The Boondocks (TV 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
- ↑ "The Boondocks: How a Secret Demo Reel Shaped the Adult Swim Series". June 18, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ↑ "The Boondocks". Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ↑ "The Boondocks (2005 TV Series)". Retrieved December 17, 2020.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Celebrating 'The Boondocks' creator Aaron McGruder 45 years later". Retrieved December 17,2020.
- ↑ "Aaron McGruder Finally Explains Why He Left 'The Boondocks' ". March 28, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2020.