Planet Family Guy

"Veteran comedy writer-producer Rich Appel has inked a new three-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV," reports The Hollywood Reporter; therefore extending his 15-year relationship with the studio enabling him to continue as executive producer of The Cleveland Show.

This is great news for the Family Guy spin-off which has already been renewed for a second season. Coming out of a table read for episode 16 of season 2 Appel jokingly said, "I'm excited to be working at 20th for the next couple of years or at least until I'm replaced by Jay Leno."

Mike Henry has been talking to Forbes.com about his new series The Cleveland Show discussing why he’s aiming for a more family friendly audience and how it differs from sister-show Family Guy. There’s also some discussion on the potential controversy over three white guys writing a black comedy.

On the humor of The Cleveland Show Henry said, “we’ll take shots at celebrities that seem to warrant them and we’ll have tons of potty and sex jokes, but my money is on people caring about Cleveland.” Both Mike Henry and fellow producer Rich Appel have children which Henry has cited as the reason behind making the show more family friendly than Family Guy.

The New York Times has interviewed Mike Henry, co-creator, producer, and voice artist on the new Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show on which he voices Cleveland Brown. In the article Mike describes Cleveland as being “just me, but black. With a mustache.” He went on to say that: “He’s different from Homer Simpson or Peter Griffin in that he’s not necessarily a buffoon… He’s a well-meaning man who gets himself into situations through good intentions and, sometimes, not the best judgement.”

In the in-depth interview Mike Henry discusses his new show and the controversy of a white man voicing a black guy on prime time TV, Family Guy, his childhood, and much more.

Zap2it have given their first impressions of The Cleveland Show based on the pilot episode. “Henry and Co. have made Cleveland a fully realized character,” reports Zap2it. “Rallo is the Stewie stand-in here and, like his counterpart, gets the most outrageous lines.” However, they point out that The Cleveland Show‘s Family Guy style rapid fire jokes have “a definite hit-and-miss quality to some of them.”

Sanaa Lathan has been speaking to the New York Post Pop Wrap about joining the cast of The Cleveland Show; in the new spin-off Sanaa voices Cleveland’s new love interest Donna.

“I’m having such a blast working on it,” she told Pop Wrap, “It’s the best job in the world — go in for two hours a week, laugh your butt off and I can still make whatever movies I want. It’s amazing.”

The Cleveland Show is going to continue pushing the envelope as would be expected from a spin-off of Family Guy. “The edge it has is part of the fun,” pointed out Sanaa, “These characters get away with so much more than they could if they weren’t cartoons. Like if I played Donna in a movie, I couldn’t say half these things.” There’s apparently been a couple of times where she was “shocked” by what the writers had put in her scripts, “they don’t take any prisoners. They are serious when it comes to what they want to say and do — and that’s what they pride themselves on”.

The Cleveland Show starts on Fox in the fall with a full 22-episode season ordered. You can read the full interview with Sanaa Lathan on the Pop Wrap website where she discusses many other things.

Speaking about the up-coming Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show, Gary Newman and Dana Walden (co-chairmen of Twentieth Century Fox Television) have said that it’s “distinguishing itself” from Family Guy. The production team have managed to find a “tone that’s reminiscent of the flagship but still has an original element to it.” Walden described the show as “very funny” and “very smart.”

The Cleveland Show has yet to be broadcast, but already Fox are considering ordering further scripts and maybe “some additional production depending on how the animatics are looking” according to Newman.

A preview of the show will be seen at the two Family Guy Sings! concerts at Carnegie Hall next month.