10 Weird Early Versions Of TV Characters You Totally Forgot About
4. Cleveland Jr. - Family Guy/The Cleveland Show
Cleveland Jr. is one of TV’s fattest characters, appearing in The Cleveland Show before moving back to Quahog with his dad for a handful of Family Guy appearances.
However, he initially made her debut in a very early episode of Family Guy: Love Thy Trophy, the fifth episode of Season 2 which was initially written for Season 1 and revolves around Peter training Cleveland Jr. at golf.
In this episode, he’s hyperactive to the extreme, almost irritatingly so, and couldn’t be further removed from the Cleveland Jr. we know and love (like? tolerate?) today.
Mike Judge, who voiced the character’s debut and is a staff writer at both Family Guy and The Cleveland show, explained the change in direction. With Cleveland needing a whole family for a spin off, Cleveland Jr. needed to be aged up to make room for Rollo.
While Stewie’s right that Rollo’s a bit of a Boondocks rip off, he was a popular part of The Cleveland Show (as was the new Cleveland Jr.), so it seems like a smart choice.
The hyperactive personality quickly grew tiresome in early drafts, and the more sluggish current character applied himself to comedy and storytelling much easier.