Shout Out / The Boondocks

All allusions and references in The Boondocks.

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Season 1

The Garden Party

• Robert claims that white men love cheese, and that it can "turn the meanest white man into Mister Rogers".
• A more subtle reference to The Lorax is in Wuncler's name.

The Trial of R. Kelly

• R. Kelly's real-life sex scandal is satirized throughout this episode.
• On the TV news, there's a brief shot of Whitney Houston getting slapped by her husband.
• Robert tells Ruckus a joke about O. J. Simpson's and Kobe Bryant's respective legal troubles with white women (the same joke was lifted from one of the comic strips).

Guess Hoe's Coming To Dinner

• The title is a play on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
• This episode has a very similar plot to a Samurai Champloo episode. Also, at one point, Robert and Cristal walk past a man who bears a strong resemblance to Jin.
• Cristal once makes a comment about how she wishes a superhero would swoop in and save her from work, "kinda like a Captain Save-A-Me". There's a song by rapper E-40 called "Captain Save-A-Hoe".
• A Pimp Named Slickback insists that you can't shorten his name, because "it's like A Tribe Called Quest, you say the whole thing".

Granddad's Fight

• A fight sequence that took place in Huey's dream payed homage to Shinichiro Watanabe in regards to his work on Samurai Champloo. Aaron McGruder is a big fan of the series, hence the show's animation style.
  • The dream, as well as the film Huey shows Granddad to prepare him, are also obvious references to Zatoichi (AKA "The Original Blind Master").
• Ruckus has a quick rant while Robert trains for his rematch against Stinkmeaner, claiming that Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme are better martial artists than Muhammad Ali.
  • While training Granddad, Huey critiques his roundhouse kick for being an exhibition with no emotional content.
• When Granddad punches out Stinkmeaner, a nurse runs over to the body, checks his pulse, then signals his death with the same gesture used by the Mook who checked O'Hara's body after Lee killed him in Enter the Dragon.

A Date with the Health Inspector

• Gin Rummy mentions Spenser For Hire.
• Rummy later mentions Gary Trudeau.
• Again, Rummy (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson of Pulp Fiction) repeats the famous "What" dialogue in an exchange with Riley.
• The shootout at the convenience store had a conversation that sounded almost exactly like the "Message for you, sir" scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  • The cop caught in Ed and Rummy's crossfire at the mini-mart isn't quite dead yet.

The Story of Gangstalicious

A Huey Freeman Christmas

• The title is based on A Charlie Brown Christmas.
• Another Peanuts reference: Huey, who was placed in charge of the school's Christmas play, is shocked to walk into the auditorium to find all the other children dancing to music. He even asks, "Do I look like Charlie Brown? Do I look like Charlie Brown?!"
• In Jazmine's dream sequence, the praise break involves people doing acrobatic flips in the aisles, which is a reference to the similar scene from The Blues Brothers.

The Real

• The plot of this episode revolves around Granddad and Riley taking advantage of Pimp My Ride and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
• Robert and the White Shadow wear sunglasses because "Cosbiness is next to godliness."

Return of The King

• Martin Luther King Jr. gets his own biopic film, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and directed by Oliver Stone (much to the annoyance of Spike Lee).
• MLKJ appears on an MTV awards show, Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect (where he makes controversial comments about 9/11, mirroring a similar incident by Maher himself), and later a Fox News Channel talk show where the host berates him for an apparent lack of patriotism.
• During MLKJ's rant against "niggas", he says that "Black Entertainment Television is the worst thing I have ever seen!", "No Usher, Michael Jackson is not a genre of music!", and "Now let's talk about Soul Plane...".
• The result of King's speech: BET is taken off the air, NBA players resign to protest the war, black protesters storm the gates of the White House, and Oprah Winfrey eventually becomes the US President.

The Itis

• Huey and Granddad discuss Soul Food, a movie that's also about the destructive effects of African-American junk food.

Let's Nab Oprah

• During the bank robbery scene, Ed III and Gin Rummy note that the heist was about 22 minutes long, the same length as a Seinfeld episode.
• Ed and Rummy spend the episode trying to kidnap Oprah Winfrey, but by mistake they grab Maya Angelou, and later Bill Cosby.

Riley Wuz Here

• Riley's art teacher is based on Bob Ross.
• Uncle Ruckus refers to Berke Breathed as "that genius that drew that strip with the talkin' penguin, Master Penguin Drawer", while listing great white artists.

