The Boondocks is an American animated television series created by Aaron McGruder and based on his comic strip of the same name which begins with a black family, the Freemans, settling into the fictional, peaceful, and mostly white suburb of Woodcrest from Chicago's South Side. The perspective offered by this mixture of cultures, lifestyles, social classes, stereotypes, viewpoints and races provides for much of the series' satire, comedy and conflict.
When Robert "Granddad" Freeman becomes the legal guardian of his rambunctious grandkids, he moves the family from the south side of Chicago to the quiet and safety of "The Boondocks" - aka suburban Woodcrest - in hopes that he can ignore the kids altogether and enjoy the fourth quarter of his life in peace.
But neither Huey, a 10-year-old leftist revolutionary, nor his eight-year-old misfit brother Riley are thrilled about the new environment.
Although the boys torture each other and provoke the neighbourhood, they are still no match for Granddad, who is eccentric even by "crazy-ass-old-black-man" standards.
Regina King voices brothers Huey and Riley Freeman, the two characters central to the series, while John Witherspoon voices Robert Jebediah Freeman, aka Granddad, the boys' cantankerous grandfather.
Rounding out the cast are Gary Anthony Williams, Cedric Yarbrough, Jill Talley and Gabby Soleil.
Williams voices several characters on the show including Granddad's curmudgeonly associate Uncle Ruckus, who has a fervent dislike of black people. He's a mainstay in Woodcrest - turning up ubiquitously as a valet, waiter and hospital janitor, among other things.
Cedric Yarbrough also voices several characters including Tom DuBois, an earnest do-gooder, law-abiding District Attorney.
Jill Talley voices the character of Sarah DuBois, Tom's wife (among other characters), and Gabby Soleil voices DuBois' daughter Jazmine, the adorable but naive girl next door.
Guest stars in the first season include Samuel L. Jackson, Mos Def, Xzibit, Charlie Murphy and Katt Williams, among others.
Aaron McGruder served as creator and executive producer of The Boondocks (first three seasons only - he left after Season 3 when a mutually agreeable production schedule could not be determined). The series is produced by Rebel Base in association with Sony Pictures Television.
The Comic Strip
McGruder first brought Huey and Riley Freeman to life in April 1999. The Boondocks comic strip was published in over 150 newspapers, making it the second largest launch for a strip ever.
Within its first few months in print, The Boondocks quickly made its way into 200 publications, and at its peak the groundbreaking strip was read in more than 300 newspapers across America.
Through his adolescent characters, McGruder tackled topics such as race relations, interracial marriage, bi-racial identity and juvenile delinquency, in addition to political happenings and current events.
Not surprisingly, it's McGruder's edgy take on these issues that often drew criticism and even resulted in the strip being pulled from newspapers or moved to their op-ed pages.