The Boondocks was started by Aaron McGruder in the University of Maryland’s student newspaper, it would later run in The Source magazine and eventually became a syndicated comic strip in 1999 and was also being pitched as an animated television series.

The Boondocks premiered on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim in fall 2005 and was very successful with season two premiering in fall 2007.  Now I missed the original run of season one, but fortunately Adult Swim was airing The Boondocks in an hour block, first showing a season two episode, and then showing a season one episode.  I was able to see all the episodes and I must say I like this show. 

The Boondocks has been described as a social satire of American culture and race relations, revolving around the lives of the Freeman family – ten-year-old Huey, his younger brother, eight-year-old Riley, and their grandfather, Robert.   I have to say I agree, it makes you think, laugh and sometime say “what?!?”  However be prepared for a lot of foul language including "mutherfucka" and the always controversial "nigga," but creator Aaron McGruder says that the use provides the show with a level of realism since that word is commonly used in the everyday conversation of many African Americans.  The social satire is very apparent when McGruder lambastes the rap and hip hop culture; he does it so completely it’s almost hard to believe the voice talent involved with the show including Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Xzibit, Busta Rhymes, Mos Def, Katt Williams, Lil' Wayne, and Sway in addition to Samuel L. Jackson who lend their voices to the animated characters.  

The big deal about The Boondocks: The Complete Second Season is that although 15 episodes were made, only 13 aired.   Two episodes, “The Hunger Strike” and “The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show,” both take BET (Black Entertainment Television) to task for “dumbing down the African-American community.” In these episodes McGruder bashes BET, Reggie Hudlin who was McGruder’s former partner/producer and now is the president of entertainment of BET, and Debra L. Lee, Hudlin’s boss.   Those shows were pulled because BET threatened to sue, I’m sure Cartoon Network wanted to air the episodes as Boondocks is one of their highest-rated show but couldn’t.  So as McGruder put it there are two episodes “that will never air on US TV”.  However the box set not only contains these episodes, with commentary from both Hudlin & fellow producer Rodney Barnes, you also get intros to both episodes by Hudlin and we also learn that “The Hunger Strike” was originally called “BET Sucks!”