Which Version Was The Worst?

The Cleveland Show, S04E08

Cleveland showcased the different versions of The Cleveland Show as broadcast around the world.  These included Mexico, Italy, Germany, and Japan.

As soon as I heard Cleveland explain what the episode was going to be about, I wasn't expecting anything good.  My prediction turned out to be mostly true, the majority of the jokes at various countries being more boring than they were anything else.  Usually when a show attempts to throw their characters into a different setting than normal, it's a good chance to be entertained at how they act in another environment, but I couldn't find much humor in it at all.

The story about Junior's quinceanera was probably my least favorite, but that's not saying much.  The best thing was that Sofia Vergara made a guest appearance, and I found out that she has a pretty good singing voice.  I just like her in general, so it helped me not roll my eyes at the story completely.  I also liked when they did a fake commercial break that featured Consuela advertising her "perfume" called "No."  But it was just really Lemon Pledge.

The next story set in Italy was the least annoying of them all.  It focused on the rivarly between Junior and Rallo, which was certainly a big reason why.  I really liked seeing Rallo in all those outfits.  He was so cute in both what he was wearing at the retirement party and when he was getting a new suit.  Rallo is adorable in a little hat.  Speaking of that retirement party, it was little funny when that guy made a joke about "Crime Warner" and Cleveland snapped his fingers to have that guy shot.  Then he blamed it on a heart attack as they took his body away.  It's rare to see Cleveland in a position of power where he's that scary.

My favorite part of that story was when Junior came crying to Cleveland after he had found Larry in the tub:

[Junior] Daddy! Daddy!  Rallo drowned Larry the leopard!

[Cleveland] Just put him in the dryer.

[Rallo] He had my friend Walt killed!

[Cleveland] So you're even.  Now go on outside and play.

Another quote I liked was when Rallo was admiring himself in the mirror:

Damn, I look good.  Probably gonna die in this suit one day.

Finally, I liked the end of the story, for some reason.  There was something funny about that dramatic music as Rallo couldn't get Donna to save him and Cleveland putting on that jacket, gloves, and hat so that he could take the two out for a "drive."

The story about the writers wasn't that interesting.  The best thing about it was that it wasn't very long, so they could move on to something else.

The story in Japan, was disappointing too.  I had expected it might be my favorite, but it was just okay.  No one's Japanese version was very funny, except maybe Tim.  He had those "anime eyes," and he looked pretty cute.  I didn't care too much about the robot or anything else that was going on.  However, I had a hard time ignoring the fact that Cleveland was dressing up as a pile of shoes at work.  I know it's all supposed to be jokes and stuff, but the nerd in me was like, "You'd never see a pile of shoes like that there.  They would be neatly lined up."  It's too bad I just couldn't enjoy that joke or any of the others.  I won't get another chance to watch Cleveland and the crew in Japan again (I hope).

Even though I didn't like this episode, I'm just happy it wasn't a disaster.  I've seen some pretty bad stuff on this show, and I could have seen them doing worse with these different countires.  All the stories were mostly cheesy, but not in a way I thought was particularly clever or fresh.  I don't mind seeing something poking fun at stereotypes (it's usually a good way to reduce them of their power), but I'd rather see them presented in a way that's a bit different.  When you see the same thing about Italians, for instance, eating tons of spaghetti a thousand times, it's not really going to make you laugh.  Or maybe, even though this is a comedy show, that was the goal of this episode: you get so many bad jokes thrown at you, you just end up being too bored to be offended.