All racial elements aside, the recently cancelled series, The Cleveland Show, is being offered up in a Complete Season Three box set which includes all 22 episode. The main premise finds Cleveland Brown (voiced by Mike Henry) leaving Rhode Island and Spooner Street to find his long lost love from high school, Donna Tubbs (Sanaa Lathan). Finally locating her in Stoolbend, Virginia, he marries her and brings his now obese son Cleveland Jr. (Kevin Michael Richardson) to live with them, her teenage daughter Roberta (Reagan Gomez-Preston) and her precocious preschooler Rallo (Henry again). Of course, there are new neighbors in this small Southern town, including the Bear family (who are actual bears), the redneck Krinklesac clan, as well as the Ritchers and the Chonis. Cleveland now works for Waterman Cable, where his boss (Bruce McGill) is a closeted homosexual. Donna works at the local high school, where a former classmate (Will Forte) is now principal and Roberta dates a Jewish rapper wannabe named Gabe (Jamie Kennedy).

That's the basics. Unlike Family Guy, there are dozens of extraneous characters who seem to step in and then disappear at random. One of the best recurring players is the slightly dim bar owner, Gus, voiced by none other than the American auteur himself, David Lynch.

The breakdown of season three's storylines are as follows:

"BFFs" - when Cleveland learns that old pal Peter Griffin came to town and didn't call him, he plans a camping trip for his former buddies.
"The Hurricane" - a massive storm hits Stoolbend.
"Nightmare On Grace Street" - scary stuff abounds including a stay at a haunted house and a love triangle between a human, a vampire, and a werewolf.
"Skip Day" - Cleveland is embarrassed by his nerdy son.
"Yemen Party" - Cleveland disguises himself as a woman to infiltrate his wife's support group.
"Sex and the Biddy" - Rallo tries to save one of Cleveland's pals from an obvious golddigger.
"Die SemiHard" - it's the holidays, and Cleveland describes his favorite Christmas film of all time.
"Y Tu Junior Tambien" - Cleveland's son falls for a pretty girl, but his father is suspicious of her motives.
"There Goes El Neighborhood" - Cleveland tries to get used to Latino culture, and fails.
"Dancing With The Stools" - Donna wants to win the trophy at the annual dance contest, and recruits her stepson for help.
"Brown Magic" - Cleveland takes his stepson Rallo to a magic show for the first time.
"'Til Deaf" - A hunting accident leaves Cleveland a bit hard of hearing.
"Das Shrimp Boot" - A necessary vacation turns into a nightmare when pirates attack Cleveland's cruise.
"March Dadness" - Cleveland gets jealous when his buddy bonds with son.
"The Men In Me" - After being labeled "The Whitest Black Man in America," Cleveland struggles to reclaim his roots.
"Frapp Attack" - a video of Cleveland and an attractive coffee shop worker goes viral.
"American Prankster" - Rallo's latest stunt goes horribly, horribly wrong.
"B.M.O.C." - Cleveland goes back to his alma mater, but his college days appear long over.
"Jesus Walks" - a young church going girl catches Cleveland Jr.'s eye.
"Flush Of Genius" - an accident in the bathroom causes Cleveland to lose his son's respect.
" Mama Drama" - Cleveland tries to reunite Donna with her estranged mother.
" All You Can Eat" - after being ridiculed at school, Donna helps her stepson with a makeover.

As a marginal fan of Family Guy (and a huge supporter of Seth Macfarlane's big screen debut, Ted), yours truly just doesn't "get" The Cleveland Show. If it's an acquired taste, it will forever remain avocado and tarragon for this particular palette (YEECH! to both of those). There are so many things that just don't resonate - the white voice actor playing a man of color, the little kid named Rallo who's such a borderline hate crime it's amazing no one has taken the series to task for how the character is handled, the overall lack of subtlety. There's also some minor continuity issues (how, exactly, did Cleveland Jr. get so fat) and a level of meanness and inappropriateness that often surpasses the limits set by Peter Griffin and his clan. In fact, if the Browns had a talking pet that pretended to be a thoughtful intellectual ala Brian, we'd have a carbon copy of the successful sitcom this was spun off from, just with more misplaced vitriol. Sure, some of the ancillary characters are a little more out there, but they also pale in comparison to a raging pedophile or a sex fiend without a moral compass.

In fact, The Cleveland Show follows the lead of its central character in that it's too sedate, to easy with the obvious racial joke to genuinely explore the varying issues within same. Granted, this is a TV comedy, not some debate on the African American experience, but if someone like Tyler Perry finds a proper balancing act, why can't MacFarlane and the gang? But the main complaint that can be leveled against this show is that it's not very funny. Granted, it took years for Family Guy to grow on audiences. It had to be cancelled and then celebrated on home video before people took the time to explore the series' many toilet humor nuances and satiric scatology. Cleveland the gang don't have such luxuries. Instead, everything is bludgeoned with a sledgehammer filled with obviousness which renders any potential wit worthless. Of course, there are moments of pure guilty pleasure, as when the Latino family of "Y Tu Junior Tambien" starts exhibiting some rather blatant behavior, but it's a truly crass and culpable level of enjoyment.

Other highlights include the Die Hard spoof, the ventriloquism act of "Brown Magic" (anyone old enough to remember Willie Tyler and Lester?) and the horror oriented "Nightmare on Grace Street." Of course, any time David Lynch is featured it's fascinating. One has to wonder how the show managed to get such a high profile and provocative artist. Granted, anyone whose seen the auteur's aggressively stupid DumbLand cartoon understands his kinship with someone like MacFarlane, but this is David-Friggin'-Lynch for F's sake! The man is a moviemaking genius! (Apparently, they asked and he said, "Yes." Simple as that.) Other guest stars like Kayne West, Bruno Mars, Questlove, Craig Robinson, Johnny Bench, and Florence Henderson pale in comparison. Overall, the rest of the cast is quite capable, doing their best to invest their lines with the necessary sass to make them work. Unfortunately, the show seems out of tune with its overall intentions. If they wanted to take on race and the realities of same, The Cleveland Show doesn't even attempt to tackle them. Instead, it finds targets all over the place, with equally uneven results.

THE DVD:
First things, first. There are no bonus features offered here. None. Not the best way to win fans over to the old digital format, eh? Anyway, the image and audio elements are excellent - but then again, wouldn't they be? This is a show broadcasting in the heady days of 2013, HD, and similarly superior transfers. The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen is colorful and crisp and the Dolby Digital 2.0 mix (what? No 5.1? Huh?) does a great job of balancing between the dialogue heavy show and the bass-thumping backdrops.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
So, what is one to make of The Cleveland Show, especially now that it's been relegated to also-ran status as part of Fox's famed Animation Domination block on Sunday nights? Season Three sure supports a Rent It recommendation, since so much of the series is hopelessly hit or miss. If you already adore this eccentric spin on The Cosby Show, you'll lap up every episode in this tiresome third season. If you don't, there's no reason to get behind it now. It will be gone from the airwaves soon, and Cleveland Brown will be back in Quahog (Macfarlane has confirmed he will). Frankly, he should have never left in the first place.

Want more Gibron Goodness? Come to Bill's TINSEL TORN REBORN Blog (Updated Frequently) and Enjoy! Click Here