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Cleveland Brown is a fictional character on the animated series Family Guy, and central character in the spin-off series, The Cleveland Show. He was one of Peter Griffin's neighbors and friends as well as one of the few recurring black characters on the show. During his time on the show, he owned a delicatessen named "Cleveland's Deli". He was married to Loretta Brown early in the series, but they divorce in the Family Guy season 4 episode The Cleveland–Loretta Quagmire after Peter and Brian catch her cheating with Glenn Quagmire. In the pilot episode of The Cleveland Show he marries Donna Tubbs of Stoolbend, Virginia. He is voiced by Mike Henry.

Personality

Cleveland is usually depicted as exceedingly gentle and patient, and it is only on rare occasions that he has been known to lose his temper and resort to violence. However, Cleveland gets visibly annoyed with racist behavior. He often acts as the voice of caution when other characters hatch harebrained schemes. Cleveland's speech is slow, almost elongated. Various flashbacks give conflicting histories of his speech patterns. In the episode "Death Lives" Peter met Cleveland in the 1970s and he (Cleveland) was skinnier (and obviously younger), sporting an Afro, but still spoke in the slow manner that he is known for. In the next season of the series a flashback depicts Cleveland as a fast-talking auctioneer when a totem pole being carried by movers falls over and knocks Cleveland on the head, resulting in a slower state of speech during the episode "Blind Ambition". Although in the premiere of his spin-off, it is revealed that Cleveland talked in a slow manner when he was in high school.

One of the running gags throughout the series is that Peter's shenanigans destroy the front wall of Cleveland's house, revealing him in the bathtub. He then exclaims: "What the hell?! No, no, no, no, no, NO!" as the upstairs floor tilts and the tub crashes to the ground. In the pilot of his spin-off, this gag was the last straw that convinced Cleveland to leave Quahog. However, even several states away, the Griffin's antics are still seen to cause this event, such as when the debris from the missile that Brian, Stewie, Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase destroy happens to fall right on Cleveland's new house in the episode "Spies Reminiscent of Us" (Because of the unfamiliarity of the joke to the characters of The Cleveland Show, Cleveland's neighbor Tim the Bear appeared and said "I don't get it"). In Brian's Got a Brand New Bag, Cleveland's old, and now unoccupied house is destroyed and the empty bathtub crashes to the ground. Afterwards, Peter comments "Oh that's right. Cleveland moved."

Cleveland sometimes will show some sexual deviance or arousal towards attractive women. This is shown in the episode Petarded, Peter brings 7 prostitutes into his house to bring his kids back into his custody and prove to child services that Cleveland is an unfit father. Cleveland responds, "Peter! You and 5 of those prostitutes get out!".

Development

When he was still in college, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane created a cartoon short entitled Life of Larry. The short centered around a middle-aged man named Larry and his anthropomorphic dog Steve. In 1999, when MacFarlane was working for Hanna-Barbara Studios, writing for shows such as Johnny Bravo, Dexter's Laboratory, and Cow and Chicken, he made a sequel to Life of Larry, which Cartoon Network broadcast in 1995. The short caught the eye of 20th Century Fox representatives, who asked him to create a TV series revolving around the characters. MacFarlane received a US$50,000 budget to develop a pilot for the show, which was, as MacFarlane stated in a 2006 interview, " about one twentieth of what most pilots cost".

In three months, MacFarlane created the Griffin family and developed a pilot for the show he called Family Guy.

Mike Henry voices both Cleveland Brown and Herbert, as well as some minor recurring characters like Bruce the performance artist and The Greased up Deaf Guy. Henry met MacFarlane at the Rhode Island School of Design and kept in touch with him after they graduated. A few years later, MacFarlane contacted him about being part of the show; he agreed and came on as both a writer and voice actor. During the show's first four seasons, he was credited as a guest star, but beginning with season five's "Prick Up Your Ears" he has been credited as a main cast member.

Voice actor Mike Henry posing with a cutout of Cleveland Brown
During a live broadcast of "Loveline," Seth McFarlane announced that a Family Guy spin-off featuring Cleveland was currently in the works with the studio and writers. It premiered on September 27, 2009 on FOX, right after The Simpsons. The Cleveland Show is an animated series focusing on the character of Cleveland Brown and his family as Cleveland moves from Rhode Island to Virginiamarker. His newly introduced family includes his high school sweetheart, Donna, who is now his second wife, her 16-year-old daughter, Roberta, and her 5-year-old son, Rallo. Cleveland Jr. also is in the family but is now much fatter than he appeared on Family Guy, and also suffers from astigmatism. Cleveland's neighbors also include a family of talking anthropomorphic bears, a redneck couple and a Victorian-era British family, and one of his son's soccer rivals includes a boy voiced by Kanye West.

Cleveland was officially written out of Family Guy during season eight before The Cleveland Show was broadcast; however, it has been hinted that he might come back for a visit in the future, including the upcoming episode "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side", although fantasies and film parodies are generally accepted as non-canon Family Guy episodes. He appeared in a cameo in "Spies Reminiscent of Us", in which he dealt with the indignity of having his new house wrecked in the same fashion as his old one in Quahog. He shall also return for another as yet unnamed episode as was revealed during the BBC Three Family Guy Night, in which Peter and the gang are surprised to see Cleveland somewhere as yet undisclosed; apparently, there will be lots of promotion leading up to this episode. Another idea has been that Peter Griffin and possibly other Family Guy characters will be traveling in the South and make a guest appearance on "The Cleveland Show".

References

  1. Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily » Primetime Pilot Panic: Updated Hot List
  2. Fox adopts 'Family Guy' - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety
  3. Seth McFarlane Loveline Westwood One January 16, 2008
  4. MacFarlane reveals next season 'Family Guy' details
  5. Fox adopts 'Family Guy' - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety
  6. Zap2it Fall TV Preview 2008: FOX's New Shows - Zap2it
  7. The Cleveland Show video: Mike Henry and Seth MacFarlane on TV.com
  8. Interview with McFarlane on FOX. Retrieved on the 27.07.08
  9. Interview with McFarlane - details on the next season of Family Guy


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