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Family Guyfans have asked a few burning questions over the years, fromwhat happened to Herberttowhat the Lois death hoax meant. Viewers also wonderwhy Cleveland Brown leftFamily Guy. The character is aneighbor of the Griffin familyand while he doesn’t always get major storylines, he is one of the characters on the long-running sitcom who has appeared since the pilot episode.
Mike Henry, whose background includes playing a small character onGilmore Girlsand voicing many popular animated characters, voiced Cleveland Brown onFamily Guy. There’s a lot to know about the character’s trajectory on the TV series.
Why Cleveland Brown Left Family Guy
Cleveland Brown leftFamily Guyin 2020 because Mike Henry decided that he, as a white actor,shouldn’t voice a person of color. According toEntertainment Weekly, Henry tweeted:
“It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years. I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role.”
Cleveland Brown is introduced in the pilot episode and continues throughout all ofFamily Guy. Whenthe TV show was canceled in 2002 and brought back in 2005, he was still an important part of the series. Cleveland is close to the Griffin family, and although he has a family of his own,Cleveland and Loretta get divorced and co-parent their son Cleveland Brown Jr.Cleveland continues to be a supporting Family Guy character in season 22, although he doesn’t have any memorable storylines of his own. In the episode “The Return of the King (of Queens),” Lois wants to save money so she can purchase Christmas gifts and gets rid of the TV. Cleveland is among a few characters who tells Peter to begin streaming Netflix, which turns into a disaster.
Seth MacFarlane
Voice Actors
Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Seth Green, Mila Kunis, Arif Zahir, Patrick Warburton, Mike Henry
22 seasons
419 episodes
January 31st, 1999-present
Rotten Tomatoes Score
65% Average Audience Score
In September 2020,Varietyreported that Arif Zahar would begin playing Cleveland onFamily Guy. Zahir explained that he was a fan of the TV series and of Cleveland. He called him “my favorite cartoon character of all time.”
Mike Henry Starred In The Family Guy Spin-Off The Cleveland Show
When wondering why Cleveland leftFamily Guy, the character got his own spin-off for a few seasons.Cleveland leftFamily Guyin season 4andcame back in season 12. Afterplaying Cleveland Brown on Family Guy from seasons 1 to 8, Mike Henry voiced the character on the spin-off seriesThe Cleveland Show. After four seasons ofThe Cleveland Show, Henry returned to voice Cleveland onFamily Guy. Cleveland is in many ofthe bestFamily Guyepisodesand on his spinoff series, the focus is on his family life and personal dreams. In season 1, Cleveland tries tolive in California to see if he can become a baseball player. Other episodes focus on Cleveland celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas, wanting his son to have a friend group, and marrying Donna Tubb-Brown.
What Other Characters Did Mike Henry Play?
In an interview withEntertainment Weekly, Mike Henry was asked about how theFamily GuyspinoffThe ClevelandShowstood out from the original series. He said:
“We didn’t set out to doFamily Guy. We set out to do something in theFamily Guyuniverse that was more of a family show. There are a few things we won’t do. We won’t go too hard at an abortion joke or a Jesus joke or a really mean celebrity slam, although we did a few first season. I guess it’s maybe a kinder show — or a not-as-mean-show.”
In an interview withFan Bolt, Mike Henry said that he enjoyed being in the writer’s room atThe Cleveland Show,and he talked about how the show fit into his overall career. He said, “The timing was great for me actually, because I got to do a lot of things beforeFamily Guyas far as stand up, or sketch, or directed shorts, and commercials. Then I really got to learn this whole new world through the process of watching Seth sit down in the writers room and pitch stuff out as Stewie and Brian and whoever else.”
Henry added:
“I love being able to just sit in theClevelandroom and start ripping on something knowing what needs to be accomplished, and making sure that gets accomplished, and whatever is going on.”
While the tone of the animated sitcom is no doubt bitter and a little mean, withBrian doing terrible things in someFamily Guyepisodes, there are someheartwarmingFamily Guyscenes. As Mike Henry mentioned, theFamily Guyspin-offThe Cleveland Showis a bit kinder and more compassionate than the original series, which makes it stand out.
