'Cleveland' a guilty pleasure like its predecessor

Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sanaa Lathan and Mike Henry provide voices for Donna Tubbs-Brown and Cleveland Brown on "The Cleveland Show." (Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment)

Our favorite mustached character from "Family guy" got his own show and now he has his first DVD set. "The Cleveland Show: The Complete Season One" features all 21 episodes from season one, but it's the extras that make the set a must have.

Cleveland Brown (Mike Henry) packs up his belongings and son Cleveland Jr. (Kevin Michael Richardson) after his divorce and bids farewell to his chums in Quahog, R.I. and heads for a better life in California. Along the way, he stops off in his hometown of Stoolbend, Va. and encounters his crush from high school Donna (Sanaa Lathan).

Quickly the two connect and end up getting married. Now in addition to life dealing him blow after blow, he must deal with donna's children Roberta (Nia Long, Reagan Gomez-Preston) and super-cool toddler Rallo (Henry) thwarting his happiness at every turn -- at least in the beginning.

Fans of "Family Guy" will find familiar territory here. Not an episode passes with at least one instance of political incorrectness, but that's part of the allure to this series and its predecessor. It's a guilty pleasure we should probably feel much more shame in partaking in, but at times you can't help yourself.

The series itself is nice, but what makes this set amazing is the special features. It features multiple audio commentaries that are as hilarious as the show, a "Meet Cleveland" featurette, the video "Get Your Hump On" and deleted scenes. The episodes are uncensored, so make sure you know whose eyes are watching.

My favorite feature in the set is a table read for "Brotherly Love" featuring the entire cast, as well as Kanye West and Taraji P. Henson. It shows what a stripped down event a table read is, but accentuates how funny this cast truly is.

Anyone already familiar with the show knows the love Cleveland has for his 'stache, so it was absolute brilliance the makers of the first season set saw fit to put a fuzzy mustache on Mr. Brown on the cover.

Final Cut: If you're a fan of Seth MacFarland, you must own this set. It's fall down funny, but with enough guilty goodness you might have to whisper you're a fan from the shadows so your friends and family don't exile you.

5 out of 5 stars