First Details on Seth MacFarlane?s Fourth Show

Admittedly, Seth isn't responsible for everything on his shows, but still, it's depressing that each of his show has the same stale art style. Why can't anyone at the top try to make his shows' art styles less homogenous and lacking in any personality that is essential to the very definition of animation.
 
I feel as unenthusiastic as the next person over the fact that this will be yet another show about a family, but it's kinda understandable that Fox does'nt want to take any risks regarding the premises of their animated sitcoms after how Futurama went down. The writing in that show might have been as great as that in the golden age Simpsons, but even so the average Fox viewer apparently wasn't all to interested in watching an animated sitcom whose premise, namely one involving sci-fi adventure as much as sitcom-comedy, probably seemed on the surface as something akin more to a typical saturday morning cartoon premise than that of a regular sitcom for adults.
 
Personally, I don't like Seth's artwork. His style is best whenever they do a fight scene because they come off almost flawless. I also get a giggle-fit every time someone is knocked unconscious because they fall ridiculously fast and abrupt, but I can't like his artwork. It's stiff, they have awkward poses (why can't their legs move whenever they argue), and it's just too plain for me to absorb.

Baring that in mind, I am currently not excited for potentially yet another crazy family-driven offering from Seth and crew. I love the dysfunctional family sitcom archetype, but I can't stomach having to see it come from the same production when they already pushed out three semi-identical ones. At this point, I'm losing interest in American Dad and I haven't bothered paying attention to the Cleveland Show. Using a female lead as a different gimmick isn't raising any awareness. I want to be cautiously optimistic, but I'm tired of this repeated formula.
 
I also doubted "The Cleveland Show" and... well, I guess it might have exceeded my expectations, but only because they were very low. I've given up on the show because while it isn't terrible, it's just not very interesting and they very rarely do any gags that couldn't be done better on Family Guy. I might check back on it in a few months/years, but I've officially lost interest.

So what I'm worried about is that this will be another Cleveland Show, not another American Dad.
 
The only things that really make me question Seth as a person is the fact that on the Cartoon Geeks podcast, noted animation fan Michelle Klein-Haas felt that Seth came across as a creep in an interview, and my gut tells me that that there may be just a bit validity to her feelings, and some people on TV Tropes feel that Seth's DVD commentary rant (about the Simpsons gag on Family Guy being cut) is a sign of egotism. On a related note, I definitely disagree with his opinion that the long, drawn-out gags on Family Guy are gold (those kinds of gags are easily what I hate the most about Family Guy)

Frankly, I have more disdain towards the current Family Guy writing staff than I have towards Seth himself, or the writing staffs of American Dad and Cleveland (I find American Dad to very enjoyable, and while some earlier Cleveland were pretty bad, it has gotten better to the point that I feel it has become a worthwhile show).



That kind of thinking works in some industries, but I feel when that line of thinking is applied to the entertainment industry, it more often than not leads to homogenous, unoriginal productions (like the umpteenth horror film remakes, and now even films based on board games, of all thing) that are IMHO the dearth of quality in Hollywood.

Case in point: Pixar seldoms make the same kind of picture twice (though some may disagree), and their ambition (which often spits in the face of the same bean counters who felt that Up wouldn't be a success because an old man wouldn't make good toys for kids) is largely what their films so special and celebrated.

Well, I've ranted enough.
 
I'm a casual viewer of Family Guy and I really don't care about the characters/development on anything other than a simplistic level, but even i'm growing weary of this.

I'd actually be okay with this news, if I actually found American Dad! and The Cleveland Show funny. But it just seems to get worse the second and third time around. For me, the only reason to even watch Animation Domination is for cheap jokes/one liners from Family Guy.

I'll give this new show a chance as well, but my patience is wearing thin.
 
LAMO, I know some Simpson fans that will be very happy about this :p
Hmm Might be good. I didn't think the Cleavland show would be good and it prooved me wrong. Guess I'll give it a chance.
 
To me, this will be the third Seth show. Not the fourth.
I am a little discouraged that it will be a family with pets but things can change from now up to the final product.

The Cleveland Show at the beginning was supposed to have different neighbors (except Tim the Bear still being there) and now instead of an upper class family that is uncomfortable around black people we have Holt.

If either The Simpsons or American Dad have to be killed off for this to happen I wouldn't miss either show.
Especially if it is The Simpsons that should go. It should have ended a long time ago.

I gladly look forward to it.

I was still hoping it wouldn't be a family sitcom...


Chris is the only one of the three to have been awkward.
Cleveland Jr. has shown to be gullible and naive but not awkward around girls, as seen in the first episode and Love Rollercoaster.
Steve gets cocky and overconfident.

Cleveland has no pets in his show and The Cleveland Show and American Dad don't normally set their plots up that way.


Cleveland isn't an idiot like Peter is, I wouldn't consider Steve a loser, Tim the Bear isn't Cleveland's best friend, I don't think Rodger is Stan's best friend, and I don't see what's wrong with a mother character being attractive.

Also, do Meg and Hayley really hate their fathers? I don't think so. Roberta has warmed up to Cleveland since the first episode.
 
The Winner, despite its many problems that could've been ironed out over time, at least had potential right from the start thanks to its "How did this loser become a success?" story, and gave us something different from the usual MacFarlane fare, and not just because it was live action instead of animation. It's a shame it had to be canned and now we're getting slight variations on the family formula.
 
I consider myself to be a Seth MacFarlane fan, but I know overkill when I see it. This is not a good idea at all. If Cleveland is any indication, it wont be that good. And if they can American Dad for this, I will not be happy.
 
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