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Show BIZARRO What you ' part of "MOO" 3o not, understand r " fer 'Family Guy' sidekick scores his own show CLOSE TO HOME Mm mm- ) . M vm ZZATOJAL AND VeiATMWS, t BANK (LA MflH, WHO HsokwheM vt O II KNOW HIM. phvsi- WORKS FoKfltwmy with the pubuc mi IHfc HMBj now CAN crash-landin- $0 OUST HUMOR, DONT SET I Eay. JFTM I DOWNRIGHT TRm"s BemiSE CflNTCOKIKOU U HIS MoUlH. 1 THERE'S Foot v- - M 7y Z- E 1 PRESS f. Bob wished he had gotten this call BEFORE he gave all his money to his favorite charity. 1ED ASSOCIATED On fL Out wuyvbouKe PIcCAULEV- "We really wanted to get out on our own legs." The series' gestation began the premiere of his a couple of years ago when Fox show, "Family Guy" maestro Seth MacFarlane pitched the idea to Brown gets a fitting send-of- f from the world he Fox brass. "We didn't have to sell an inhabited on "Family Guy." Forces unleashed by "Family elaborate premise," recalls MacFarlane, who's teamed with Guy" lunkhead Peter Griffin Rich Appel and Henry on the cause the front of Cleveland's spin-of"It doesn't matter what home to be destroyed, exposing him naked in his second-- . the premise of a comedy is, it's about the characters. We said, floor bathtub, whereupon he 'Here are our characters.' " slides yelping "no, no, no, g to a no, no, NO!" Long before then, Cleveland out on his front lawn. had struck the threesome as a character with more to say It isn't the first time. But if the terminally affable than "Family Guy" permitted. Cleveland has spent six seaHowever much he resisted sons as a "Family Guy" sidestereotyping, he mostly served as the show's token black guy. kick and fall guy, that's about But they thought he had more to change. to offer. "I'm tired of being kicked "All we'd seen of him is the around by this world!" he tip of the iceberg," says Henry. erupts, as best he can in his "And, as opposed to Peter Grifgently modulated voice. fin or Homer Simpson or a lot Divorced by his wife and of other protagonist dads, he evicted from his home, he knows it's time to set off from doesn't get himself into trouble Quahog, R.I., with his portly just by being an idiot. He gets teenage son, Cleveland Jr., for himself into trouble by trying to do the right thing but cona new life on "The Cleveland Show," which premieres Sun-dastantly making mistakes." Cleveland doesn't want a lot from life: just fairness, ground-ednes- s He heads back to his homeand equilibrium. town in Virginia, where he "Never gonna happen," weds his high school sweechuckles Henry. theart, Donna, and becomes The stepfather to her children: hot-s- y Henry began to demonstrate a gift for higluschooler Roberta and Rollo. voices early on, mimicking mouthy teachers and fellow students. Befitting a spin-of- f of "FamThat was back in Virginia, ily Guy" (where despotic baby Stewie converses with Brian, where he grew up the son of divorced artists of little means, the dog), Cleveland meets a "but somehow wound up in clutch of nutty neighbors, a private school with the of including husband-and-wif- e of bankers and lawyers bears. " 1 1 's a whole new world and and other conservative Southset of characters," says Mike erners," he recalls. "I spent a of the lot of time trying to fit into that Henry, a show and the man who voices world, as well as hating it and Cleveland. "There's a new making fun of it. "I always felt a little bit of tone. Sweet and family ish." an outsider. So I've been able Say what?! to remove myself and observe "There's still plenty of filthy life, through comedy." jokes," Henry laughs, Careful He met MacFarlane in 1995, not to distance his new venture too far from his old one. "But and was part of "Family Guy" there's a whole, nice message in when it began a few years lateach 'Cleveland Show' episode. er. He created Cleveland as one 'Family Guy' paved the way for of Peter's drinking buddies. a lot of coarseness and shock Now Cleveland is on his humor, but we're not trying to own. So is Henry, who says the main input from his partpush that any farther." Yes, there will be comic cut- ner MacFarlane is furnishing the voice for aways and flashbacks but fewer than on "Family Guy." neighbor Tim the Bear. "In comedy, you take what's And yes, there will be the rare appearance by Peter and normal and throw a ridiculous other "Family Guy" regulars. thing into it," he says. "Then But overall, says Henry, you let it play out." ' THE YOU'RE WEMIYED UP YOURCMPfJ , Frazier Moore - T?U$r r' J Pi IN IT. . y. j 203 J i ., ., "I "1 I"" I ' ONE OF YOUR IDIOT SPAWN WAS PLAYING WITH THE OVEN AND BURNED DOWN YOUR HOUSE. FROfA NOW ON. UE WILL REFER TO ALL OF OUR PROBLEMS AS OPPORTUNITIES. I , ... 3 "I I THERE'S A 6AR60VLE nr Hi CAMPING OPPORTUNITY? t IN ) Daily Herald, Thursday, September 24, 2009 (Tp) 23 |
