An Exercise in Desperation: American Dad and The Cleveland Show

While Family Guy was in its 4th season (i.e. when it was still good) Seth MacFarlane debuted a new show called American Dad. Made at a time when the bullshit Blue States vs. Red States atmosphere was being upplayed, the show's sole Colbert Report-esque gimmick was simply not enough to carry it. What should have been a single episode of Family Guy was instead transformed into an entire series thanks to MacFarlane's ego. I remember thinking at the time "why don't they just make more episodes of Family Guy?"

My personal opinion is that American Dad was an experiment by FOX to see if they could simply make the same show over and over and maintain viewership. Apparently they were successful. American Dad is identical to Family Guy in both animation and comedy style, and the characters are blatant copies of Family Guy's cast. As Family Guy is already a rip-off of The Simpsons, American Dad is therefore a rip-off of a rip-off. Being unoriginal does not necessarily indicate lack of quality; being grossly unfunny does. I quickly removed American Dad from my schedule. I never would have guessed after that that MacFarlane would try his humorless hands at another rip-off, nor how much worse it would be in his second attempt. Looking back on the detestable event, I should have recognized what American Dad, ill portent that it was, foreshadowed.

MacFarlane's spin-off, The Cleveland Show, proved to be even more disastrous than previous works. With all of the problems of its predecessors present, The Cleveland Show had the added bonus of making fun of black stereotypes. This was ground zero. The offspring of comedic clones, The Cleveland Show was born with gnarled limbs and contorted body, its hideous visage the result of genetic degradation from the repeated cloning process used to bring about its abominable existence. Now effectively a rip-off of a rip-off of a I just threw up in my mouth, this was the sign that MacFarlane had finally lost his mind.

Behold the face of horror and weep.

Update: Family Guy, now in its 8th season, has made somewhat of a comeback. The newest episodes, whilst not great, are occasionally marginally good and may merit a chuckle or two from the casual viewer. However, I still maintain that the show is irreparably damaged.

Update: And then there was the episode wherein Stewie consumes canine feces.