‘The Boondocks’ Set To Premiere October 8th

The second season of Aaron McGruder’s series, The Boondocks will premiere Monday, Oct. 8 at 11:30 p.m. (ET/ PT) on Adult Swim, Cartoon Network’s late-night sister network showcasing animation and live action for adults.  Fifteen new episodes of the Peabody Award-winning series from Sony Pictures Television are set to air through January 2008.

The new season finds Huey, Riley and Granddad encountering a roster of characters, both new and familiar, in uproarious situations, including Granddad’s feud with Thugnificent, a world-renowned rapper who moves into the neighborhood; their friend Tom DuBois enlisting the counsel of A Pimp Named Slickback, when he fears losing his wife to R&B superstar Usher; the family’s day at the movies, where they go to see “Soul Plane 2;” Granddad’s attempt at online dating; and their experiences in taking in a family after Hurricane Katrina.  Throughout the season, an eclectic mix of hip-hop artists, actors, comedians and media personalities will voice guest characters on the series, including Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Cee-lo, Lil Wayne, Donald Faison (Scrubs), Aisha Tyler (Balls of Fury), Kym Whitley (Reno 911!), Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris), Mo’Nique (The Parkers), Marion Ross (Happy Days), Tavis Smiley, Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris), Bill Duke (X-Men: The Last Stand) and Cedric the Entertainer (Talk to Me).  Reprising their guest roles from last season are Mos Def, Xzibit, Charlie Murphy, MTV’s Sway and Katt Williams, among others.

In The Boondocks, which is based on McGruder’s popular comic strip by the same name, Robert “Granddad” Freeman is the legal guardian of his rambunctious grandkids and has moved them from the south side of Chicago to the quiet and safety of “The Boondocks” (in this case, suburban Woodcrest), hoping that he can ignore them altogether and enjoy the golden years of his life in peace.  But Huey, a 10-year-old left wing revolutionary, is determined not to enjoy the affluence of suburbia.  This attitude is seconded by his 8-year-old brother, Riley, a proud product of contemporary rap culture.  Although they torture each other and provoke the neighborhood, they are no match for Granddad, who is eccentric even by “crazy-ass-old-black-man” standards.   
Regina King (24, Ray) voices brothers Huey and Riley Freeman, the two characters central to the series, while John Witherspoon (Friday After Next) voices Robert Jebediah Freeman aka “Granddad,” the boys’ cantankerous grandfather.  Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911!), Gary Anthony Williams (Boston Legal), Gabby Soleil (Johnson Family Vacation) and Jill Talley (Camp Lazlo) round out the show’s principal cast.  

In 2007, the envelope-pushing series was recognized with the prestigious Peabody Award for the episode McGruder wrote titled, “Return of the King,” in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. awakens from a coma and reacts to contemporary phenomena from gangsta rap to the war on terror.  In 2005 the series was nominated for a NAACP Image Award in the category of “Outstanding Comedy Series.”