Wingmen

• Dewey's bad poetry includes verses such as "like Schwarzenegger killed Tookie", and "Chewbacca was a Wookie".
• Reference to Friday:
  Riley: YOU GOT KNOCKED THA—
  (Robert leers at him)
  Riley: Nevermind.

The Block Is Hot

• The title might be an allusion to a Lil Wayne album of the same name.
• This one has numerous shout-outs and references to Do the Right Thing, including constant references to the heat, police brutality, and a riot diverted from assaulting a human to destroying property (Huey gets permission first, though).
• Jazmine wants to name a pony after Sammy Davis Jr..

The Passion of Reverend Ruckus

• The title refers to The Passion of the Christ.
• Uncle Ruckus literally dreams about meeting Ronald Reagan in "White Heaven".
• Shabazz K. Milton Berle seems to be based on Mumia Abu-Jamal. Mumia was a Black Panther who was convicted and imprisoned for the murder of a white cop, although he and his supporters claim that he's actually an innocent man. Shabazz seems to be based on the belief that Mumia was wrongly convicted of the crime.
• When Huey prepares for his plan to rescue Shabazz from his impending execution, Riley remarks that his brother is dressed like Morpheus.

Season 2

...Or Die Trying

• This episode is a Take That! to Soul Plane.
  • Soul Plane 2 stars 50 Cent, along with John Witherspoon and Gary Anthony Williams (actors from both the real Soul Plane movie as well as The Boondocks). And one of the terrorists is named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
• Ruckus' demonstration with Huey's nunchaku is taken directly from (and uses the same sound effects from) Bruce Lee's iconic performance with the weapon in Enter the Dragon.
  • Ruckus' and Huey's fight pays tribute to Fist of the North Star; the leaping kicks that the two do to each other is a reference to the Shin vs. Kenshiro fight.

Tom, Sarah and Usher

• This episode involves Usher of course.
• When Tom discusses Sarah's reaction to Usher, Huey says "It could've been worse... it could've been Omarion."
• Tom also sings the Usher song "Let It Burn".

Thank You For Not Snitching

• The title is a reference to the anti-tobacco satire film Thank You for Smoking.
• "Stop Snitchin'" is an actual phrase and movement.

Stinkmeaner Strikes Back

• One of Granddad's lies on his online dating profile is a claim to being a member of the G-Unit (a hip hop band featuring 50 Cent).
• The scene with a Stinkmeaner-possessed Tom swearing his ass off in court is a dual shout-out to Liar Liar and Chappelle's Show (the "Rick James" sketch).
  Stinkmeaner: "FUCK YO COURT, NIGGA!" ^note Which sounds a lot like "FUCK YO COUCH, NIGGA!"
• Ghostface Killah guest-stars as a literal ghost of himself, even though Huey notes that he isn't even dead yet.
• When the (still possessed) Tom enters his house late at night to hug Sarah, the theme tune from The Exorcist can be heard.
• Stinkmeaner-in-Tom breaking down a bathroom door with an ax alludes to a famous scene from The Shining.
  Stinkmeaner: "I'M BAAAAAAACK, NYUGGAH!" ^note Which kind of sounds like "HEEEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!"
  • During the same scene, Robert also quotes a line from the "Rick James" sketch.
    Robert: "Cocaine's a hell of a drug!"
• The beginning of the fight between Stinkmeaner-Tom and the Freemans closely resembles that of the climax of Spike Spiegel vs. Vincent Volaju from Cowboy Bebop.
• When Ruckus arrives at the Freeman house to exorcise Stinkmeaner out of Tom, the theme tune from The Exorcist can be heard yet again.

The Story of Thugnificent

• Robert says that the actor who plays him in Thugnificent's "Eff Granddad" music video looks like "the nigga from Friday" (John Witherspoon).

Attack of the Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch

• The Kumite (Wah-Tah!) is a dual shout-out to both Bloodsport and Mortal Kombat, complete with a Shang Tsung expy and "Finish Him!" / "Fatality!" nods.
• Robert tells the story of how Lionel Richie and his mistress were beaten up by his angry wife, which did in fact happen in real life.
• When Luna beats up Tom, an unseen announcer proclaims it a flawless victory.

Shinin'

• It contains references to, of all things, Monty Python's Life of Brian: every one of Thugnificent's crew is willing to die for his chain... except Leonard.
• Riley accuses Granddad of plagiarizing a flashback from Friday.

Ballin'

• Tom takes inspiration from The Mighty Ducks for coaching youth basketball.
• Riley calls the autistic boy Billy Matthews "Rain Man" and "Forrest Gump".

