Anybody Watch The Boondocks?

[Phalanx]

I was wondering if any of you out there watch the Boondocks? I do and it's OK for the very least. I just want to hear your opinion about this show.

[armentage]

It sure does have an interesting art-style...

Like anime crossed with modern american graphic design.

[yellowlightman]

I've watched an episode, and it was horrible. Dumb script, bad voice acting and just all around stupid as hell.

[reddsun1]

The Boondocks? I love that show. Huey is quite the little philosopher. Riley can be triflin' sometimes--Granpa needs to whup his bad little a$$ some more. The social commentary is definitely unflinching, and can be a little bit "laced with vinegar" at times, but I still enjoy the hell out of that show. MacGruder has definitely earned his title as "angriest black man in America." It has me laughing out loud almost every ep. I enjoy the cameos by actors doing char voices--Charlie Murphy and Samuel L Jackson are hilarious as Wussle III and Gin Rummy. The sad--and somewhat worrying--thing is that, in spite of their satirical origins, they're uncomfortably accurate to real life sometimes. Sad to think there are people out there in the world who really are that mixed up and/or just plain goofy. I think that show is like a fine liquor: when taken in by mature, sensible folks, it can provide enrichment and pleasure. But when given to the weak-minded, or not partaken responsibly [i.e. at least try to get the message behind what's going on on the tube, dammit!] what can result is just a bunch of silly displays of ignorance, i.e. goofy fu--wits runnin' around thinking it's "okay" or "cool" to go dropping the n-bomb left and right with no regard. To quote the first ep: "...Well, I guess it's okay if they say it..."

I did hear on the radio recently that CN has ordered up 20 more eps of The Boondocks. So kudos to Aaron MacGruder. I say good for ya, man!

Does anybody know who does the voice for Uncle Ruckus? I think it's Cedric the Entertainer, but I'm not sure...I can't quite place if it's him.

[Mr March]

I've read about the show, but never seen an episode. From what people have said, the original daily strip was a very intelligent, very risque commentary on social/political problems and/or little-considered strangeness. The television show by comparison suffered tampering along the way and as a result comes across as merely a forgettable diversion lacking the power of the strip's original concept.

If I can ever see the show for free, I'll probably check it out

[Phyrox]

I was wondering if any of you out there watch the Boondocks? I do and it's OK for the very least. I just want to hear your opinion about this show.

375681[/snapback]

I watched 1 1/2 episodes. It doesn't seem to have the feel of the strip at all. Either it tries to be funny, or it tries to be edgy, but it never seems like it is both at the same time.

I don't like it.

I mean, it is better than robot chicken, and tom goes to see the mayor, and 12oz mouse, and squibbles...but that isn't saying much.

[JsARCLIGHT]

I used to like the subtle humor of the comic strip a long time ago so I watch it every now and then. Decent enough show but it's very scattershot, I think that mostly comes from having a slew of writers all writing different sorts of comedy and then packaging it all together and getting it past network S&P. Their scripting and presentation make jokes out of everything, even the points they are trying to make. Self-satirical? Possibly. I just have a hard time watching the show sometimes because when you make fun of everything, including your own views, the show has no real "center" to it. At the end of every episode I feel like I watched a fever dream... it had characters, things happened, parts of it where funny, but nothing made any sense or left you with any real feelings on the issue they where trying to address.

The best episode they have made so far was the one with MLK. I felt they where on target with a tight script and a message with that episode... but most of those that have come before and after have all been too loose to be anything more than goofy humor. McGruder could have such a great poinient show but it's getting watered down because it has to bridge the gap between humor and making a point about something. But still it's far better than most of the lineup on Adult Swim right now anyway. I'll tune in for Boondocks, Futurama, Family Guy, Moral Orel and Venture Brothers when it returns on AS but I skip everything else.

[azrael]

Sorry, I don't watch. But I read the daily strip though.

