Deli Man Turned Freeloader Beginning to Inspire

the-cleveland-showSunday’s episode of “The Cleveland Show” was not only a markedly better episode than the lackluster pilot that aired a week before, but it also proved that Cleveland Brown can be funny without his friends from Rhode Island.

Getting himself in his own shenanigans for essentially the first time in his television career, Brown doesn’t disappoint. Seeing him try to cover up killing the family dog and later explain it in brutally honest fashion are easily the funniest moments of the series thus far.

If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, then perhaps seeing Brown star in his own Men’s Warehouse commercial or sing Lionel Richie songs, will.

Again, it’s not quite laugh out loud funny, but like the first few seasons of “Family Guy,” the show has a comfortable and fun-loving feel to it.

That’s because for a few minutes here and there, you almost forget about its ties to “Family Guy.”

Billed as “Family Guy with an Afro,” the people behind this show are doing it a grave disservice. While the majority of the cast still needs some spunk before the show can be a true success, there is chemistry developing between the Brown men and their new family. Seeing Cleveland Jr. get in his own shenanigans was fun as well, even though it’s still going to take a long time to get used to the weight he’s put on since season one of “Family Guy.” Just as eccentric as his father, Cleveland Jr. has the ability to be just as good a supporting character as Chris Griffin if written correctly.

The same can’t be said for the rest of the cast however, which just doesn’t cut the comedic mustard. The jury remains if they ever will.

Nevertheless, the second episode of the series was undoubtedly a step in the right direction, giving fans of “Family Guy” some hope that it can eventually develop into something more than just a spin off.

Remember, “Family Guy” wasn’t exactly appreciated during its first television run either and it wasn’t until it hit DVD that it became a cult-favorite. Will the same thing happen to “The Cleveland Show?” With a huge fan base behind it, chances are small that it will achieve sleeper status. Instead, it’s either sink or swim for this show. As of right now, it’s treading water.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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