History YMMV / TheClevelandShow

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: This gem from Donna:
-->"I think Black History is ''American'' History and shouldn't be celebrated just one month a year"

** A cutaway in "Ladies Night" has an exasperated [[Creator/TheWachowskis Andy Wachowski]] mixed up for his transsexual brother. A few years later, Andy would come out as transsexual as well.

-->''"Who was your show even for? A black guy that never met another black guy?"''

* BrokenBase: The show has a lot of mixed reception that it's hard to give it a consensus. Some people think that it has the same level of watch-ability as the better modern episodes of ''Family Guy'', while some people think it's just as bad and has been turned into a black clone of ''Family Guy'' with the same offensive humor and WorldOfJerkass.

** The season four episode "A Vas Deferens Between Men and Women" has a subplot where Rallo stars in a local theater production of ''Annie'' (which gets altered due to Rallo blowing the show's budget on his diva-like demands). A few years after this episode, there ''would'' be a [[Film/{{Annie 2014}} feature film remake of]] ''Annie'' with the title character played by a black girl instead of a white girl.

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: Some viewers don't like this show (or initially didn't like the show) because it is/was yet another cookie-cutter wacky family show by Creator/SethMacFarlane, which is true, but ''The Cleveland Show'' did prove in its short time that it was funny without copying (much) from ''Family Guy''. It also didn't help that Cleveland went from being the OnlySaneMan of the group to essentially a black Pre-Flanderize Peter Griffin.

** Rallo is treated as somewhat of a god in the black community.

* UnfortunateImplications: [[https://theweek.com/articles/500904/cleveland-show-family-guy-blackface Some reviewers]] wrote that having the role of Cleveland voiced by a white actor was uncomfortably reminiscent of {{Blackface}}. In response, Mike Henry [[https://www.chortle.co.uk/interviews/2010/10/07/11889/im_not_racist countered]] that Lester the white redneck was voiced by black actor Kevin Michael Richardson, making the racial issue more ZigZagged at least.
* VanillaProtagonist: Cleveland, who in one episode was named the whitest black man in America.

** When Cleveland returned to WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy quite a few fans were sad none of Cleveland’s friends or the shows side characters didn’t come back with him.

* GrowingTheBeard: The show abandoned most of its connections to ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' by season two (not many cutaways, but plenty of bizarre asides and BigLippedAlligatorMoment's to remind viewers that this is a Creator/SethMacFarlane show) and grew into its own. Sadly, this was the same time that FOX fell out of love with the show and screwed it over so bad that it's now canceled.

* EditedForSyndication:
** On ''Creator/{{TBS}}'', during the pilot episode, Cleveland and Rallo's scene at Rallo's school is egregiously cut in half, specifically the part where Rallo goes under the desk looking for a pen and he makes an erection joke about "hey, now I have a pen in my pants too."
** In "Wheel! Of! Family", Freight Train doing a transition joke while taking Junior to the Y is completely absent.

** "Be-Cleve in Yourself"
** Cleveland's Best Cry Ever
** Frapp Attack!

** "And even a bear" from the theme song, has sort of evolved into punctuation for sentences talking about Seth [=MacFarlane=] creations or any of his [[AllAdultAnimationIsSouthPark knockoffs]].

** On the other hand, Rallo constantly treats Cleveland like crap and blackmailing him was yet another example of him acting like an obnoxious little punk and getting away with it. While Cleveland clearly went overboard in his revenge, Rallo arguably deserved his long overdue comeuppance.

* SoOkayItsAverage: How many people view the show (especially in its early seasons).

** Apart from Donna (who is seen mostly seen with Lois and Bonnie) none of Cleveland’s family appear to major or minor characters. They are lucky if they appear in the background, we have also yet to see Roberta and Junior attend Creator/AdamWest High with Chris and Meg.

** A part from Donna (who is seen with Lois and Bonnie) none of Cleveland’s family appear in major or minor roles. They are lucky if they appear in the background, we have also yet to see Roberta and Junior attend Creator/AdamWest High with Chris and Meg.

** A part from Donna Cleveland’s family are now mostly in the background, we have also yet to see Roberta or Junior attend Creator/AdamWest High with Chris and Meg.

** When Cleveland returned to WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy quite a few fans were sad none of Cleveland’s friends or the shows side characters weren't able to come back with him.

** When Cleveland returned to Creator/FamilyGuy a lot of fans were sad none of Cleveland’s friends or the shows side characters couldn’t come back with him.

* VanillaProtagonist: Cleveland, who in one episode was named the whitest black man in Amt.

** Half of Junior and Ernie’s screen time together comes across as two boys who’s friendship is about to turn into a romantic relationship and it’s played for cutenesses. Sadly they don’t appear together that much after the first season and when they do the gayness is gone.

** Half of Junior and Ernie’s screen time together comes across as either two boys being very close to or have just started dating, played for cutenesses. Sadly they don’t appear together that much after the first season.

** Half of Junior and Ernie’s screen time together comes across as either two boys being very close or two boys who just started dating, played for cutenesses. Sadly they don’t appear together that much after the first season.

** Half of Junior and Ernie’s screen time together comes across as two boys being very close... Sadly they don’t appear together that much after the first season.

*** Another episode had Cleveland jealous that Junior has found another father figure.

** Cleveland's FiveManBand has this going on between each other.

** One episode has Junior sending an MMS of himself, lying naked in a flower, to his father.
** Freight Train and Cleveland Jr. rolling on the grass, laughing. In the end, Jr. warily asks: "you aren't going to kiss me, are you?"

*** In general, father-son affection in this show definitely blurs the line between platonic affection and incestuous pedophilia (when it's not showing father-son relations as being [[HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood hilariously abusive in the physical and mental/emotional sense]]).

* EditedForSyndication: On ''Creator/{{TBS}}'', during the pilot episode, Cleveland and Rallo's scene at Rallo's school is egregiously cut in half, specifically the part where Rallo goes under the desk looking for a pen and he makes an erection joke about "hey, now I have a pen in my pants too."

* EditedForSyndication: On ''Creator/TBS'', during the pilot episode, Cleveland and Rallo's scene at Rallo's school is egregiously cut in half, specifically the part where Rallo goes under the desk looking for a pen and he makes an erection joke about "hey, now I have a pen in my pants too."

* DesignatedHero: Junior, due to often clinging the JerkassBall or being [[IdiotHoudini a legitimate irritance to everyone around him]], yet a large amount of his roles he is played as the victim for being chewed out or told to act his age (usually it ''is'' unscrupulous, but more due to the family's abrasive or hypocritical methods than the act itself). "The Hurricane!" is a prime example, in which Junior declares himself an atheist, albeit a far less insufferable case than Brian. Despite this, the plot quickly becomes this show's version of "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven", with the family's moronically pious attitude going up against Junior's obnoxious mockery of religion (though "The Hurricane" doesn't smack of the same UnfortunateImplications that "Not All Dogs Go to Heaven" did).

** Despite making a cameo in one episode, Music/SnoopDogg probably put it best at Creator/ComedyCentral roast of Creator/DonalTrump (which [=MacFarlane=] hosted).

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy writers attempting to do a show about African-American culture. When the show was cancelled and Cleveland went back to ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', one of the jokes made at Cleveland's expense was exactly that.