Back to Cool

"Back to Cool" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the animated series The Cleveland Show. It aired on Fox in the United States on April 17, 2011 at 9:30 PM E/P. In this episode, when Cleveland Jr. bonds with Donna’s ex-husband, Robert. Cleveland challenges Robert to a “Coolympics” competition. Later, Robert, with the kids, takes them to a dog fight, and gives them tips if the dogs out break. When midnight comes, Cleveland and Donna realize that the kids have not come home. Robert returns the kids home, and reveals an new bond between Jr. and himself. Later on, the bonding grows, and Robert finds out about Jr's new crush, Joanna, and tells Cleveland he is going to give Jr. the sex talk, which causes Cleveland to make an attempt at having the talk first, and failing.

This episode was directed by Anthony Agrusa and written by Kevin Biggins and Travis Bowe. It received critical acclaim from many television critics, with much of the praise stemming from the main storyline and the cultural references. According to the Nielson ratings, the episode was viewed by 5.20 million viewers and garnered a 2.2 rating in the 18–49 demographic during its initial airing. It featured guest appearances from Snoop Dogg and Tony Hawk, as well as several recurring voice actors and actresses for the series.

Plot

The episode starts out when Cleveland, who is reading the newspaper, but gets stopped by Rallo and Roberta's fighting. A while after, Robert comes by to get his alimony check from Donna, taken in cash. The kids fighting end up with Cleveland getting hit, then as Robert tries to leave, Cleveland stops him and says that if he still wants to get more alimony checks, he will have to take his kids for a day. Robert takes them along, leaving Cleveland to finally alone time, then as Cleveland get relaxed, Cleveland Jr. comes and annoys him, so Cleveland wrestles him into Robert's car to go with Rallo and Roberta. Next, with Cleveland and Donna alone, they go on their computers.

Later, Robert, with the kids, takes them to a dog fight, and gives them tips if the dogs out break. When midnight comes, Cleveland and Donna realize that the kids have not come home. Robert returns the kids home, and reveals an new bond between Jr. and himself. Later on, the bonding grows, and Robert finds out about Jr's new crush, Joanna, and tells Cleveland he is going to give Jr. the sex talk, which causes Cleveland to make an attempt at having the talk first, and failing. After Cleveland is turned down by Junior, he goes to the movies with Donna, and they see Robert and Cleveland Jr. with his date, Joanna. When Cleveland Jr. comes home after the movies, he explains to Cleveland that Robert is cooler than him. When Cleveland believes there is no way to earn his son's love back, he is informed that he will try to beat Robert in the Coolympics. He fails, but still gains the love of his son.

Production

Tony Hawk guest starred as himself in this episode.

"Back to Cool" was directed by series regular Anthony Agrusa, in his fourth episode of the season. This would be the first episode that Bowen would direct since the season two episode "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Roberta?". This episode was written by series regulars Kevin Biggins & Travis Bowe. This would be the second time Kevin Biggins & Travis Bowe have written an episode. Seth MacFarlane, the creator and executive producer of The Cleveland Show, as well as its sister shows Family Guy and American Dad!, served as the executive producer for the episode, along with series veterans. This episode featured guest appearances from Snoop Dogg and Tony Hawk, as well as several recurring voice actors and actresses for the series.

Reception

"Back to Cool" was first broadcast on April 17, 2011 as part of the animation television night on Fox. The episode aired on the second spot of the line-up, a spot generally taken by Bob's Burgers. It was preceded by a rerun of The Simpsons, and succeeded by its sister show Family Guy and the American Dad!. It was viewed by 5.21 million viewers upon its original airing.^[1][2] The total viewership of the episode was on par with that of The Cleveland Show, but significantly lower than that of Family Guy.^[1] It achieved a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic, according to the Nielson ratings.^[1] Ratings for the episode were slightly above that of American Dad!, while significantly lower than that of Family Guy.^[1] The episode's total viewership and ratings were significantly up from the previous episode, "Ship'rect", which was viewed by 3.35 million viewers upon its initial airing, and garnered a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic.^[3]

Rowan Kaiser of The A.V. Club graded the episode a B-, stating "In short, this is the kind of episode that Cleveland tries to be [...] I wouldn't necessarily seek this episode out or recommend that anyone watch it instead of something else. But on the other hand, it's one of the rare Cleveland episodes that I'm not sorry I watched".^[4]

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