Ratjo

The Cleveland Show, S04E13

Cleveland was tasked to kill a rat in the house, but he kept it as a pet and lied about it to make his family stay away longer. Cleveland had to make a tough decision about his new pet when it bit Donna and it wasn't clear if the rat had rabies or not.  Rallo also got obsessed with a suitcase Junior was carrying and found his step-brother was involved in real espionage.

Although Cleveland acted like his usual self and lied to get some time away from his family, I liked that he got found out quicker than most cases. Also, his lies were sort of necessary this time because Domna wouldn't have let him keep his new rat friend. It was a little cute that Cleveland befriended the rat, but it was weird how he carried himself with the rat at his side. For example, he was walking his rat in nothing but an open robe with a rope tied to it. Not to mention that he looked like he had just woken up and not showered in days--he looked so ghetto. I don't know why his love for the rat encouraged his slovenly behavior. Like it's bad enough having a rat as a pet without living in your own filth. That was the one aspect of Cleveland's new friendship that I didn't like.

It was messed up that Cleveland's pet bit Donna, possibly giving her rabies, and Cleveland took so long to chose her over the rat. Yeah, it was sad he had to kill the pet he had always wanted as a child, but that was his wife. He is so damn cold sometimes.  Donna was being a bit of a bitch ordering him around while she was hanging with her mother, but that's not a reason to gamble with her life like that.

My favorite part of this story was when they took the rat to the woods and it started attacking them in a rabies-induced frenzy.  It totally reminded me of Stephen King's Cujo.  The two of them were trapped in the car just like that lady and boy in the movie. I loved that because instead of a pretty scary dog, it was a little rat keeping them there. Under normal situations it shouldn't have been able to  harass them so badly. It even crawled into the car via the exhaust pipe--that was crazy!  I almost wished that Donna's mother hadn't shown up and killed the rat. I enjoyed how ridiculous Cleveland and Donna looked while screaming and running from a little animal (not to say I wouldn't freak out being attacked by a rat, rabid or not).

In Rallo and Junior's story, I liked how obsessed Rallo was with spy movies.  That was so typically of a little kid.  He was really annoying the hell our of Junior.  It takes a lot to get Junior pissed, so I liked seeing that for a change.  But once Junior started carrying the suitcase to get back at him or whatever, Rallo stopped being such a nuisance and just worked on cracking Junior's mystery.  I would have liked that better if it wasn't a fake coupon that acted as a pass card to Junior's secret organization.  That was unexpected, but not entirely amusing to me.  I mean, it was a little disturbing, making Junior seem like the kind of dangerous person who abducts people and murders neighbors.  I would have enjoyed it better if the two of them battled in an exaggerated fantasy setting as pretend spies.  In the way it did end, Rallo just got terrified. Wasn't much to laugh about that.

This episode was okay.  I did like that Cleveland's lies this time didn't feel completely selfish.  He was trying to prolong the life of his new pet.  The best part was the rat suddenly attacking him and Donna.  It turned into a good movie spoof.  Rallo and Junior had the potential to turn their spy games into something funny, but it fell flat for me when Junior made the games real and more sinister.  It was a slightly interesting twist, but I'd rather watch the two boys being silly any other day.

Why Are Those Even Together?

 The Cleveland Show, S04E10

 Cleveland got his parents tickets to a George Clinton and P-Funk All Stars concert after Freight Train failed to show up to the special anniversary dinner Cookie arranged.  Feeling neglected by her husband,  Cookie suddenly ran off with George Clinton shortly after meeting him on the stage.  Freight Train tried to hide his feelings about that by declaring her dead to him.  Junior also lost the floor model he had used to play "office," so he faked his way into a job at a real office.

I don't know how many times we can see a story about FT and Cookie before it's just been overdone (it's about there for me already).  FT has been screwing around on Cookie for years, and she always takes him back.  Granted, this time it looked like Cookie was living a pretty sweet life with George Clinton, but I think even after a while she would have gotten bored with it and wanted her neglectful husband back.  FT, despite him going to the trouble of making a funk band to win Cookie back, is never going to change.  So he broke up with some (I know he couldn't have possibly called all of his women) of his cheating partners--we all know that next time we see him, he'll be back to his old tricks.  He just wouldn't be FT, otherwise.  So watching the story I was just waiting for it to be over, so FT could go back to treating his wife like crap again.  Waste of a story.

There were a few parts that I liked, though.  One was just that we got to hear George Clinton's music.  It has been so long since I've heard it.  It gave me a nice nostalgic feeling.  I wished they could have used more of it throughout.

I also liked some lines.  The first was when Freight Train was trying to report to the police that Cookie had been kidnapped, and they doubted that someone who wasn't that great like FT hadn't driven her away:

[Freight Train] Come on, Cleveland.  Once again, police are no help to a black man.
[Cop] We are both black, sir.
[Freight Train] All cops are white on the inside!

I liked this line because it's a good example of someone playing the race card when it's not valid at all.  I sort of like when people do that jokingly, as in this story, but not if they are for real.  Then they just sound ignorant.

The last line I liked was when Cleveland was telling FT to go win his woman back and kept talking about the cheeseburger he was going to eat.  He kept changing his mind about how he was going to eat it until he finally decided:

And I'm going to have a cheeseburger.  And you know what, no tomatoes.  Actually, avocado.  That's a good fat.  Like me.

 In Junior's story, there wasn't much that I particularly liked.  It was just weird that he managed to slip into an office, unhired, and got promoted for a job he didn't even know about.  This was evident when he first got to the office, stapled a file and then shredded it for no reason.  Junior's just lucky that his chunky frame makes him look older than he does. 

