Review:
The Cleveland Show: Episode Nineteen

119: Brown History Month

‘You keep your weird son away from my weird son!’ - Cleveland Brown

After such a great episode as the previous one, this tale of shenanigans and silliness in Stoolbend falls rather flat. The real problem is that it’s covering a topic that’s kind of already been done in the show – racism.

It’s Black History Month, that time of the year when America celebrates and feels guilty about the ethnic minority they oppressed for so long and there’s excitement in the air. Cleveland gets so into the swing of things that he puts up an afro on his house to commemorate the moment. However, not all is well – Lester grumbles about the month-long affair, asking the same question any ignorant white person would ask, ‘where’s our White History Month?’ Angered by this, Cleveland gets into an almighty fight with Lester that leads to the two falling out when Cleveland is arrested for a hate crime.

Rallo, meanwhile, is horrified to learn that not only is Obama the first black president, but black people were horribly oppressed in America for over two hundred years. This sees him turn vengeful and wanting to destroy the confederacy flag that hangs above Lester’s porch.

While playing around with racist ideas and opinion is always a brave and ballsy move in comedies, more often than not it falls flat on its face, unable to deliver. Racist jokes work in Family Guy for the simple reason that the gags are delivered in such a shocking and unexpected way that the viewers can’t help but laugh, and that is where this episode of The Cleveland Show fails miserably.

The show’s opening is funny, much more so than the rest of the episode, and sets a good tone for what’s to come. It’s a shame that this promise is never capitalised on. The first act is packed with giggles, from the gags about teachers giving awards to white children for dressing like famous black people, to Cleveland Junior’s reaction to a gay joke. Unfortunately, it’s after the first act that the episode goes downhill and comes to a standstill.