Invasion of the Katrinians

Home Alone

• Huey mentions that one of his babysitters was "one of those British Supernannies".

The S-Word

• This episode parodies a real incident about a black student and a white teacher exchanging the N-word.
• Rollo Goodlove (who's based on activists like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton) has an argument with Ann Coulter on TV.
• Rollo Goodlove's civil rights organization is named the "Jambalaya of Justice League".

The Story Of Catcher Freeman

• Robert compares Catcher Freeman to Nat Turner, Malcolm X, and Barack Obama. Also in his story, one of the 19th century slaves compares Catcher to Batman, an anachronistic reference that even Riley notices.
• Riley compares Catcher's acrobatics in Uncle Ruckus' version of the story to Tarzan.

The Story Of Gangstalicious Part 2

The Hunger Strike

• This and the following episode are a two-part Take That! to BET.
  • Deborah Leevil, CEO of BET, is based on Debra L. Lee and Dr. Evil, from her clothes to the bizarre "pinkie held to lip" gesture, to her leitmotif, and of course for being a Card-Carrying Villain who says EVIL liberally.
  • Wedgie Rudlin, President of BET, is a parody of Reginald Hudlin. Ironically, he was (very briefly) the executive producer of The Boondocks show while it was still in development.
• Rev. Rollo Goodlove messes up while singing "Go-Go Gadget Gospel", a song originally performed by his voice actor Cee-Lo Green. It becomes even more funny when you realize Green is purposefully messing himself up when he should be able to sing it perfectly.

The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show

• Uncle Ruckus' favorite white men include John Wayne, George H. W. Bush, and Barry Manilow.
• One of Wedgie Rudlin's show ideas is a "gritty crime drama" styled after The Wire... which would happen to star the Hamburglar.
  • Rudlin also proposes a Black Panther cartoon (which later became an actual show).
• When Ruckus sees Tom wearing a kilt (the latter just found out that he has Scottish ancestry), Ruckus thinks that Tom is insulting "Scottish people" like Mel Gibson. This could also be an indirect reference to Braveheart.
  • In the same scene, Tom mentions Alex Haley's Roots to a confused Ruckus, who thinks that it's a gardening show.

Season 3

It's A Black President, Huey Freeman

• The title is based on It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
• This episode is presented as a documentary by Werner Herzog, who guest stars as himself and interviews several characters.
• Thugnificent tries to promote Barack Obama by joining will.i.am for a song called "Dick Riding Obama" (a parody of the real-life song "Yes We Can" by will.i.am).
• Thugnificent later makes an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher. He gets humiliated by the other guest star in this episode, Bill Maher.

Bitches to Rags

• Sergeant Gutter seems to be based on Soulja Boy; the song "Crank That Artichoke" is a parody of "Crank That Soulja Boy".
• The scene where Thugnificent, Leonard, and Ed III visit the record producer's house to sell him cocaine is based on the "Sister Christian" scene in Boogie Nights.

The Red Ball

• This is a direct homage/parody of the Samurai Champloo episode "Baseball Blues".
• Huey uses the Sphere Shot and the Jecht Shot from Final Fantasy X.
• Ruckus quotes a line from Blazing Saddles when he says to an unconscious Wushung player to "Dock this chink a day's pay for napping on the job."
• The scene where Huey blocks the return of the final with his hands is one to a similar scene during the final match of Shaolin Soccer.

The Story of Jimmy Rebel

• Jimmy Rebel is based on a real racist country singer known as Johnny Rebel.
• One of Jimmy Rebel's albums is titled "Spooks of Hazzard".
• While Jimmy hangs out with Ruckus, Ruckus asks Jimmy if he wants to watch Amistad again.

Stinkmeaner 3: The Hateocracy

• The Cold Open, in which Granddad has a nightmare about a horde of Stinkmeaner clones attacking his house and chasing him all the way to a lake, parodies the beginning of 28 Weeks Later.
• George Pistofferson, Rufus Crabmiser, and Esmeralda Gripenasty are based on JJ Evans, Fred Sanford, and Aunt Esther respectively.
• Rufus Crabmiser wields a weaponized crab-trap suspiciously similar to the Flying Guillotine, which he is undoubtedly a master of.
• Esmeralda's beatdown on Riley is a shot-for-shot remake◊ of a fight scene from Naruto.

Smokin' With Cigarettes

• Lamilton Taeshawn is based on Latarian Milton, and various movie villains (Bishop, Henry Evans, Damien Thorn, Michael Myers, etc).
• Lamilton's psychiatrist Dr. Doomis is based on Dr. Loomis.
• The fight between Riley and Lamilton seems to allude to the climax of Juice.