Oh, and it was really stupid of him to pay for Roberta to be his wife.  Roberta is such a waste of space most of the time, and she proved that by going off on Junior at the picnic.  And really, what was the point of her doing that?  If she had agreed to help Junior and got paid, why did she need to embarrass him and risk jeopardizing his fake job?  I really wished he had used that fist to punch her across the face.  Rallo was okay.  He just needed a swing and he was cool.  Haha.

I didn't really like this episode.  I don't need to see any more stories about FT upsetting Cookie and then managing to win her back for some reason.  In reality, it would be a much better story if they both just agreed to stop acting like the worst couple in the world (or divorced).  Unfortunately, the side story about Junior was also lacking.  It didn't really add anything to the episode beyond stressing the fact that fantasy and reality are one in the same for Junior.  It was a little interesting, but nowhere near funny.

Crappy Marriage Leads To Crappy Story

The Cleveland Show, S04E09

Cleveland and Donna went to marriage counseling after Cleveland messed up his personal vows to Donna.  On top of paying the counselor extra to make it seem like Cleveland was always right, the man blackmailed Cleveland into having sex with his wife.  Rallo retrieved Junior's old fridge from its grave and filled it with snacks that Junior couldn't help but eat, and Junior ended up owing Rallo a hefty sum for it.

I didn't expect much for a story about Cleveland and Donna's marriage.  They don't have the best one, and Cleveland is chronically saying bad things about being married in the first place.  You knew he was going to say something terrible at their ceremony, and then take the whole episode to make up for being unappreciative of his wife (pretty much how all of these shows go).  Luckily, it wasn't completely boring.  There were a few things that I found relatively funny.

The first was when Cleveland was questioning paying $80 for the marriage counseling.  Thanks to Junior he was able to illustrate how many sandwiches he could get with that money, and asked Donna:

[Cleveland] What would you rather have, a happy marriage or lots of sandwich?[Junior] Lots of sandwich![Cleveland] That'll be all, buddy!

I like the idea that Cleveland would rather have more sandwiches in his life than a more successful marriage.  Can't blame him--him and Donna are a mess.  He might as well enjoy some good food than someone being paid to tell him he's doing everything wrong.

The second thing that I liked was when Cleveland was in the marriage counseling and thought for a second that the counselor was agreeing with him.  When he showed that he was just agreeing Donna for the millionth time, Cleveland had a good line:

You've got a slappable face, you know that?

Cleveland may be an ass, but no one wants to sit there and listen to someone take the side of their spouse constantly over theirs.  He'd be an idiot to refuse to pay the guy more to turn the table in his favor (or he could have just told Donna he wanted a more impartial counselor, but hey).  I liked that instead of Dona figuring out what he had done, it turned into a blackmail situation.  That was different.  However, before Cleveland even went to sleep with the woman, I suspected that it was just a ploy to get Cleveland to prove that he loved Donna.  So the ending wasn't much of surprise to me.

In the side story with Junior and Rallo, I was disappointed that it wasn't funnier.  The two of them usually are a hit for comedy, no matter what they're doing.  I don't know.  I guess Rallo extorting Junior to buy food out of convenience seemed too easy.  The only part I sorta liked was when Junior "roughed it" by walking out of the room and into the hallway, which was super windy all of a sudden.  When he was blown away, he yelled, "Cartoon!" and that made me smile.  I like when they acknowledge that in cartoons you can get away with situations that defy the laws of nature.

Didn't care for this episode, but it wasn't too bad on a scale specific for this show.  It wasn't like watching that one about different countries, so in that sense it was all right.  I can't think of one episode dealing with Donna and Cleveland's marriage that was humorously depicting the negatives of marriage (because it's not all good, of course).  Instead, these stories just leave a bad taste in my mouth.  I wouldn't mind this as much if the side story could throw in a few laughs my way to make up for the main story.  It's a shame when even Rallo and Junior can't pull that off.

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.

Donna Ain't Playing Around

The Cleveland Show, S04E07

Cleveland was learning how to hustle like Robert, in the hopes that Freight Train would love him as much as he did Robert, his new adopted son.  Junior and Rallo desperately looked for a dog so they could earn enough money to replace Donna's favorite recorder in time for a performance.

Rather than been amazed that FT would adopt Robert as his new son, I was a little more surprised that he hadn't done that a long time ago (even if adopting a grown man is silly).  It's not new that Robert and FT get along way better than Cleveland and FT do.  I think FT probably likes just about anyone better than his own, blood-related son.  What was funniest about Cleveland getting a new brother was that FT started treating them like they were little kids.  I liked how he yelled at them about all the puzzle pieces on the floor and told them to go to bed.  It's pretty normal for Cleveland to act like a little kid, but it was weird for FT to go along with it, so that joke worked for me.  I also thought it was sort of funny when the geese Cleveland was playing with gave him a look when he tried to leave in the middle of their game.  Lastly, I got a bit of a chuckle seeing Cleveland's kids' faces when Cleveland was doing that terrible dance for FT.  They looked more disgusted than FT probably did.

In the side story, I similarly didn't find a lot of jokes that I liked, but I generally just liked Rallo and Junior running around together.  The funniest thing about that story was Donna acting like a psycho who was going to murder Larry if they didn't get the money for her.  She had him tied and gagged in the cupboard, threw him into a freezer, and was about to cut him up with a buzz saw--what the hell is her problem?  In the end, Rallo summed up nicely how one should deal with Donna:

Keep your head down around here, Rock--Mama crazy.

I like that he just sort of accepts that Donna is out of her mind, but doesn't plan to do anything about it.  Although, Rallo is just a little kid, so it is silly to think that he'd have a chance of standing up to her, crazy or not.

