The Boondocks

About

The Boondocks is an American animated television series created by Aaron Mcgruder based on McGruder's comic strip of the same name. The series depicts the adventures of an African American family, the Freemans, who move from the south side of Chicago to the suburban community of Woodcrest.

Premise

The show follows Huey Freeman (voiced by Regina King) and his younger brother Riley Freeman (also voiced by Regina King) who are being raised by their Grandfather (voiced by John Witherspoon) in Woodcrest, a Chicago suburb. Much of the conflict of the show comes from the conflicting ideas and values of the two brothers, Huey who is very political and champions social issues, and Riley, who loves pop culture, especially rap music.

History

The Boondocks began as a comic strip published in the student newspaper The Diamondback during creator Aaron McGruder's college years at the University of Maryland. The strip debuted in The Diamondback in 1997, and was published in The Source magazine before going into newspaper syndication in 1999.

The Show

The Boondocks animated series premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim late night programming block on November 6th, 2005. The series finale aired on June 23rd, 2014, after four seasons and 55 episodes.

Reception

The show was a critical success, earning a rating of 8.4 on IMDB^[1] and a rating of 73 on Metacritic^[2]. The series won a Peabody Award in 2007, and was nominated for three Image Awards, winning one in 2011 for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. The series did however receive criticism over its use of frequent use of "nigga."

"Return of the King" Controversy

On January 15th, 2006, an episode titled "Return of the King" aired. The episode portrays a fantasy in which Martin Luther King is in a coma from 1968 to 2000, at which point he wakes up and must deal with 21st century culture. He is at first embraced, but then rejected by the American public after saying we must "turn the other cheek" when dealing with terrorists. Within the episode, King addresses a group of African Americans saying:

"Will you ignorant niggas please shut the hell up?!""

The episode drew some criticism for its depiction of King. On January 30th, USA Today^[10] published an opinion piece titled "'Boondocks' steps over line in its treatment of King," which noted Al Sharpton had demanded an apology from Cartoon Network for the episode. Cartoon Network released a statement of support for the episode, saying:

"We think Aaron McGruder came up with a thought-provoking way of not only showing Dr. King's bravery but also of reminding us of what he stood and fought for Despite the controversy, the episode was earned a Peabody Award."

Online Presence

As of June 2014, the show's official Facebook page^[3] has gained over 6.8 million likes. The first two seasons are available to stream through Netflix, and episodes from the first, second and fourth seasons are available for $1.99 each through YouTube.^[4]

Fandom

In addition to the show's branded online presence there are several fan run sites dedicated to the series including The Bookdocks FanPop page.^[6] Tumblr blogs dedicated to the show include hueyfreemanonlyspeaksthetruth^[7], fuckyeahboondocks^[8] and fuckyeahhueyfreeman.^[9] As of June 2014, there are over 7 million pieces of fan art tagged The Boondocks on DeviantArt. ^[5]

Parodies

On October 29th, 2007, an episode titled "Stinkmeaner Strikes Back" aired. The episode (below, left) parodied the catchphrase 'Fuck Yo Couch' which originated on The Chappelle Show. On January 21st, 2008, an episode titled "The S Word" aired. The episode (below, right) parodied a real life incident when a teacher called a black student the n-word.

On May 9th, 2010, an episode titled "Bitches to Rags" aired. The episode (below, left) parodied the Crank That Soulja Boy dance craze. On June 6th, 2010, an episode titled "Smokin With Cigarettes” aired. The episode (below, right) parodied Latarian Milton, a seven-year-old who stole his grandmother's car and rose to internet fame with an interview that featured quotes such as "It’s fun to do bad things."

Related Memes

Bitches Love Smiley Faces

Bitches Love Smiley Faces is an image macro series based on the snowclone template "I got that bitch (X), bitches love (X)." In the template, "X "represents any object, place or entity that may be deemed desirable. In this context, the label "bitches" is used as a mass noun to address any group of audience or viewers, regardless of gender.
The template "Bitches Love X" is derived from a quote in the episode "Let's Nab Oprah" in the first season of the animated TV series The Boondocks.^[1] The episode originally aired on February 12th, 2006, as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block. In the episode, the character Ed Wuncler III^[19] (voiced by comedian Charlie Murphy) comments on texting a woman with the line “I sent that bitch a smiley face, bitches love smiley faces.”

Gin Rummy: Let's go, Ed.
Wuncler III: Hold up, my nigga. Hold up.
Gin Rummy: Go time, nigga! Let's go!

"Nigga You Gay"

The quote 'Nigga You Gay' is one of Riley Freeman's catchphrases, who says it whenever he spots anything he percieves to be gay.

Search Interest

External References