FOX renews 'The Cleveland Show'

The cast of FOX's 'The Cleveland Show'

Credit: FOX

It was one thing when FOX gave "The Cleveland Show" a back-nine pickup before its first episode premiered, but now FOX has already ordered a second season for the "Family Guy" spinoff, which won't launch until the fall.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The 13-episode pickup brings the network's commitment to the 20th Century Fox TV comedy to 35 episodes, the the second season not premiering until the fall of 2010.

"The Cleveland Show" focuses on Cleveland Brown (co-creator Mike Henry), who leaves Peter Griffin and friends in Rhode Island and begins life with a new blended family in Virginia. In addition to Henry and co-creator Seth MacFarlane, voices on the show include Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long and Arianna Huffington.

FOX originally ordered "The Cleveland Show" for this spring, but pushed the show to fall when it became clear that long-lead production for the animation would prevent the show from having enough episodes for a full midseason showcase. As a sign of confidence, when FOX shifted "Cleveland" to fall, it also picked up the back-nine.

The trade paper says that this renewal allows the show to effectively just continue production without a shut-down.

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