny; neither are the previous ones that lead into this part of the show. It’s simply playing off of stereotypes and giving the audience exactly what they’d expect, bloodshed and off the wall bipolarity.

Sure, seeing the foster family unleash a horde of cannibal children is different, it’s not necessarily hilarious. It’ll keep your attention, but you’ll more than likely scratch your head and wonder what was going through the writers minds during the creative process.

However, in spite of all of these problems, you can expect millions to continue to tune into the show, waiting either patiently for the show to hit some kind of consistent stride or to continue to boggle their mind with absurdity and weirdness. Much like the “Howard Stern show,” you’ll tune in just to see what they’re doing next. Unlike the shock jock, the show isn’t funny yet.

It’s not the best concoction when attempting to create a winning animated sitcom, but it appears this is the road the show is headed down.

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