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The Cleveland Show on Fox

In a recent L.A. Times article entitled, “Television Critic’s Notebook: Networks turn clock back to Family Hour,” a positive trend in broadcast television was explored.  After years of trying to compete with the heightened level of sex and violence spewing out of cable television, the networks have gone back to the tried and true: good, old-fashioned family programming.  The article credits groups like the PTC and concerned parents alike as part of the reason for the cultural shift.  The article states, “For years, parents groups have struggled to tone down graphic content on the networks. And some of what we're seeing is, no doubt, in response to pressure from parents.”

Sadly, however, one network seems to buck that trend.  Fox continues to spew some of the sickest, most vile content of any network, cable or otherwise.  Family Hour be damned -- Fox’s commitment to Seth MacFarlane supersedes any supposed commitment they have to wholesome programming.  MacFarlane’s $100 million development deal with Fox makes him the highest paid writer-producer in television, and more of his putrid programming is sure to follow. Though the article cites Fox longtime hit Bones and new programs Glee and Human Target as examples of kinder, gentler content, MacFarlane’s animated shows on Sunday night are better indications of what Fox considers “family” programming.

All of MacFarlane’s shows contain families -- albeit the most dysfunctional, disgusting, deplorable families to ever hit the airwaves.  His latest series, The Cleveland Show (Sundays, 8:30 p.m. ET) is no exception.  The April 25^th rebroadcast of the episode entitled “Buried Pleasures” (which originally aired on February 14^th) is a prime example of the type of family programming we can all do without. For its sexually explicit content, The Cleveland Show has been named Worst TV Show of the Week.

In this episode, Cleveland thinks that his neighbor Holt has murdered his overbearing mother.  But when the authorities exhume the burial site, they discover Holt’s sex doll, whom he has named Kimi.  Holt explains what happened, “I stood up to my mom and sent her on a vacation, which gave me time to realize my relationship with Kimi wasn't healthy.  So we had a goodbye three-way with a bean-bag chair, then I pretended to choke her to death, rolled her in a rug and gave her a proper burial in a hastily dug shallow grave by the river.”

Concerned, Cleveland sets Holt up with a co-worker, Jane.  Holt’s new girlfriend, however, turns out to be a violent sadist.  When Cleveland and the rest of the guys confront Jane, she beats them mercilessly, knowing that they will never hit a woman.  But Cleveland’s wife, Donna, doesn’t have the same handicap, and gets in a brutal cat-fight with Jane.  At one point, Donna grabs Jane by the breasts, twirls her in the air, and throws her out of the window.  Cleveland’s friend Terry hoots, “Spin her by the boobs again!”

In the end, Lester reunites Holt with his expensive sex-toy.  “Hope you weren’t planning on getting any reading done tonight,” Lester tells Holt as he pulls down the tailgate of his truck to reveal Kimi, mangled and dirty, dressed in red lingerie and pink pumps.  “I bought her at a police auction for eighteen bucks,” Lester explains.  Holt complains that he originally paid $7,000 for doll.  Lester pointedly notes, “Yup, I reckon they’re not worth as much used.”

In a parody of The Officer and a Gentleman, Holt cradles Kimi and whisks her away into his home while “Up Where We Belong” plays in the background.  Rallo – Donna’s five-year-old son – salutes Holt as he passes by.

While shows like The Middle and Modern Family explore genuine familial ties, MacFarlane offers sad, lonely characters and sex dolls.  His families have no real connection, no real pertinence, and no real value.  If Fox really wants to turn the clock back to the Family Hour, it should turn its back on Seth MacFarlane.

For sexually explicit content “The Cleveland Show” has been named Worst TV Show of the Week.