Definitely not one of my favorites, but not too bad, considering it was another story about Cleveland and his dad.  I don't think we'll ever see FT and Cleveland loving each other like Cleveland wants, nor would I want to see that.  FT is much funnier when he hates Cleveland, and I wouldn't want to see that change.  Donna is funnier when she's threatening children's stuffed animals, something I wouldn't have previously thought.  It's nice to have her making me laugh instead of making me wish she was gone.  I'd like to see her use Larry against Junior again in the future.

Thanksgiving Again?

The Cleveland Show, S04E04

Cleveland changed his mind about making Junior kill a turkey and helped his son try to protect all the turkeys left that Lester was trying to kill and sell.  Donna agreed to help Rallo decorate a float for the parade, but soon pushed him out of the process when she found out that it was for a competition.

I was a little surprised that they did another story that was about Thanksgiving, although this one was a lot more about the holiday than the previous one.  It's rare for a show to do that.  Either they do a nod to the holiday and move on or they chose not to do it at all.  It also didn't help that Thanksgiving was already over and I wasn't expecting anymore stories about it.  However, it wasn't too bad.

Although I say that, there is much that I particularly liked about this episode (but there wasn't anything that I particularly hated either).  My favorite quote was when Junior was trying to defend turkeys by saying that Ben Franklin thought they were noble and Cleveland said:

Benjamin Franklin was an atheist pedophile who flew kites to meet children.  That’s why God struck him with lightning.

There's something really funny about making up your own horrible story about a historical figure (although, there's no concrete evidence to prove that it's wrong).  The part at the end where he claims that even his contributions to electricity were just a fluke from divine punishment also makes me laugh.

As far as Donna and Rallo's story went, I did like when Rallo was trying to decorate the float just as a boy his age typically would with odd coloring, googly eyes, and macaroni.  There's nothing more I love than being reminded that Rallo is just a kid.  Because when he decides to be one, he's really childlike.  However, there wasn't enough of him to really make the story great.  It was just all right.

I probably still like this Thanksgiving story better than the Auntie-Mama one.  It wasn't really funny, but at least it wasn't frustrating to watch (or disgusting).  It just had stories you could watch without really reacting to them much, which for this show is sort of a success.  I dislike when I have to list all the things that made me want to shoot the TV screen.

Not The Best Halloween Story

The Cleveland Show, S04E01

Donna and Cleveland forbid Junior and Roberta from dressing up for Halloween, so to teach their parents a lesson, they dressed as their parents and went out to cause trouble.  Cleveland took Federline to a football game so he could be the designated driver, but the boy ended up stealing a wooden doll from Stoolbend's rival town and causing a riot.

Compared to last year's Halloween story, I didn't like this one as much.  I suppose because it didn't really have too much to do with the holiday.  Cleveland's story was about football/town rivalry, Donna was getting arrested for prostitution, and Junior and Roberta did a prank (which is a little more in the spirit of the holiday) but it didn't really lead to anything significant.  I will say that it is nice that they didn't make a cheesy horror story instead, but it being mostly about football and riots was kind of lame.

Rather to continue to go on about what I didn't like, I'll point out my favorite parts.  One was when Cleveland was trying to get a hold of Toonces, the driving cat.  That was great!  Toonces was one of my favorite SNL skits ever!  And I liked that the cause of Toonces' death was not the more likely car accident, but feline leukemia.  It was just unexpected and good (in a dark kind of way).  Cleveland was also funny when he told Federline to go after he had ruined their night sufficiently:

[Cleveland] Let him go.

[Tim] No one's trying to stop him.

 Junior also had a pretty good line when Chet had a knife to his throat:

How did you find my throat?

 Lastly, I enjoyed the insanity that Rallo was left to himself while he was bleeding to death.  It became a running gag in the episode and at the very end Rallo was seen as a ghost saying:

Hi, I died--just kidding.  I'll see ya'll next week.

This kind of echoes that running gag in the show that Rallo is often left unsupervised by parents (and siblings) who really couldn't give a damn about what kind of danger he gets into.  But although I liked this, I was annoyed that they pretty much left Rallo out of the story.  Last year was good because we got to see him be scared to death along with Cleveland.  But anyway.

This was probably better than most episodes I saw last season, so I can't be too mad this was their premiere.  I'm actually just looking forward to the episode they're supposed to have with Bruno Mars in it (love him!).  So until that happens, I can be all right with a few stupid episodes until then.

I Think I Just Ate A Slop Popper

The Cleveland Show, S03E22

Roberta gave Junior a makeover in the hopes it would boost his confidence and create a new image for him.  It was slightly successful in that Junior attracted the attention of a girl named Daisy who thought Junior was a lesbian, and he allowed her to believe that.  He didn't reveal his true self to her until he made a grand speech at Daisy's prom about having pride about who you are.  Cleveland also battled against another Slop Popper fan to see who was the "true Popper King."

I didn't expect much from Roberta's makeover, considering that her idea to make herself stand out was to grow larger boobs (or buy them, possibly), but she managed to do worse for Junior's image than I could have imagined.  I couldn't see how anyone would think Junior was a girl, even a less than feminine one.  I doubt that anyone would be fooled just by the way he was dressed and a different hairstyle.  This strange turn of events wasn't welcomed by me because it seemed to have no meaning.  It only started to look like there was something to the story when Junior decided to go to Daisy's prom without her, deciding to make a stand against those who would ban same-sex couples to enjoy the event.  I thought that was a nice gesture, even though Junior wasn't a woman.  I was surprised that Roberta was on board too.  That gives her a little more credit in my eyes.  They didn't change everyone's minds, I think, but at least Junior seemed to have given Daisy a little more courage to be herself.  I think that's why she didn't get too angry at him for his deception (which was partially her fault for making assumptions based on appearances).

