The Boondocks (TV Series)

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Huey Freeman, one the the main characters on The Broondocks series.

The Boondocks is an American adult animated sitcomaired on Cartoon Network's late night programming Adult Swim. Based on the 1996 comic strip by Aaron McGruder. With a total of 55 episodes, the show ran for 5 seasons. The series premiered on November 2020 and ended on June 2014. The last season was produced without any involvement from McGrudder. A reboot is in the works under McGruder's guidance as HBO Max picked-up the reboot for two seasons[1].

Plot

The show follows the adventures of two Black boys, Riley and Huey Freeman, who undergo a culture clash when they move from Chicago to the suburbs to live with their grandfather[2]. The series has a loose connection with the continuity of the comic strip, though during the final year McGruder made a point to synchronized them[3].

Black Empowerment and Controversy

Aaron McGruder was unapologetically Black and would employ Black agency throughout the creation of his strip by focusing on the "low-down folks" of the Black community. He expressed his identity regularly as a Black satirist and creator of a racially motivated strip. Amidst the backlash, The Boondocks as a body of work has always maintained its Blackness, in content, style, language, and structure (Horry, 2018)[4]. The show has brought awareness to issues facing the Black community through the eyes of it's character, a ten-year-old Huey Freeman. With a gorgeous faux-anime visuals and hilarious writing, the show addressed still-relevant social commentary whether satirizing, paying homage to film, or making a serious statement[5]. In an interview Aaron McGruder stated that it was important to offend, but it is equally important to offend for the right reasons. The 3 seasons he personally navigated was not perfect, but it was always done with a keen sense of duty, history, culture. and love. Anything less would have been simply unacceptable[6].

References

  1. "The Boondocks: How a Secret Demo Reel Shaped the Adult Swim Series". June 18, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  2. "The Boondocks". Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  3. "The Boondocks (2005 TV Series)". Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  4. Horry, Luana. 2018. "For Us, By Us": The Boondocks, Black Agency, and Black Spatial Reclamation in Comics. City University of New York (CUNY) Academic Works. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  5. "Celebrating 'The Boondocks' creator Aaron McGruder 45 years later". Retrieved December 17,2020.
  6. "Aaron McGruder Finally Explains Why He Left 'The Boondocks' ". March 28, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2020.