One of the pivotal moments for American Dad's turnaround was the inclusion of Patrick Stewart as a recurring character. Someone's hoping lightning will strike twice by bringing in Jane Lynch for this show, but her airtime was way too brief. I liked what I saw, though.
I guess since we've had an episode focus on each family member, the only one left was Roberta. I liked where it was going with her learning that she was only liked for her looks, but then the wheels fell off and they went in a completely different direction that focused more on Cleveland Jr. having a crush on Fat Suit Roberta. This one felt disjointed.
Can't say I liked the B-plot with Cleveland and friends looking to invent something much better, as it's glaring how different all of Cleveland's friends are. I mean, there really isn't anything they have in common other than the fact that they drink at the same bar. I couldn't help but enjoy the payoff, with Cleveland having a flashback to smoking a bowl of pot in front of infomercials. Amazing that a half-hour after the Simpsons retrospective talked about how they pushed the envelope in the 90's with a boy talking back to his parents, we now have full-blown animated rolled-up joints on television.
The Alan Aldanator should be on every 2010 Christmas list.
Kirk, crackers are a family food. Happy families. Maybe single people eat crackers, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know. It's a market we can do without.
I liked this episode. Roberta's character showed more depth then anyone on the show which is the real shocker. The Tie Fighter was a great laugh. I think we are seeing some fat trimming with Cleveland throwing his one of his friends off his porch. Cleveland's co-worker and the redneck are basically the same character, so I can see one of them getting rid of one of them and the gay character. The show is funny its just not at the level Family Guy or American Dad, but its also the first season. I have a rule of thumb that if a first season is awesome then the next few seasons will begin to deteriorate, but if the first season is ok then the show will build up from there. So, I think there is hope for Cleveland.
Again, my big problem with this show is that it's just too much like Family Guy. It's still not doing enough to differentiate itself and be its own show.
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