Cleveland's story was a little funnier, mainly because he was so concerned about this microwavable snack that resembled Hot Pockets, but seemed nastier.  Even the name of it suggested that eating said product would give you horrible diarrhea, a joke often used about HPs.  But that didn't seem to deter Cleveland, who was seen heating one up in his room.  It was really funny how he just randomly had a microwave and fridge right by the bed, but it was even funnier when Rallo came into the room with his hair all disheveled.  I had a good laugh at Rallo telling us that the fan from the back of the microwave was connected to his room and blowing on him.  Damn.  Waking up a child just so you can enjoy a fatty snack--how much of a sorry fatso can you be?

Despite that Cleveland's eating obsession interfered with his son's sleeping, Rallo was the one who set up a showdown for him and his Wikipedia rival.  I might have preferred that he kept obsessing over an "invisible" enemy that changed the information he wrote about the Poppers, than have this trivia contest about them where you buzz in by smashing the Poppers.  The room looked like someone had eaten a couple of the Poppers and failed to find a toilet so they used that room.  Was really disgusting to see all those brown stains everywhere.  I just wanted the match to hurry up and end.  And it did when the creator came around and condemned both Cleveland and the little boy he was fighting.  I really liked how he was horrified that someone could eat five of the Poppers in a day and still be alive.  That had me rolling.  I bet there are people like that who eat HPs just as often.  The story made me a little sick, but it brought some welcomed gross comedy against a lack of it in the main story.

Despite this was a story about Junior, thanks to Roberta's hand in his new image, things didn't develop into a situation that was very funny.  It was just slightly interesting that Junior was looked upon as a lesbian (though I found that hard to believe) and stood against those who wished to be intolerant and punish those who differ from themselves.  I think I mostly enjoyed that Rashida Jones voiced Daisy, more than I liked the story itself.  The side story was better, although it was about a nasty food that Cleveland enjoyed too much for his own good.  Perhaps if that had been expanded into the main story, the episode would have been more of a success.  For me, this episode was overall equal to what happens when you eat too many Hot Pockets in one sitting.

Toys And Steve's Virginity Are Here To Stay

American Dad, S07E18

Stan took Steve to lose his virginity in Mexico because he wanted Steve to grow out of playing with toys.  They failed to find a suitable whorehouse to facilitate that and also got kidnapped by some drug cartel.  They only managed to escape when Steve used his imagination through a toy made from parts he found in their cell.  In a side story, Roger wanted to steal a bottle of Rain Duck from Greg and Terry to enjoy with the steak dinner Francine made.  All of his attempts failed, so Francine had to get it herself, but Roger had planned all alone to get rid of Francine and have the meal to himself.

It's episodes like these that make me think that Steve and Junior from The Cleveland Show are so similar.  They both are teenage boys who refuse to grow up and continue to play with toys.  I would have preferred that Stan fight Steve and his "army" toys over and over again, rather than have had Stan listen to Klaus' plan.  Taking a teenager out of the country to get laid seems a little extreme just because you don't like him playing with dolls.  Steve seemed to love the idea, but I think if he and Stan had succeeded it would have somehow warped him.  It would have at least taught Steve that it was okay to buy sex, and possibly he would have never bothered to seek companionship based on mutual affection.  So in a sense, the fact that every whorehouse they went to was disgusting and horrifying was a great thing.

I just wish that they didn't have to portray Mexico in such a horrible light.  I don't know which of the places they went to (that were shown) was worse, but I especially disliked when everyone was vomiting on the streets.  I also don't understand why anyone besides Stan and Steve needed to puke at that particular moment.  It seemed unnecessarily gross.  Even if it was for a joke about horchata (I've never tried it, so that one goes over my head), I think it was excessive.

I had hope for them to enjoy nicer trip when Stan and Steve were taken in by a group of people in a car, until they all took out guns on them.  But truth be told, it's always risky to take a ride from a stranger no matter what country you're in.  It was just a little ironic because just before Stan and Steve knew they were in danger, the man said that most of Mexico is wonderful.  At least that line suggests that the writers aren't completely trying to make Mexico seem unpleasant.  I just wish things had turned out differently, but I guess their troubles were vital to Stan allowing Steve to continue playing with toys.

I was glad, too, that Steve had such a great imagination because I don't know what kind of food they were fed in their cell, but it didn't look like anything good.  In Steve's mind they could be eating food that was recognizable and weren't surrounded by rats and roaches.  I also didn't like looking at the toilet paper tube, roach-headed, rat skeleton-armed toy that Steve made. So glad that he could picture it as something less creepy and nasty.  If I had to watch Steve the whole time shaking that monstrosity of a toy around throughout the end of the story, I'd have had to look away most of the time.  Especially with its roach head (I can't stand those things).

Because of my repulsion of "Pedro," I couldn't blame Steve for throwing the thing out when they got away from their captors.  I liked that the fantasy version of Pedro was outraged, though.  Plus, he said that line that you hear at the end of the episodes: "Bye, have a beautiful time."  That was kind of cute.  It made me like the ending of the episode a lot more.

As far as the Roger story went, I can't believe that I didn't suspect that it was all going to be a setup by Roger.  From the beginning, I wondered why Roger would bring a really nice wine (that he obviously loved) to a steak dinner that Francine claimed was going to be for her and Stan (did she have no idea that he went down to Mexico?).  I guess I got distracted at his attempts to steal the last bottle from Greg and Terry that I started to ignore the why.  He wasted all this time making a device with dominoes and other triggers throughout the house just to take out their electricity.  What a rip (not in a way that made me laugh).  After Roger was failing like a champion, I was glad to see Francine get the damn bottle in a quick minute.  But I was pissed that Roger set her flying away on a giant wrecking ball.  Not another story where he just screws over someone and gets to reap the profits at the end!  Freaking Roger.  I love him because he provides fantasy and creepy humor, but I hate how he is frequently exempt from consequences.  He needs to pay more often!

