The Boondocks

So Alia asked if I’d watched The Boondocks. I just peeped it on the TiVo, and I’m a fan.

That statement’s got to be qualified, though. I don’t think the first episode was flawless, but I tend not to like the first episode of everything. Typically, folks have to try to cover too much ground in the episode in an attempt to paint a representative portrtait of the series. With that in mind, I will say the show was imperfect.
But man, the funny stuff on there was funny. FUNNY. I won’t say too much because those that haven’t seen the first episode can catch a rerun on Saturday night. Put it like this–McGruder managed to make getting shot with a firehose in a civil rights demonstration uproariously funny. That was a classic bit.
I’m sure use of the word “nigga” will get a lot of press. I didn’t find the use to be as gratuitous as many. Didn’t hear it much more on the show than I hear it from most of my friends, and none of them–nor me–are really gratuitous with it. There was no use of “nigga” that I didn’t think would have been in the natural course of a conversation.
Like it or not, “nigga” is a part of common parlance. It’s far from unrealistic that about ten of ’em could drop in an episode. Someone told me they read it was used 46 times in the show, which would be more than twice a minute. I don’t think I heard that many.
Either way, funny stuff. It’ll be fun to see how it progresses. Moving a comic strip into an episodic format is ambitious as hell, so there’s no telling where this will go. McGruder’s smart enough to make something good of it, and he’s got Reggie Hudlin on the team. I’m a big fan of Reggie and I’m a fan of Aaron’s work, so they might be onto something great.
I’ll be watching to see if they do.