Giving It a 2nd Shot

I had previously mentioned that the Cleveland Show was kind of lame, but that was before I got to the second season. I think the writers got the message that fans need something between Family Guy and the Simpsons, not another King of the Hill. Getting through the first season on netflix was miserable, but if you haven't watched it yet, jumped ahead to the second season. There are finally moments where I laugh as hard and spontaneously as American Dad The Cleveland Show is being more random and funny, but still keeps reality based story lines. You also cannot imagine the amount of cameos and guest stars they have in this show. With Cleveland quality going up, and FG quality going down, I dare say I might enjoy next season's Cleveland Show more than next season's Family Guy. Here's some stuff from season 2:

Stuff I watched on Hulu Plus

Over Christmas, I used my one month free trial of Hulu Plus to watch these shows. Since it just expired I will share what I watched and what I thought of them.

Up All Night. Currently in season one, I caught up to current episodes. Starring Will Arnett of Arrested Development fame and Christina Applegate of Married with Children fame. I give it a 5/10. It's not really funny, and Arnett plays too much of a straight man, which ruins his talent for being a funny doofus. But it is heartwarming, centering around raising a baby. While I don't care if I miss episodes, I don't mind sitting through it.

American Dad. I watched Season 6, right now season 7 is on TV. I give it 9/10. I love American Dad.

New Girl. Currently in season one, I caught up to current episodes. I took this on advice from Ceci. Zooey Daschanel (sp?) is lovable, but I don't really like the dead-pan acting. It reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld. Seinfeld the show was built on the genius of Kramer and George. Jerry himself was sooooo lame. Example: "why does milk expire? what's the deal with that people?!" *plays corny seinfeld string riff*. But this show is watchable because she reminds me of my inner dork, and it's funny seeing how her three male roommates interact. Reminds me too much of our group. I give this show 7.5/10

Animation Domination Throwdown

It's a deadly melee for top show!

I've wondered why some fans of certain shows dislike the other shows. It's really not about neutral critiquing but more of fanboy bashing. It's the PS vs 360 and MW vs BF debate. They're different but it doesn't make one more "superior" than the other since beauty is in the eye of the beholder. With that being said, I admit that I am bias (as we all are) but I'll try to be impartial.

Funniness: Family Guy (FG) > American Dad (AD) > Simpsons (SS) = Cleveland Show (CS)

FG is easier for new fans to pick up because you don't have to know the characters too well to get the jokes. If you're intelligent, there's political jokes. If you're not intelligent there's fart jokes. If you're a man, there's tons of violence. FG pretty much invented the cutaway joke gag. American Dad doesn't use cutaways but is still hilarious because of the great scene setups. Simpsons and Cleveland are legit family shows, laughter is a side benefit. I think people who watch those two shows just want to be entertained with stories.

Cast Lovability (averaged): AD > SS = CS > FG

Fathers:

I love American Dad, they actually have characters you care about. Stan is a macho man, alot of his jokes come from guns, politics, and manhood. I would rank Homer as the most lovable dad, because he's well rounded. He's not smart, but he isn't dumb either. Alot of people identify with Homer and his realistic story lines. Cleveland is a lovable black guy. He's nice and has really bad jokes, which make them funny. Peter is a dumbass. After a certain point Peter is more annoying than entertaining.

Mothers:

I'm gonna start by putting Marge and Donna at the bottom. Any episodes based on them are boring as hell, because they're too generic. Lois and Francine are tied here because you can base the episode's main plot on them and it's entertaining. Lois has crazy fighting skills, and Francine is a beach blonde with an interesting promiscuous past.

Sons:

I'm putting Steve first. He's tied with Bart for fan lovability, but since he's on a McFarlane show, he can have really funny storylines and more mature subjects than Bart would ever get to have. Cleveland Jr is third because he's the fat slow underdog that we like to root on. Chris is so boring. Let's just say I would want to be friends with any of the other three while growing up, but not Chris.

Daughters:

Lisa is first. Haley is second. Meg is third. Roberta is fourth. They are all so different, but I'm basing this on how well rounded their character is. I'd say Meg brings the most entertainment but honestly can you watch an entire episode about her? It's easy to do that with Lisa.

Babies of the family:

Stewie and Brian are number one without a doubt. My two favorite cartoon characters. Together they bring up the family's IQ to average. It seems like the best episodes are based on their adventures. Roger the alien, while not a baby, fits here because he's part of the family. His storylines are hilarious because he gets unfair revenge for small slights. Rallo is tied with Roger. Rallo is the only funny character on CS. Imagine a black straight Stewie that wants to conquer girls instead of the world and you've got Rallo. Unfortunately Maggie comes from an era in which babies are realistic, so she can't talk and has no personality.

Supporting Cast (neighborhood)

FG > SS > CS > AD

FG totally wins here. There's the obvious Quagmire, but I love random townspeople like Herbert, Bruce, Consuela, and Fouad. You cannot beat that. Simpsons isn't that funny, but I've grown to like Barney, Moe, Carl, Lenny, etc. AD has no neighborhood except for Stan's CIA coworkers.

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As you can see, It's hard to pick which show I like best because I like different family members more than others. For example I think FG is funny, but I dislike so many people in the family. Overall I would say I like American Dad the most. Steve is my favorite son character, and Roger and Klaus are close to Brian and Stewie. The storylines are constantly fresh. I can only take so many fart jokes and chicken fights.