This may be an episode I would come to like after watching again.  It lacked a lot of the usual annoyance I find when the stories concentrate on one of Stan's plans (or Klaus', really).  It would have been better if Roger was a little funnier, but at least he wasn't portraying himself as another obnoxious persona and was more or less playing himself this time.  However, it would have been even better to see Roger get away with less in the future.  The joke of Roger screwing people over for his own selfish needs is really starting to wear thin.

One Mama, Two Mamas

The Cleveland Show, S03E21

Donna was upset about not knowing her mother, so Cleveland tried to look for her.  He settled on paying an actress to pretend to be her long-lost mother, but it backfired on him twice when the actress wouldn't leave and suddenly died during Donna's recorder dedication to her.  Cleveland came clean and Donna kicked him out of the house.  When Donna's real mother came to see him at work, Cleveland got the idea to put them both in the hospital so that Donna would have a chance to talk to her mother without her knowing.  Donna wasn't immediately pleased when she discovered what he had done, but eventually she was happy to finally know her mother.

I think the best thing about Cleveland hiring someone to play Donna's mother was that the woman he picked was voiced by Loretta Devine.  She's just such a pleasant, motherly-sounding woman that I could buy that even with her terrible acting (Cleveland really should have selected better) that someone would at least want to believe she was their mother.  I'm glad that Cleveland's plan didn't develop into a drawn-out blackmail and eventual breakdown of all the lies the actress made up and the woman just suddenly died instead.  Who would think that would ever happen?  But if it had never happened that way, I doubt with Cleveland's "expert" finding skills that he would have gotten any closer to locating Didi.

I didn't understand at first what the hell crashing Cleveland's car into a tree was going to do to help Donna and Didi meet.  There could have been a million other ways to get them together secretly without Donna having a clue she was speaking to her own mother.  I was hoping that the reason Didi abandoned Donna was something more sorted and shameful, but it was a fairly tame reason.  She didn't want to give up her fame to raise a child--pretty simple.  We have no idea what happened to her father and all, but I guess he doesn't really matter in the story.  Anyway, Donna did grow up with Auntie-Mama, who probably did a better job raising her than Didi ever could.  So no matter what reason she left, it didn't feel like it really screwed up Donna's life all that much.  The most interesting thing about her story was that Didi had no idea that her brother Kevin was a cross-dresser.  She could spill the beans about Auntie-Mama's true identity (or I suppose she did after the episode ended).

None of the jokes particularly worked for me this time, but I did slightly like when Junior was talking to Donna's fake mother and tried to find out what kind of candy she had in her purse.  He got frustrated quickly and told her to just give it to him, and he just grabbed the first thing closest to a sweet he could find.  I don't know why he needs to be so desperate for a snack (especially from someone he just met), but damn.  I like when Junior has these random explosions over insignificant things.

If they had to do a Mother's Day type story, I'm glad it wasn't about Cleveland's mother and they took the time to explain a little more about Donna's past.  I can't say that her past was incredibly interesting, but at least no one has to wonder why Donna's mother never comes to visit.  I don't know why that thought would cross anyone's mind, but at least it doesn't have to now.  I would have liked to see Rallo do something special for his mother in the episode, but they all can't focus heavily on him.  I wish they would, but I know they won't.

Flush This Story Down The Toilet

The Cleveland Show, S03E20

Junior wanted to write his report about a great American and he chose Cleveland.  After following his father around for a day, Junior realized his mistake and ended up writing a depressing report that suggested that Americans were lazy and unmotivated.  Cleveland wanted desperately to get Junior's respect back after that and decided that he would demand for more toilet safety due to a recent injury from falling off a toilet he had.  The rest of the family ignored his efforts to make a toilet bar and went to Krazy Kingdom where Rallo was excited to ride a roller coaster for the first time, but was denied because he was still too short.  They later saw Cleveland on TV, flying around on the toilet he had been stuck on for the longest time to the capital building.  His "bold" stunt to stand up to the "dangers" of falling off the toilet inspired Junior to write the report about Cleveland again in a much more heroic light.

I have to say that I didn't like much about this episode.  I mean, Cleveland is the last person that Junior should have picked for a topic in the first place, so that was disaster from the start.  Then Cleveland's idea to get his son's respect back is to go around on a toilet hung from a helicopter?  Only Cleveland's real son would be impressed by that stupid stunt.  What makes it gross is that he was flying around with a nearly full bowl and he didn't have any clothes on below his shirt.  Eww!  But I guess Cleveland will do anything for his son.

I have to call Junior a hypocrite when he told Cleveland that he was a "sad weirdo."  Then what does that make Junior??  Maybe he's just a happy weirdo.  But still.  That whole family has little room to judge anyone because they've all acted less than sane.

My favorite line (and I'm reaching a bit) is when Cleveland tried to get himself out of the toilet bar and tried to use a popular commercial jingle:

Like a good neighbor State Farm is there.  [Pause]  Dang.  I'm gonna die.

That was pretty good.  I like those commercials and the ridiculous way State Farm acts as if they can magically make bad situations better by saying that.  I think that if Cleveland had been saved by them, it would have been just as funny.

I think the best moment, though, was when Rallo had made himself a makeshift roller coaster out of clothes and laundry baskets and was sliding it down the bed.  That was so cute!   I don't know what it is about Rallo that is so adorable for a cartoon character.  But he always manages to make me smile with his childish antics.  If I saw a real kid doing that, it would be crazy amazing.

