"The Hurricane!" is the second episode of the
third season of the animated comedy series ''
The Cleveland Show
''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry (voice actor), Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cle ...
'', an episode produced for season 2. It is the first part of the
Night of the Hurricane block with ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ...
'' and ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...
'', the first such event in the animated television line-up of
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
. The episode first aired on Fox in the United States on October 2, 2011.
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and '' The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creato ...
was initially approached by
Kevin Reilly, the president of the entertainment division of Fox, with the idea of a crossover. The episode was first announced at the 2010
San Diego Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...
. It was originally scheduled to air on May 1, 2011 as the twenty-first episode for the second season of the series, but was delayed until October 2, 2011 because of the
2011 Super Outbreak
The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest, costliest, and one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded, taking place in the Southern, Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, ...
.
Plot
As the Brown/Tubbs family prepares to head for a cruise, a news report states that a hurricane, named Flozell, hits Stoolbend. Not deterred, the family tries to salvage what is left of their vacation. However
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...
discovers that
Donna
Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian.
People
* Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name
* Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), I ...
doesn't stock food in the house long-term, to which she points out that he trashed what little food they had.
When the family tries to pray to God to help them ride out the storm,
Cleveland, Jr. shocks everyone by revealing that he
does not believe in God. He started questioning things when his mother Loretta told him that Jesus forgave her for
cheating on Cleveland. After a while, he stopped believing in God, although he claims he is not an
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
either, which he calls "another religion", pointing out that some atheists, such as
Brian Griffin
H. Brian Griffinas shown in Brian Griffin's House of Payne is a fictional character from the American animated television series ''Family Guy''. An anthropomorphic white labrador retriever voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is one of the show's mai ...
, have been just as condescending and judgmental as the religions they deride. The family members attempt to persuade Cleveland, Jr. through reason, emotional appeal, and even a production number, but instead find their own senses of religion and faith tested.
As the storm worsens, an increasingly hungry family confronts Cleveland, Jr. when they discover he had food stored in his room. Cleveland, Jr. explains that, as the only one who heard of the storm beforehand, he used a very scientific method to ration the food. When the family is still resistant to his non-religious lifestyle, accusing him of wanting the food all to himself, Cleveland, Jr. locks the food away in spite. Cleveland calls on God to smite Cleveland, Jr. for his actions, at which point a tree crashes through the house and pins him instead of his son. The family members are unable to lift the tree by hand and decide to pray to God for help. Cleveland, Jr. is able to rig together a pulley system and lifts the tree using his own weight. The family disagrees over whether God was involved in Cleveland, Jr.'s actions and the belief of Cleveland, Jr. is left unresolved as the hurricane
heads for Quahog.
Production and development

The
crossover
Crossover may refer to:
Entertainment
Albums and songs
* ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album)
* ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987
* ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album)
* ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album)
* ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
event was first announced in July 2010 by series creator
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and '' The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creato ...
at the
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...
in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
. It was the first of its kind in the history of the
animated television line-up on Fox.
Kevin Reilly, the entertainment president of the Fox Broadcasting Company, originally pitched the idea for the crossover, which was inspired by theme nights of comedy shows from the 1980s.
MacFarlane described the crossover event to be an "enormous challenge" and a "substantial undertaking"; he chose to do one central story line so that each writing staff would not have to write stories for unfamiliar characters.
He was also willing to do another crossover event if this one receives successful ratings.
In April 2011, the executives of the
Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...
officially announced that the episode would air on May 1 as part of the ''
Night of the Hurricane
''Night of the Hurricane'' is a 2011 crossover event on the Animation Domination lineup on Fox. The event involved the three animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane: ''The Cleveland Show,'' ''Family Guy and'' ''American Dad!.'' The ...
'' crossover, alongside the ''Family Guy'' episode "
Seahorse Seashell Party
"Seahorse Seashell Party" is the second episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series ''Family Guy''. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 2, 2011. The episode mainly centers around the Griffin famil ...
" and the ''American Dad!'' episode "
Hurricane!".
However, on April 29, it was announced that the crossover event would be removed from the schedule, in response to a
series of tornadoes that killed nearly 300 people in the Southern United States.
The crossover was subsequently replaced by repeats of "
I Am the Walrus
"I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film '' Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single " Hello, Goodbye ...
" from ''American Dad!'', "
Brian Writes a Bestseller" from ''Family Guy'', and "
Ain't Nothin' But Mutton Bustin'
The second season of '' The Cleveland Show'' aired from September 26, 2010, to May 15, 2011. Fox ordered a second production series of 22 episodes (2APSxx) in October 2009.
Cast
This season included the return of Kanye West for an additional ep ...
" from ''The Cleveland Show''.
MacFarlane later agreed with the decisions after being consulted with the executives of Fox, and a spokeswoman for the company later announced that the episode would air the succeeding season.
Ratings
"The Hurricane!" first aired in the United States on October 2, 2011 as part of the animation television night on Fox. It was preceded by episodes of ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'', and its sister shows ''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...
'' and ''
Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ...
''. It was viewed by 4.73 million viewers upon its initial airing, despite simultaneously airing with ''
Desperate Housewives
''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a to ...
'' on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
, ''
The Amazing Race
''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...
'' on
CBS, and a match between the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...
and the
New York Jets on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
.
"The Hurricane!" garnered a 2.6/6 rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to the
Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
.
[
]
See also
*''Night of the Hurricane
''Night of the Hurricane'' is a 2011 crossover event on the Animation Domination lineup on Fox. The event involved the three animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane: ''The Cleveland Show,'' ''Family Guy and'' ''American Dad!.'' The ...
''
*''Family Guy
''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ...
'': "Seahorse Seashell Party
"Seahorse Seashell Party" is the second episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series ''Family Guy''. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on October 2, 2011. The episode mainly centers around the Griffin famil ...
"
*''American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...
'': " Hurricane!"
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurricane!, The
2011 American television episodes
Atheism in television
The Cleveland Show (season 3) episodes
Crossover animation