The Boondocks
The Boondocks
TV-MA | 06 November 2005 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0
  • Reviews
    bmoore07

    The title of this show is an interesting one because the show's setting isn't exactly in 'the boondocks' of American society. The Boondocks is about two children named Huey and Riley Freeman who move from the ghettos of Chicago to the fictional, peaceful (and very white) neighborhood of Woodcrest, where they embark on hilarious misadventures with their grandfather Robert Freeman as they adjust to their new environment.Huey Freeman is The Boondocks' main character and narrator (as well as the person I chose as my profile picture), an Afro-wielding martial arts master, a gun-toting terrorist with a Che Guevara poster on his wall, a supremely intelligent prodigy of few words (and one of my all-time favorite characters). Riley Freeman is Huey's younger brother and someone I was never fond of, a cornrowed hip-hop enthusiast famed for his expletive-filled rants and someone I find mostly one- dimensional, extremely egocentric, and unbelievably selfish. Robert Freeman is similar to Riley but is equipped with depth to his character (and a bizarre habit of dating psychotic women). The Boondocks offers a variety of richly detailed supporting characters like the politician Tom DuBois who looks exactly like young Barack Obama (and has a peculiar phobia), the infamous Uncle Ruckus, a racist who passionately despises his own kind (and someone whose voice I can imitate very well), Jazmine DuBois, who is Tom's innocent daughter, and Ed Wuncler III, a red- headed delinquent who looks a lot like Eminem. The Boondocks offers one of the best cast of characters I've ever seen. There are more than a few notable Boondocks episodes like "The Story of catcher Freeman", an attempt to analyze Huey and Riley's slavery- era ancestor who is profiled in three ways (Robert's version of Catcher is a beloved and brave hero who freed black people from slavery, Uncle Ruckus' version is a primal and vicious slavecatcher preventing black people from escaping the plantations, and Huey's version is an intelligent playwright who accidentally kills his white father). There's the episode "Smoking with Cigarettes", where Riley befriends Lamilton Taeshawn, a juvenile felon who punched his grandma and hijacked a car for a joyride (the detective chasing Lamilton sounds and looks similar to Obi-Wan Kenobi). There's also the episode "The Color Ruckus", an extremely emotional journey into Ruckus' past, and the episode "The Fundraiser", where Riley's attempt to make money from selling chocolates becomes out-of-control (highlighted by an unforgettable speech by Riley). "The Fundraiser" and "The Color Ruckus" are two of my three favorite Boondocks episodes.After the third season concluded, The Boondocks fell into a dry spell, only airing re-runs as America furiously pushed for Season 4. Four years after Season 3, The Boondocks returned. Season 4 was the show's first attempt at a running plot and it unfortunately aired for a pitiful 10 episodes. In those 10 episodes, The Boondocks mostly tried to recycle ideas from episodes of previous seasons (lowlighted by a return of the notorious Colonel Stinkmeaner as a mechanically modified clone to once again fight Grandpa Freeman), but there were a few shining moments in Season 4. The episode "Early Bird Special" was an interesting one but it didn't hold a candle to the classic "I Dream of Siri" (my third favorite Boondocks episode), where Robert's malfunctioned phone came dangerously close to destroying his life. The 10th (and final) episode of Season 4, "The New Black", was about Riley being targeted for calling a kid 'gay' and 'retarded', and the episode ended with Riley getting pummeled by a gigantic group of mentally disabled children as the show played Lethal Interjection Crew's "Stomp 'Em In the Nuts", a homage to the earlier seasons. It was a classic ending to a sub-par episode in a disappointing season.Sadly, when Season 4 concluded, Aaron McGruder (the creator of The Boondocks) quit his involvement in the beloved animated series for Black Jesus, a hilarious comedy that is nowhere close to The Boondocks, which was the last African-American classic, a show with supremely solid characters, first-class comedy, and occasional martial arts scenes, a show that casually ventured into polarizing social topics (race, snitching, homosexuality, etc.) and incited controversy along the way (The Boondocks labeled BET as "Black Evil Television", a sinister enterprise corrupting America, and the show suggested the famous playwright Tyler Perry is gay). With its memorable main theme, and historical and pop culture references, The Boondocks is a show that doesn't deserve to be ignored.

    ... View More
    Ben Hinman

    I've gotten plenty of laughs out of the boondocks and they have a insightful perspective for sure, but there's also been a bunch of times where i've shook my head thinking, yeesh, black people exist, get over it. The boondocks is one of those shows who pokes at the ignorance of social standards by playing them out, and like any show, there are things it takes too far.Basically the only sensible, open minded person in the entire series is Huey Freeman, the main character who often predicts the wild, ridiculous fallout of the exploits of his grandad Jebediah Freeman and brother Riley Freeman, to no avail. Being the only reasonable character in a world full of bigots and disillusioned saps, Huey and his sage advice is constantly ignored in the favor of selfish, harebrained or otherwise ridiculous plots, often ending in gunfire, samurai sword battles or someone getting swindled. So you can expect a show that puts an emphasis on nigga culture as the driving force behind much of the shows plot to basically showcase one giant melting pot of ignorance, which is actually brilliantly captured.This is, so far, the only show that can reimagine what it would be like if martin luther king came back from the dead in our time, or highlight the ridiculousness of the r kelly trial without seeming pretentious. It has a great way of taking a step back from all the ego and social stigma and make light of it in a way that really just makes you shake your head at the world and all we've grown used to. But on occasion it crosses the threshold from exposing ignorance to personifying and even glorifying it, and you just have to thank god Huey at least has a clear head on the matter. For one, i don't know if all the "Nigga Moment" episodes are helping anyone redefine their reality and it seems hypocritical next to their own criticisms of BET for perpetuating the same stereotypes. Buuuut i do agree that BET is the single worst proponent of social segregation in the modern world.

    ... View More
    Daniel Kasali

    Well some episodes of the cartoon are good and some are just plain boring, it's funny like the episode with no chicken is hilarious of the episode where Heuy and Riley had to go to jail with their school about rape, I love that episode but then again there are some really really doll boring episode about that one when a teacher called Riley the N word, it's boring because nothing really happens, sometimes the episode can be ignorant like when Martin luther king said "Michae jackson and usher are not a genre of music" thats just ignorant and annoying but all in all boondocks can be sometimes fun and funny to watch its not like South park, South park is just amazing and funny and smart, I love south park but boondocks is good to, it's my 3rd favourite cartoon 1.South park 2.Family guy 3.Boondocks. :D

    ... View More
    Rectangular_businessman

    In my opinion, "The Boondocks"( along with "Avatar: The Last Airbender" and "The Legend of Korra") is one of the best anime-influenced cartoon, which is able to take the best elements of Japanese and American animation in order to create something different and well made. Instead of only using the most characteristic anime elements big water drops in a shallow way, this series uses the anime aesthetic in a original and different way, with very interesting and stylish results. There is huge improvement in the animation quality in the second season, but it is the surprisingly good writing what makes this series to be so great.At first, I thought that this series was going to be only bashing of white people, but too my surprise, "The Boondocks" did a great job doing an excellent criticism of racism from both sides, and that criticism is done in a very harsh, unapologetic way, so I could understand perfectly well the fact that not everyone would like this series.However, "The Boondocks" isn't offensive just for the sake of it (Like other cartoons that include controversial and shocking content) but the shocking elements included in this series have a very well thought satirical purpose, resulting in a high quality series that certainly deserves more appreciation and recognition.9/10

    ... View More