Not one of the worst episodes, but not one that I'll try to remember (or purposely try to watch again).  You would think that a story centered around someone falling off the toilet would be funnier, but instead it was just sad and boring.  Of course, this is much expected when they make a story around Cleveland's problems, which usually tend to be the least funny when he's handling it on his own.  As always, we need to install more Rallo into the mix to make it a better episode.

How Not To Get Rid Of A Man In A Wheelchair

The Cleveland Show, S03E19

Cleveland's suspicions that Donna was cheating on him turned out to be about half right.  She was trying to secretly let down her ex-boyfriend Maurice who had been in Iraq and thought he and Donna were still a couple.  After seeing that Maurice was in a wheelchair, Cleveland helped her lie until Maurice proposed to her.  Maurice stayed at their house, punishing them for their deceit by being a general nuisance.  They tried to appease him by giving him a parade in his honor, but it wasn't until Cleveland punched Maurice and treated him like a normal guy that Maurice forgave them and left.  Junior pretended to be Christian to win a girl's affection and had to compete with Hunter, another boy doing the same thing.  When they unintentionally sang about their deceit in front of Vanessa she was attracted to their "bad boy" ways and wanted to have sex with them both, to their horror.  Junior was saved from losing his virginity by a fire that Hunter started.

I think that Donna has had lots of opportunities to cheat on Cleveland, so the idea of her suddenly sending her husband off to have one now didn't make sense, so I couldn't agree with Cleveland's friends that her buttering him up with ham was to distract him from her cheating.  Cleveland, too, found it hard to believe that Donna was having an affair, but he had to go with what a typical man would think:

Then again, what kind of man would I be if I didn't automatically think the worst about a woman?

Because that line was funny, I couldn't get mad about Cleveland listening to his friends and accusing Donna.  He did a horrible job of tailing her, and later when he knew the truth and Maurice showed up, he did a horrible job of lying.  In fact, he had to make sure that he didn't forget the name he made up for himself, "Cleveson."  That terrible name did set up for some good jokes by his friends, however:

[Tim] Wow, I am so embarrassed.  I’ve been calling Cleveson, “Cleveland” for years.
[Lester] And I didn’t know he was married to his sister.  I approve.

I don't know which of their comments is stupider, but I liked that they were sucked into the lie better than Cleveland was himself (who forgot his own fake name).

I only felt bad for Maurice when he first found out about the lies and had a very pathetic and weepy exit out of the room, where he fell and had to eventually crawl.  However, I was glad that Cleveland got pissed at him and punched him.  Donna and Cleveland are bad people, but there was no reason they needed to be continually punished when they had already apologized.  I really liked Cleveland's statement about this:

We only lied to spare your feelings, and we apologized.  So either forgive us or don't. But stop being a dick.

True dat!  This story made a good point about people who walk on eggshells around people with disabilities.  We're all essentially people, so no one should be able to get a free card to be a jerk.  I'll admit it's hard not to be extra nice and forgiving to someone who can't function the same as yourself, but when someone is being an unnecessary dick, you need to be able to call them on it, regardless of what kind of person they are.

Junior's story wasn't that great.  I guess it's because it's not the first time that he has fallen for a beautiful girl that he ultimately won't get (I just assume).  I thought the song that the mission team choir had some clever lyrics, although the tune wasn't particularly pleasing.  I admired how they had a song that praised Jesus and God by using social media terms and technological trends like texting that teenagers would be interested in.  Because of that, I was less annoyed that I had endure another Seth MacFarlane world song (not to say that The Simpsons has come out with a good song in any recent years).  I also like Darren Criss' voice ever since I watched Glee (but have given up on since their last terrible Christmas special), so it couldn't be too angry about it.  Junior started singing too, to my dismay, but I liked that while he was having his moment, you could see Roger in the stained glass.  Nice touch.  When he stopped singing, I wondered to myself if he had done it out loud, and Junior immediately said the same thing to himself.  That was funnier than him being dumb enough to sing about a girl he liked right in front of her.

Junior and Hunter's duet about their plans to fight each other for Vanessa was cute (though I still didn't care for the lyrics) and funny just because it was stupid.  It was the stupidest when they continued to sing until Vanessa showed up and they had to be honest with her.  I didn't think that she would be so turned on by their deceit.  I was going to be happy for them that they got the girl they wanted after all, but the two were turned off by her sexual aggression.  I forgot that Junior wasn't ready for that yet (according to the episode with his teenage wife whom he couldn't sleep with) and Hunter seemed to be the same.  It was just funny to see two teenage boys crapping their pants because they girl they were after wanted to jump their bones--any other typical boy their age would have acted like they won the lottery.  I mean, Vanessa was a little intimidating, but for those two, that might have been the opportunity of a lifetime.  In the end, I'm glad that Junior got out of it and that he and Hunter went from being enemies to being friends.  I mean, they have a lot in common (both think it's a good idea to lie about their faith in order to date someone), so friendship seems like a more feasible conclusion than the two getting lucky with a girl.

This week we had a double-dose of this show, but I think the episode that preceded it was better than this one.  It lost points for having songs (even with Darren Criss' beautiful voice) and failing to utilize Rallo very much. After seeing that episode where Rallo was shining, it was hard to be satisfied when he only popped out for a random line or two.  I seriously think if they made it "The Rallo Show," it would be an even better show now that Cleveland isn't as half funny as he used to be on Family Guy.

Rallo And Junior--You Can't Go Wrong

The Cleveland Show, S03E18

Cleveland, wanting to regain some of his youth by reliving his college days agreed to take Roberta on a college tour of his alma mater.  He screwed around with his old fraternity, thinking that they were going to honor him, but were in fact making him the joke of the night.  Roberta initially used the trip as an excuse to go to a music festival, but she eventually was convinced to attend college after all.  Junior got upset that Donna washed Larry and couldn't sleep without his old smell.  Rallo showed him that he could sleep on his own, but Junior started to use Rallo as his replacement Larry.  To fix this problem, Rallo modified Larry a bit so that Junior thought it was different doll.