[chrono]

I've read about the show, but never seen an episode.  From what people have said, the original daily strip was a very intelligent, very risque commentary on social/political problems and/or little-considered strangeness.  The television show by comparison suffered tampering along the way and as a result comes across as merely a forgettable diversion lacking the power of the strip's original concept.

If I can ever see the show for free, I'll probably check it out

375707[/snapback]

Funny, I always thought that the comic strip was merely a little black Mark Twain who needed his ass whooped. But then again I'm a hypocrite because I like that comic strip with the little girl and her donkey.

[Sumdumgai]

I don't like the comic and don't want to watch the cartoon.

[Die, Alien Scum!]

Does anybody know who does the voice for Uncle Ruckus?  I think it's Cedric the Entertainer, but I'm not sure...I can't quite place if it's him.

That's Gary Anthony Williams... he also plays Abe, Stevie's dad on "Malcolm in the Middle". The Cedric you speak of is Cedric Yarbrough... Jazmine's dad, the lawyer, Tom Dubois. You may know him as Deputy Jones from "Reno 911!"

I like this show. I usually find it pretty funny. I like the animation and most of the stories have been interesting, to say the least. Probably what made me laugh the hardest was when Tom was scared to death of being raped in prison. That whole episode was great, with the shoot-out at the convenience store and the "Pulp Fiction" references. "Say 'what' one more time! I dare ya! I double dare ya!" Sweetness.

It's satire, but it's also a relatively accurate social commentary. It's refreshing that it pushes the envelope and creates a stir among the public. When the pilot episode "The Garden Party" aired, it made the news because of how many times the "N" word was used. That's pretty impressive when a 22 minute cartoon that airs at 11:00 PM on a Sunday gets that kind of reaction. Besides, it's better than a lot of the other AS offerings as of late.

[Wes]

WHERE'S OPRAH?!?

[Phalanx]

Yea the boondocks is alright for the very least but I just don't like the way how they portray white people in that show. They always make it look that us black people have no overall respect for white people, which is really sad because I have 6 close white friends. Remeber in that one episode where Grandad brought t home that white women that was stripper and huey and riley kept calling her a hoe? I would never disprespect any white women like that and this may sound uncle tommish of me but I really feel that us blacks need to stop disrespecting white people and accusing them of being racist.

[JsARCLIGHT]

You're reading the show too literally. The dislike of "whitey" is all part of the "breaking down stereotypes while drawing attention to them" angle of the show. While I still feel the show swings and misses on a lot of the key issues it tries to bring up it does a very, very good job at satirising racisim on both sides of the racial divide.

[emajnthis]

I think it's a good cartoon at face value, but they tend to go on these radical liberal agendas out of nowhere. It would be much more entertaining if they just stuck to the racial and cultural jokes.

[JsARCLIGHT]

At the same time you can't read the "radical liberal agenda" thing too far either. IMHO that is all part of the satire as well. The show does it's best to show the insanity of both sides of the coin. While it directly attacks the more conservative issues head on in the open it slyly undermines all it's own "liberal agenda" elements. The problem is that the viewer is left wondering if that makes the show self-satirising or just lacking of a center? The things to remember are that Huey and Riley are two sides of radical interpretation of culture. One is a stereotypical counter-culturist, steeped in supposed knowledge, false mysticism and wisdom, rejecting the world around him while the other is a shallow pop culture drone, easily absorbing and influenced by all he sees. The Freeman brothers are the polar sides of the show which makes Grandad the center... and I think that is who's angle you are supposed to view the show from. But if Grandad is the center they do a poor job of structuring him as a character as he does not get much screen time and is used as a story prop most of the time.

[Phalanx]

Well if you guys insist, because I take it that most of you guys in this forum are white and I was curious to know if you were offended by the white jokes. IMO I think the boondocks is kinda like a black version of south park. I haven't seen it in about a month since I don't have cable in my apartment. Also I did like that one episode where MLK said the n-word in church in front of all those black people. It was hillarious! But that jerk Rev. Al Sharpton was offended by it, I think he needs to lighten the frack up a bit.

