Family Guy Spin Off

[mysterious]

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 29) - "Family Guy's" henpecked husband Cleveland Brown might be getting his own show.

The Fox network and the show's producer, 20th Century Fox TV, are developing a spinoff from their hit animated series centered on Peter Griffin's bathtub-accident-prone neighbor, sources said.

The project, tentatively titled "Cleveland," is being written by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry -- a writer/producer who voices Cleveland -- and Rich Appel, an executive producer on MacFarlane's other Fox cartoon, "American Dad."

Cleveland, who plays off black stereotypes, is the most levelheaded among Griffin's trio of friends. He's also pushed around by his wife.

Once canceled by Fox, "Family Guy" triumphantly returned on the network in 2005. It is Fox's top-rated comedy and has grown into a $1 billion franchise with red-hot DVD and merchandise sales.

Fox executives have made it a priority to find another hit animated comedy to complement their Sunday comedy lineup. They have several cartoons in the works, including an animated version of the 2003 short-lived live-action comedy "The Pitts." In addition to "Cleveland," Fox is also developing a spinoff of the drama series "Prison Break," set at a female prison.

[alldaws1]

That's not the greatest of ideas. Of all the characters in Family Guy that could have a good spin-off series, I think I'd put Cleveland near the bottom of the list.

[apsham]

...wow, I really cannot figure out ANY way this could work, for ANY of the characters.

Good luck on that.

[thatblindgeye]

Ugh. Ive really grown tired of Family Guy altogether just because of repeated viewings of the show (I thought the show was great years ago, but now wish FOX never brought the show back). I just find the comedy subpar now and the overuse of the "Not like the time such and such happened *insert clip of said thing happening*" cutscenes and the fact it just feels like the show is taking the piss out of real life in a below average way.

But yes. I really dont expect this spinoff show to be anything of good quality considering it is going to be the same people who are doing Family Guy.

[TCO]

I'd love a Joe spin off. He's probably got more potential than Cleavland, but what do I know.

I'd assume he'll be moving away from Quohog then?

[britneyspearsisgod]

The thing is, Cleveland isn't the immediate character to give their own show, but you got to think that aside from the sex jokes, Quagmire hasn't got much depth as a character and aside from being paralyzed and aggressive, Joe hasn't got the same depth. Plus, in Joe's case, they'd have to hire Patrick Warburton on a more frequent basis and there's no indication he'd want to do it for such a long period of time and they would have to pay more money to do it when they can just get a character who:

[a] Is black (as it's Fox we're talking about, there's no doubt they thought "DEMOGRAPH!" immediately with Cleveland)

Has no discernable gimmick other than ethinicity, so therefore has the opportunity to be fleshed out and given depth (unlike Quagmire, who's sexual antics are very much a part of him and unlike Joe who's in the same boat with his character traits, as well as having a known voice actor/television actor perform his voice)

[c] Is voiced by the team and, unless there's a major issue against MacFarlane and Mike Henry (the man voicing Cleveland), he's pretty much a guarantee. Think of it like Vince McMahon deciding to involve his family in WWE - he knows Shane, Steph and Linda will be there no matter what, so it makes sense to throw them into the mix should they ever get stuck for talent. It's a sure fire thing.

Cleveland, while not first choice, is the best solution for a spin-off aside from giving Stewie and/or Brian their own spin-off (but which would be a bad idea, because then you're gutting the thing that makes Family Guy what it is next to Peter). He has so much more going for him than the other characters. In TV terms, it makes the most sense.

[Skummy]

Jesus, you think they'd work on giving some depth or personality to the characters in the main show before they start talking about giving them spin-offs. Practically every character in Family Guy is a one-line joke.

[GoGo Yubari]

Boy, this reminds me of the time I saw this news somewhere else...

Wow, what a fucking terrible idea.

... oh. Um. Spartaaaaaa.

[Colly]

That's not the greatest of ideas. Of all the characters in Family Guy that could have a good spin-off series, I think I'd put Cleveland near the bottom of the list.

[TCO]

Maybe a Diane Simmons spin off? At least she's not a gimmicked stereotype.

[alldaws1]

Plus they could reference The Boss from MGS

[Nerf]

I'd fucking love a Brian spinoff. I have no idea how they'll go about doing it for Cleveland.

[apsham]

They'd do an episode that was like The Jeffersons splitting from All In The Family and then laugh at how clever they were.

That's as far as I have it thought out, but I'm sure it would be the same for them.

[DMN in the House]

So they're bringing back The PJs then?

[Nerf]

The Spacemaster 3000? That's the one the astronauts use!

[k_mac]

So i'm writing a paper on entertainment in the 70s and i was just finished writing about the jeffersons and i came here. That made me laugh

[GoGo Yubari]

That's not the greatest of ideas. Of all the characters in Family Guy that could have a good spin-off series, I think I'd put Cleveland near the bottom of the list.

You could say the same of Frasier. If anything a relatively minor character can be fleshed out more to make it a bit different from the original, as opposed to a major character like Joey, which I will watch if I'm eating my tea, but other than that...

Yeah, but Frasier is still miles more interesting of a character than Cleveland is. I agree with Nerf; I could actually maybe enjoy a Brian spin-off, because he's the only main character in Family Guy who I actually like and don't go "and now it's time for _____ to do his one and only joke" at.

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

Just an awful...awful idea. Spin-offs in general usually don't work, especially a one-trick pony like Cleveland. The guy is black and talks slow, where does 22 minutes come from that?

And if we're talking cartoon spin-offs, let's get on board with Chief Wiggum, P.I.

[britneyspearsisgod]

And the rest of them have so much depth compared? Cleveland has room for improvement because him being black but talking slow is a character trait, not a gimmick. The rest of them are gimmicks. Plus, he hasn't been in an episode for fucking ages - you can lift him out and not affect the show. You'd can't lift Quagmire out of the show because then you notice it and the show loses out.

[DMN in the House]

They need to do a spin-off based on Stewie and Brian, where they travel the country, like they did in that one episode.