“The Cleveland Show” is keeping Black TV Alive

During the 2007-2008 television season, the black sitcom began dwindling and the number was reduced to two. There were no pilots developed to stop this, so the 2008-2009 season only featured two black sitcoms.

When it became clear that the two black sitcoms, “Everybody Hates Chris” and “The Game,” were not going to be renewed, the NAACP spoke out against network television.

The network that gave black sitcoms more parallels was FOX. FOX built its audience off of its influx of black sitcoms. In order to survive with television affiliates based in predominately-black neighborhoods, it was black television programs or go out of business.

The black sitcoms built FOX’s audience and they ended up branching out into more mainstream programming. That formula has been used by multiple channels since, but there are not too many new networks out there, so the black sitcoms have not been passed on.

Ever since “The Simpsons” became the breakout hit that it has been for FOX, the network found an even better cash cow with animated sitcoms. Aside from “The Simpsons,” their most-popular show has been “Family Guy.” For the past few years, that show has been becoming more popular than “The Simpsons.”

Realizing this, the producers for the show and the executives at FOX made the decision to kill two birds with one stone. Many black activists are upset because there are no black shows on network television and FOX gets high ratings on Sunday nights because of their animated programs.

It just so happens that “Family Guy” has an extremely popular side character, Cleveland Brown, who happens to be black. The idea for the show was born in mid-2008 and the show was supposed to premiere in early 2009 as a midseason replacement.

That did not happen, so FOX ordered a full season’s worth of episodes and the show premiered this television season. While most black sitcoms are expected not to last for very long, “The Cleveland Show” is ahead of that curve. The show has a built-in audience because of the fact that it was spun from “Family Guy.”

Cleveland Brown, the show’s main character, is voiced by Mike Henry, a white man. The show rarely discusses race relations in a serious light, but it is keeping black faces on television. Because of the fact that it is animated, people that watch FOX’s Animation Domination are going to tune in.

While the show is not as wacky as “Family Guy,” it is still very humorous and is starting to build an audience of its own. By this time next season, “The Cleveland Show” will be getting high ratings on its own. Black viewers are also starting to tune in. The series was picked up for a second season before the first season even premiered.

“The Cleveland Show” airs Sundays on FOX at 9:30 pm. The show can be called whatever, but it is one of the few black-themed programs on television and it is helping to keep black television alive.