"The Cleveland Show" Says Being a Homophobe is as Bad as Being a Racist

A couple of months ago, FOX's The Cleveland Show tackled its first real gay-themed episode, with more-or-less positive results.

Or was that the first time? Last night's episode "Ship'rect" hasn't been seen before, but a little digging reveals that it was actually supposed to be part of the show's first season, but was pulled for undisclosed reasons.. Hmm ...

I can't think of any reason why it might have been pulled. It seemed like a typical Seth MacFarlane gay-themed episode to me. Yes, it had his patented projectile vomiting, but this time it had nothing to do with the gay storyline (the projectile vomiting involved the youngest son's illness). Don't get me wrong, there was vomiting involved with the gay storyline, but it wasn't projectile vomiting ... just normal vomiting.

The first half of the show is filler (although it does have a great jab at Brad Garrett and his awful sitcom Til Death), but eventually we get to the main story, which involves Cleveland's infatuation with sports celebrity Barry Shadwell.

After drinking heavily, Barry drops Cleveland off at home, and as they say good night he tells him, "You have something in your mustache." When Cleveland asks what it is, Barry responds, "Me," and moves in and kisses him.

Naturally, Cleveland slams the door shut and rushes to the bathroom to puke. But again, just normal puking. The next morning Barry tries to explain that the reason he kissed Cleveland is because it's "prison rules month," but Cleveland decides he's just too uncomfortable to participate with Barry in the big boat race they had entered together.

That leads to a short but awesome dressing down by Cleveland's wife, who tells him, "You're acting like a homophobe. That's as bad as being a racist. It's just sexuality. We're all somewhere on the grid. I know you're not gay. You know you're not gay. Everyone knows you're not gay. But I'd rather everyone think you were gay than think you were a bigot."

Cleveland has a change of heart, and shows up to compete with Barry. What follows is again typical, with Barry and Cleveland forced into compromising and misunderstood "gay" positions as they struggle to keep their boat afloat. They win the race, with Cleveland wondering, "at what cost?"

Barry decides that things are just too awkward between them, and decides to leave town. The episode ends with an eye-rolling "Is Cleveland turning gay" joke. Again, Typical MacFarlane show.

So what do we take away from this episode? A wonderful message from Cleveland's wife, a Wilhelm scream, a dig at Brad Garrett, and lots of vomit.

What did you think?