Even if the frat boys hadn't told us beforehand that they were just fooling Cleveland, it was likely that he would have still ended up taped to an ass, feeling like a bigger one than the real one.  The only thing that was notable about the story with Cleveland and Roberta visiting the college was that we found out that Roberta is a good fighter (and Federline is a weak punk) and Roberta is lot smarter than she lets on.  Even though she acts like an idiot and uses Rihanna and Kim Kardashian as models for life choices, Roberta scored welled on her PSATs and has good grades.  Apparently she's just a pain in the ass and a bit of a whore.  Since Roberta is my least favorite character, I'm glad that she's not as vapid as I had thought.  I remember the episode where she pretended she was Tyra, so it's not a stretch to think that she's been hiding her genius to remain part of the crowd she's already been accustomed to.  It makes me hate her a little less and hope that she might end up displaying a little more of that intelligence in the future.  At least we know that she'll go to college.  Perhaps if this show is on long enough, we might see her character evolve once she gets away from the high school hype she apparently has to keep up just to fit in.

Well, I guess you just can't go wrong with a story about Rallo and Junior.  Saved the episode for me.  When Rallo saw that Donna had cleaned Larry after Junior stormed off, he remarked, while in nothing but dingy underwear:

On the bright side, at least you finally did some laundry.

It's funny because it really seems like Donna does the bare minimum when it comes to cooking, cleaning, and just any general house work.  It's ridiculous.  However, I can believe it.  I mean, she already had two kids of her own and then she got Cleveland and another child (granted that Junior probably cleans up a lot after himself).  Still, to have your child going around in brown undies is gross.

Another funny moment was when Junior was trying to put back all the nasty smells into Larry and complained about his new smell:

[Junior] He smells like Snuggles, the gay fabric softener bear.

[Snuggles shows up in a huff]
[Snuggles] Just ’cause I’s clean don’t mean I don’t like it dirty.

[Snuggles leaves]
[Rallo] A’ight, Snuggle.

I didn't expect that Snuggles would show up, nor have so much attitude about Junior's comment.  Loved its random appearance.

 A little later, it was so cute when Rallo was rocking in a chair and knitting while he looked over Junior so he could sleep.   His humming was just like some little, old lady.  These kinds of things only work with him because he just acts so grown, but is the tiniest little thing.  It's also funny when he acts his age, like when he agreed that he, too, should brush his teeth, but all he did was wet his toothbrush and put it back.  That's totally something a little boy would do.

The last good bit of that story was when Rallo and Junior were arguing about him replacing Larry as his bedtime cuddle partner.  Junior said that Rallo had no power to stop him because he was about ten times his size.  When Rallo tried to counter that Donna would help him, she yelled up the stairs that she had her own problems.  Again, Donna with the bare minimum of both homemaker and mother.  However, I will give her points for not letting Rallo run off to Holiday Inn to solve his problems:

We don't run from our problems in this family.  We trick people.

That should be written on a plaque and hung on the wall in the Brown house.  Those were some of the best words that have ever come out of Donna's mouth.

Good thing that Rallo was able to trick Junior into taking Larry back.  But it was funny that he commented that whatever Junior chose to do was fine as long as it prolonged the eventual day that Junior would snap and kill them all.  He does have that vibe.  He may act like a child, but when he's passionate about something, he can get a little psycho.

Not a bad episode, but of course, that's because there was a Junior and Rallo story to pick up the slack.  I never expected gold when it was obvious that Roberta was going to be involved, but it was more decent than usual.  It's good to see that Roberta isn't an idiot and has the potential to succeed beyond getting pregnant by Federline (hope we never see that story!).  Maybe one day I can see an episode besides the Tyra one that could make me hate Roberta a little less.

You Just Got Rallo-ed!

The Cleveland Show, S03E17

Rallo took his new fondness for pranks too far when he ruined a powerpoint presentation for Junior and got him kicked out of the Freedom Scouts.  Cleveland tried to teach him a lesson by making Rallo think that he had to spend 6 months in juvenile hall for exposing Junior's naked photo in public, but it backfired when Rallo ran off to the woods to escape.  Junior later used some of his scouting skills to save Rallo, earning himself a renewal membership into the scouts and the title of youngest chief scout.

I liked Rallo's pranks, particularly when he kept replacing signs for the men's bathroom and Cleveland kept falling for it.  He even fell for it when it was on his car door!  Didn't expect that.  I also liked the first prank that Rallo pulled on Cleveland.  When Cleveland was examining the can he pointed out several things that would alert anyone to the fact that it wasn't a real can of nuts.  Rallo was lucky that he picked such a good first victim.  If Cleveland hadn't been such a moron to think that something made out of plastic (or cloth) was a real snake, Rallo might have gotten bored with pranks and moved onto something else.

Before Cleveland tried his punishment, I liked seeing Donna fail to remove all the fun from Rallo's room.  He had every kind of electronic to connect to the internet or provide him with games or music that you could think of.  He was also denied playing poker and dressing up like Al Sharpton (adorable).  Even just sitting in his underwear, Rallo still could entertain himself with just his imagination, which is admirable.  You'd think a kid with that much technology savvy would forget that his mind can be the best toy of all.

