It appears as though Fox has put one of Seth MacFarlane’s brainchildren to bed for good. The network has apparently opted not to order another season of Family Guy spin-off The Cleveland Show, though a formal announcement of cancellation has yet to be made and the show will be allowed to air its remaining fourth-season episodes. The network’s decision isn’t at all surprising considering the show’s modest ratings and the fact that Cleveland’s episode count will hit 88 by the end of this season, which is the typical benchmark for a juicy syndication (i.e. rerun-sellin’) deal.

Debuting in 2009, The Cleveland Show saw Family Guy producer/voice actor Mike Henry reprising his role as Cleveland Brown (a jokey reference to the pro football team that I, oddly enough, just got at this very moment), who moves back to his home town of Stoolbend, Virginia, reuniting with his high school crush (voiced by Sanaa Lathan) and her kids, and getting up to shenanigans involving a new group of pals, one of which is a talking bear. SNL’s Jason Sudeikis and Seth MacFarlane himself rounded out the regular voice cast. Also, Kanye West dropped by sometimes. Hit the jump for more.

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Per The Wrap, if Fox sticks to its current schedule, The Cleveland Show will wrap up its primetime run in May. However, as they correctly point out, this network has a history of putting its animated offerings (like King of the Hill and even Family Guy at one point) on hiatus and shuffling them around the schedule.

Provided this is the end of The Cleveland Show, I won’t miss it all that much.  It was pretty hit-and-miss on its better days. Frankly, the only show from the Animation Domination lineup that I’d bemoan the loss of is MacFarlane’s oft-overlooked middle child, American Dad, which has quietly developed into one of the most enjoyable half-hours on television. (I haven’t gotten on to Bob’s Burgers yet, but have heard good things.) Either way, for fans of Cleveland, though this is no doubt a downer, 88 episodes is a good solid run. We’ll update if/when Fox makes the cancellation official.

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