Family Guy Spins Off Cleveland
By Gina Serpe
Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:10:14 AM PST
Fox is getting ready to put Cleveland on the map.
The network, along with 20th Century Fox, is currently developing a spinoff of its enduringly popular Family Guy to revolve around Peter Griffin's bathtub-loving, accident-prone neighbor, Cleveland Brown.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the new animated series, tentatively titled Cleveland, will be coming from the same comic minds that brought Stewie & Co. into the mainstream, with Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, former Simpsons writer and American Dad exec producer Rich Appel and Family Guy writer-producer, not to mention the voice of Cleveland himself, Mike Henry, on board to write the new show.
Not much is known about Cleveland other than the fact it will revolve around the Brown clan. It's unclear whether the series will remain set in the town of Quahog or whether Cleveland, along with his wife and son, will continue to appear on Family Guy, though as both series are animated, the double-billing won't so much be a logistical problem as a creative decision.
As it is, Cleveland is by far the most level-headed—and slow-talking—of Peter's animated friends and is regularly played off African-American stereotypes. The henpecked hubby was previously married to Loretta Brown, whom he divorced in season four after discovering she was having an affair with one of his friend, and has a hyperactive and ADD-afflicted son, Cleveland Jr.
Since triumphantly returning to the Fox airwaves in 2005, after execs hastily canceled it and fans quickly proved what a boneheaded move that was by buying the DVDs at a record pace, Family Guy has become a $1 billion franchise. Cleveland will mark the first spinoff from the series.
Back in 2005, MacFarlane flirted with expanding the franchise, releasing Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, direct to DVD.
There's no word on when Cleveland is expected to hit the airwaves.
