Family Guy Spinoff Doesn't Spin Too Far From the Mould

Summary

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The Cleveland Show, the new cartoon-sitcom spinoff from Family Guy that premieres this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on Fox and Global, gets the job about half done. It's really funny, about half the time, and it's got its own sense of style and comic timing -- except when it's busy looking and sounding exactly like a darker-hued copy of that Griffin-y comedy.

Cleveland's new friends and neighbours compensate nicely in the offbeat misbehaviour department -- there's a gap-toothed, gun-toting redneck named Lester ([Kevin Michael Richardson]) living across the street, a vertically challenged wannabe hipster named Holt (Jason Sudeikis) on one side, and a married pair of religious and oddly accented bears named Tim and Arianna (Seth MacFarlane, Arianna Huffington) on the other.

Being Erica: Season 1 (release date: Sept. 22) -- Just in time for its second-season debut, CBC's most appealing new show of last year -- which focuses on a star-crossed 30-something single (Erin Karpluk) who's suddenly given the opportunity to revisit the events of her past and, perhaps, correct some mistakes -- releases its first set of episodes on DVD. It's worth a look.

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Extract

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Family Guy Spinoff Doesn't Spin Too Far From the Mould

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Oh, and it has to be funny. At least as funny as the show that launched it, and preferably a bit funnier with its own unique comic sensibility.

The Cleveland Show, the new cartoon-sitcom spinoff from Family Guy that premieres this Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ...

See the full content of this document

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