[reddsun1]

Remeber in that one episode where Grandad brought t home that white women that was stripper and huey and riley kept calling her a hoe?

376140[/snapback]

You kinda lost me on that one. They didn't keep calling her a hoe 'cause she was white--they called her that 'cause she was a hoe, literally. She even had a pimp. I think the stripping thing was just a part of her repetoire, so to speak. LOL, when she quoted those prices for "services" to the waiter at the restaurant, she sure as he-- wasn't talking about office projects!

Actually, I didn't think she was white, either.

Until I saw the cartoon, I'd never even heard of The Boondocks. I've not seen the comic strip; but from what some of you've posted, I definitely wouldn't mind catching-up on it, if it's actually better than the show. I don't think McGruder's "bashing on whitey" or any other group in particular; the show's just holding up a mirror to some of the ignorant, triflin' behavior that we all tend to find ourselves sinking to. It's a somewhat unflinching look at American culture. I think they were definitely trying to push the envelope with the "Old Col Stinkmeaner" ep, with the gratuitous use of "-igga" by everybody [i stopped counting how many times I heard it after about [b]2 dozen[/b]]; kinda like that ep of South Park, when they tried to see how many times they could get away with saying "sh-t" in an ep [after the FCC uncensored it for TV, IIRC]? I really liked Hueys dream-fight with the blind samurai. I like the analogy of Huey and Riley being opposite sides of the same coin, with Grandpa in the middle--I hadn't looked at it that way.

I'm not offended by MLK's use of the n-bomb in that episode at all--if anything, I'm more offended at the fact that Huey's "dream" is not all that far fetched. If MLK did survive, and saw how ignorant we can act in this country sometimes, and how little progress we've made since his time--in some respects--he probably would cuss us all out and move to Canada. If nothing else, the fact that McGruder chose to use a figure as prominent and symbolic as MLK [someone whose name is synonomous with tolerance, piety and peace] to make his point ought to jar viewers and make 'em think a little bit, even as they're laughing at the "comedy of the obsurd" that's in the ep. I didn't know that there was a backlash from Al Sharpton? In a way, that's good; that means it's got people watching, and hopefully it'll keep 'em talking and reflecting on what they've seen. It's not all that different from say, the way Seth MacFarlane might try to get away with "Irish jokes" etc in Family Guy, which would surely offend/cause controversy among some.

Edited March 3, 2006 by reddsun1

[emajnthis]

I think the first attraction to the show is definitely the animation style though, which was also my inital draw to the comic. It's not so much that i'm offended by the political agenda's and i understand how each character in the story is a symbolic element, but sometimes the symbolic elements aren't properly executed, so the comedy becomes shallow. The confusing part comes with the central focus, which is different from the Comic to the show, because the comic strip is just Huey spitting his media, while the cartoon tries to give character depth and symbolism. But in terms of it being offensive, i think everything just needs to be taken at face value and understand that for every white joke there are two or more black jokes.

[reddsun1]

I like the animation style too. Quality seems to suffer in the later eps though [pressure to get done by deadlines?]. It has an anime-influence to it, but with more attention paid to making the chars look their ethnicity. I mean, let's face it--black characters in anime haven't always gotten the most attractive depictions[Claudia being an exception; I've always thought she's a hottie, as animated chars go]. It can range from not-too-good to downright offensive in some Japanese anime sometimes.

[Mr March]

This reminds me of a quote from Paul Haggis' Crash:

How in the lunacy of your mind is Hip-Hop "music of the Opressor??"

Listen to it! Nig**-this, nig**-that; You think white people walk around calling each other honkies? "Hey, Honkey, how's business?" "Goin' great, cracker, we're diversifying."

[reddsun1]

This reminds me of a quote from Paul Haggis' Crash:

How in the lunacy of your mind is Hip-Hop "music of the Opressor??"