Junior (and Donna) remarked that Cleveland's plan to teach Rallo a lesson was the worst idea ever.  I don't think so.  I have to side with Cleveland that he can't be blamed that his technique worked too well to scare Rallo (I guess it was seeing Jaden Smith in the video that really got to him).  Someone should have taken care to make sure that Rallo couldn't run away before they could tell him that it was all a prank.  Still, I'm sure that Rallo would be just as angry and would have thought of an equally crazy revenge scheme like faking his own death.  I just like the idea that Rallo being 5 years old had no bearing on the law applying to him.  He was treated like an adult for the most part, which in most cases Rallo already acts like one.

Another good moment was when Cleveland asked where Rallo's name came from.  It was revealed that it came from Sanford and Son.  I like that.  Gives Rallo's character a little more coolness.  To tell the truth, I had wondered where his name came from too.  It's not the most common name, but it is one that sounded so familiar.  Glad that they explained that one.

The last thing that I really liked was when Cleveland was looking for Rallo in the woods.  He saw some footprints and had a funny line:

Footprints!  My tracking badge taught me that footprints are left by feet!  ...These badges are very basic.

Which made it even funnier when he found some of Rallo's gag gum a little later and it snapped on his finger:

 Ow!  I've been Rallo-ed!  Wait--Rallo!  My thinking is very basic.

I like when they have these self-aware jokes, as if they are saying what the viewers are thinking.  They do that quite often in the Seth MacFarlane shows, but it still manages to stay funny because you don't really know when they are going to point out something for you before you have a chance to even think about it.

Of course, an episode about Junior and Rallo is almost guaranteed to fall into my favorites.  I wish that Rallo had even more pranks, though.  But after looking at his family at the dinner table, it looked like he had had plenty of them that we didn't get to see.  I think one of the best things besides the jokes was that Roberta was safely tucked away at the mall where we didn't have to think about her.  Unlike Meg who is a pariah because of popular trend to outcast her, Roberta is just so vapid and irritating that it is practically necessary to push her to the background.  I'll welcome any story with any of the other characters over a story about her, so I'm grateful for that.

Rallo Can Campaign For Me Any Day

The Cleveland Show, S03E12

It's funny (not at all in a haha way) that the stories involving Cleveland are usually the least interesting to me.  This time he was enjoying being deaf to his family, particularly Donna which led to unpleasant consequences for himself.  That story was pretty shrug-my-shoulders worthy.  I couldn't care less about Donna's midlife crisis more if I was Cleveland.  The story about Cleveland Junior competing against Roberta for school president was slightly better, if not only because it involved Rallo.  He didn't even have a major role, and it saved this episode for me.  But I'm a sucker for that little guy when he's in a suit.

My favorite scene was when Junior and Rallo have this meeting at a hotel where Junior passes Rallo a bag of play money.

So adorable!  When these two get together for these little gags, I just love them.  I also love when they stop "pretending" and Junior asks Rallo a serious question:

[Junior] So, Rallo did you take the bus here or--? 

[Rallo] No, Mama's out in the car.

[Junior] OK, let's go.

Just make a show about these two getting into shenanigans!  Seriously.

In the end, Rallo gets caught tampering with the ballot and rats Junior out, but Robert (in her Palin-esq clothes) resigns her presidency (Thank God.  We don't need more of a reason to see her and the boyfriend making out while they eat fish sticks--blech!) .  Rallo complains that the two-party system doesn't work before he disappears into the hallway.  I like that Raymond is the only who sees this:

Did anybody else  that little kid disappear?  Hello?

Since he is the only witness of Rallo's disappearance it made me uncertain whether Raymond was high as usual or if Rallo really had vanished.

This week's episode could have been worse, so I'll not judge it too harshly.  I really wish there were more Cleveland stories that I liked, but I feel like ever since he got his own show, he's become more of an asshole who is more selfish and mean than delightfully quirky guy he was on Family Guy.   But then again, maybe Rallo is just stealing the spotlight for me, and I'm being biased.  Ah, I'm fine with that, though.

Mommy Issues

Last night's The Cleveland Show was about a dance competition that Donna kept losing every year.  Her main competition was Freightrain and Cookie, Cleveland's parents.  I found that to be pretty weird.  I never expected that couple to be involved in something that required so much teamwork.  I thought they had a pretty turbulent marriage.  Hmm. 

What I liked least about this episode was that Roberta was involved.  I just can't stand her.  I don't know if it's because she's gotten a Meg-like status (Seth MacFarlene is always making teenage girls so unpleasant), or if she's always lip-locking with her boyfriend.  But I will say that I loved her taking care of Rallo.  Not because she turned into a weird version of Donna, complete with stretch pants and a wig, but because Rallo was so funny.  He's such a cool little kid.  I definitely like him better than Stewie.  As soon as Roberta is in charge, he goes straight to the kitchen to heat up some aluminum foil in the microwave.  Love it.  And he cracked me up with his inability to run his own bath.  I couldn't be so annoyed with Roberta's lack of responsibility because it allowed Rallo to do all these ridiculous things a child his age shouldn't be doing.

As far as the dance contest, I really didn't give much of a damn.  I knew that as soon as Junior entered the dance studio that he would know how to dance--he's got that stupid genius thing going on, after all.  I was beginning to think that it was sweet he and Donna were getting close (I didn't mind that Cleveland felt neglected) until it turned into attraction for Junior.  I did not expect that.  Although, since he did have a crush on Roberta (as Tyra), it did make a little sense.  Thankfully, it didn't go anywhere creepy (as it would have if this were Family Guy).

The part at the end where Junior eyes the Donna-fied Roberta with interest was kinda creepy, but less creepy because of that earlier episode with "Tyra."  But they still are siblings, and it would mean that he was just using her as a substitute for Donna, so that's pretty gross.

I liked this episode enough.  I think that Rallo's antics, as usual, were what made me like it the most.  It's usually either him or Junior who does that for me.  I would like to see them utilized more in the next episode.