Yeah, this is not a good week to be Seth MacFarlane. First there was the trouble with that intentionally altered Family Guy clip, and now the long suffering The Cleveland Show might be getting the axe, according to Entertainment Weekly …
FOX issued a few talking points about The Cleveland Show reports that pretty much reiterate what’s already been out there, though the network put stronger emphasis on the point that no decision has been made. FOX says the show will continue airing through May of this season. It has not been canceled. But no episodes have been ordered for next season, with FOX noting they have plenty of previously ordered animated inventory from other shows in the pipeline to keep their slots full. A blog run by the leaders of The Animation Guild flatly declared the series was canceled. FOX says they haven’t officially made a decision on a fifth season of the Family Guy spin-off. But the signs have been piling up that the show is not coming back. For starters, the ratings are really low (3.3 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49 — and that includes seven days of DVR playback).
Well, this one was kind of expected. The Cleveland Show has been a commercial and critical flop, and has consistently been one of the lowest rated outings in FOX’s Sunday animation block. Hell, even Bob’s Burgers (which I love) gets more viewers than The Cleveland Show, and they once did an episode about a woman who paints animal anuses. ‘Nuff said.