Listen to it!  Nig**-this, nig**-that; You think white people walk around calling each other honkies?  "Hey, Honkey, how's business?" "Goin' great, cracker, we're diversifying."

376231[/snapback]

[reddsun1]

Does anybody know who does the voice for Uncle Ruckus?  I think it's Cedric the Entertainer, but I'm not sure...I can't quite place if it's him.

That's Gary Anthony Williams... he also plays Abe, Stevie's dad on "Malcolm in the Middle". The Cedric you speak of is Cedric Yarbrough... Jazmine's dad, the lawyer, Tom Dubois. You may know him as Deputy Jones from "Reno 911!"

Ah, many thanks for the clarification; it helps put faces to the names/voices.

"You guys can if you want to--I'm not going to prison and getting anally raped!"

[LePoseur]

I've been watching it from the beginning and have warmed up to it quite a bit.

I loved the comic strip (it was my desk calander for years) but alas, haven't read it in a while since losing my Ucomics subscription.

When I saw the first episode I was kind of dissapointed. The jokes seemed single layered and it wasn't as scathing as I remember the comic being. I also had a problem adjusting to hearing the voices they had, as in my head Huey always spoke like Chuck D. Then again, it would be stranger to have an elementry school kid with an adult's voice, so what do I know...

Having said that, I think I've either adjusted, or the show is beginning to find it's stride. Ever since the Xbox-killer episode, I've thought it's been really good. Not a laugh a minute mind you, but then again it seems like that's not the kind of show he's aiming for anyways.

In a side story, one of the guys who works with me used to be in study hall with McGruder in high school and was telling me all these stories about him when he saw my desk comics. So I showed him the show, and he was like, "Damn, Huey is totally him." Not a surprise really, but kind of fun to see Toby's reaction, as he was really proud of him.

[Keith]

Love the show, especially how its maintained all of its themes & running gags thorugh out. I didn't expect the car to stay "pimped," but sho'nuff, 2-3 episodes later, and it still is

[Seven]

I watched one episode of it and was turned off. I watch shows as a diversion and escape from reality so to watch something thats going to drag me through racial divide and slavery and inequality even as satire, well doesn't seem so fun to me.

[Smiley424]

I really enjoy the strip and though the cartoon show isn't the same, it's pretty good. I like the animation style, its very unique.

"It's A Pimp named Slickback, you know, like A Tribe Called Quest"

[memnon]

I've read a couple of the strips and just those two were too racist for me. So I'll pass on watching the TV show.

[kanedaestes]

This weekend is the return of the truth, the final season of the Boondocks, not quite sure why it is the final season of a great show but I am still looking forward to one of the best animated programs ever.

[Ghost Train]

I loved the Ann Coulter episode (it's probably closer to reality than you think). This is such a great show - added so many new terms to the urban lexiconia.

[M'Kyuun]

I like the show, and the way it pokes fun at a littl bit of everything. The racist comments and commentary are applied to both black and white...if anything, I see them poke more fun at black stereotypes than white. It's a comedy satire and I take it as such. Half the problem in America is that people have very thin skin these days, and are easily offended. There are far worse real things going on in the world to get upset about than a cartoon intended to make fun of American racial stereotypes. Moreover, if it offends, it's your right to change the channel. God bless America and our awesome Constitution.

[Mog]

Love this show!!

I still remember hearing that joke they said about FEMA way back in Season 1. I knew right then and there that this show's humor, satire, and wit would be right up my alley.

[Ghost Train]

I caught up with all the third season episodes. Great stuff as usual! The kickball episode was epic, it shows the awesomeness of this show by equally criticizing and offending a broad spectra of people. Also some good fights! Huey in the kickball episode, and Bushido Brown vs. the Hateocracy... that is such an awesome word.

[Keith]

And Flying Guillotine for supreme awesomness

[one_klump]

Love this show, every episode makes me laugh. The social commentary is nearly spot on, at least here in New Orleans anyway. The MLK episode was my favorite, with the Obama episode comming in 2nd.