'The Boondocks’ invades a civilized TV near you
The newest addition to Cartoon Network's
'Adult Swim' lineup premieres Sunday at 11 p.m.
BY KRISTEN GERHARD
PULSE REPORTER
Aaron McGruder wanted to bring
to life the characters of his ac
claimed and infamous cartoon strip,
"The Boondocks," from the moment
they graced the pages of major
newspapers in 1999. Today, more
than 350 newspapers nationwide
feature the still-framed satire of the
dysfunctional Freeman family—
Huey, Riley and granddad Robert.
This Sunday, McGruder's dreams of
breathing life into the Freemans' sto
ries will become a reality when "The
Boondocks" joins the Adult Swim
lineup on the Cartoon Network at 11
p.m. with the series premiere titled
"Garden Party."
Like the strip, the show focuses on
the two black Freeman brothers —
10-year-old Huey and 8-year-old Ri
ley — who are forced to live in the
Chicago suburbs when their grand
dad becomes their legal guardian.
Huey, a young leftist revolutionary,
and Riley, a wannabe thug, in
evitably clash with their predomi
nantly white neighbors, creating ma
terial ripe with humor, as well as
social and political commentary.
McGruder said that compared to
the comic strip, the format of the
show has been very liberating cre
atively. Developing the characters
and creating more complex story
lines are just a few examples of
whatthe new, more open medium
will allow him to do. The only real
limitation to the television format, in
which episodes can take months to
reach the screen, is the chal
lenge posed by maintaining rele
vancy while focusing on issue or
event-based jokes.
"Whenever you're doing
something tied to real life and
the news, even though you try
your best, you're throwing
curveballs," McGrudersaid.
"Unpredicted things happen and
you just got to deal with it."
Therefore, jabs at pop culture
icons and other public figures
will occur less in the show than
in the strip, although McGruder
said they're still trying to get in a
few when they can. For in
stance, in the premiere episode,
an unintelligent, gun-toting,
trust-fund-dependant character
named Edward III is intended to
be loosely representative of
President George W. Bush.
"We didn't want to tell a
bunch of Bush jokes that would
date the show," McGruder said.
"So this seemed to be kind of a
funny way to accomplish the
same thing without being right
on top of current events."
In much the same way, many
of the heavier points made by
"The Boondocks" fall more on
the subversive side. Overall,
when it comes to crafting come
dy versus encouraging dialogue,
McGruder said comedy comes first.
"We don't sit around thinking,
'Gosh, what do we want the young
kids talking about today?"' he said.
"We always start in the place of 'OK,
Courtesy
what's going to make the young kids
laugh?' because I do think, at any
point in your life, you're watching TV
for entertainment, and the politics
COMIC, page 11
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