The Fundraiser

• The whole episode served as a parody of gangster movies like Scarface. And most of the music is similar to one song or another from that film.
• When Riley's teacher is talking about the chocolate fundraiser to her students, she mentions that they can be rewarded with cheap merchandise based on Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers, and The Chronicles of Narnia.
• One of Riley's classmates is cast in molten chocolate and mailed back to Riley. When he arrives, he looks like Han Solo frozen in carbonite.
• Riley also visits a "Scarface hotel suite", where he confronts the World's Ultimate Chocolate boss Alistair Ripley.
  • Ripley sarcastically asks Riley if "You must think that I'm Willy fucking Wonka?"
  • While Riley rants at Ripley, he yells "Fuck Guy Ritchie," "Fuck the Queen," and "My president is black, and my Lambo's blue!"
  • When The Mafia barge into Ripley's office, he remarks, "What is this, a casting call for The Sopranos reunion?"

Pause

• Winston Jerome and his plays/movies are an unflattering spoof of Tyler Perry and his works.
• There's a musical number featuring many beautiful men and a cross-dressing Winston Jerome in black leather.

A Date with the Booty Warrior

• Chris Hansen of To Catch a Predator appears to confront the latest sex offender... the titular Booty Warrior, who is based on a real prison rapist named Fleece Johnson.
• The rioting prisoners getting bogged down in a committee meeting, a la the People's Front of Judea. And while this one guy may not have the right to white bitches, he has the right to ask for white bitches.
• When the Booty Warrior yells at Tom to "Come out and play-ee-ay!", he was likely quoting Luther from The Warriors.

The Story of Lando Freeman

• A few references to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back:
  • Lando is noted to be named after Lando Calrissian.
  • Lando also mentions that his parents had both seen The Empire Strikes Back when the film was in theaters.
  • The tropes Luke, I Am Your Father / Luke, You Are My Father are central to the plot of this episode.
  • The Reveal is that Billy Dee Williams (the actor who played Lando Calrissian) is the true father of Lando.
• Robert and Lando both appear on The Steve Wilkos Show, and get into a fight with the host, Steve Wilkos himself.

The Lovely Ebony Brown

Mr. Medicinal

• Another reference to Mumia Abu-Jamal pops up when Granddad tells Huey he was released, in order to distract him in a bid to not see the doctor.
• Mark Hamill plays a drug dealer who sells Granddad some weed called "Skywalker" and "Black Pearl". Bonus points for both being actual strains of marijuana.
• Riley states that he's going to challenge Jaden Smith to a fight if he moves to LA. This is a reference to many popular pictures comparing Riley to the new Karate Kid.

The Fried Chicken Flu

• One early scene parodies a real incident in which customers overreacted to a shortage of chicken at a KFC restaurant.
• The episode also satirizes mass hysteria regarding bird/swine/etc. flu outbreaks.
• Huey describing the symptoms of the Fried Chicken Flu while Tom acts them out behind him is mostly likely a shout-out to a similar moment in Airplane!.
• The road chase scene looks like a homage to Mad Max. Betty von Heusen and her militia henchmen are even wearing weird bandit costumes.

The Color Ruckus

• The title is an obvious shout-out to The Color Purple.
• The opening scene with Ruckus' (false) origin story is a shot-for-shot remake of the opening for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
• Ruckus' brother Darrel and his other brother Darryl, who are dressed like Mr. T and Fat Albert.

It's Goin' Down

• 24 is spoofed throughout this episode, complete with a Jack Bauer expy named "Jack Flowers".
• Ed Wuncler I was planning to produce a movie about the so-called "Dan the Security Man" which would've starred Jack Black.

Season 4

Pretty Boy Flizzy

• Flizzy is an obvious expy of Chris Brown.
• Likewise, his girlfriend Christianna is obviously meant to be Rihanna.
• Flizzy was once arrested for fighting with Nicki Minaj, whom he claims was "a cyborg sent from the future to kill me".

Good Times

• The title directly refers to Good Times, which is mentioned a few times by the Freemans. The lyrics to the theme song even pop up randomly.
• A TV news anchorwoman describes Ed Wuncler I as a "Mr. Burns knock-off".
• Ed Wuncler II wrecks people's lives over a $1 bet, just like in Trading Places.

Breaking Granddad

• This episode parodies Breaking Bad, particularly the pilot episode. More than a few scenes are imitated:
  • For starters, there's the whole plot of a financially desperate Freeman family cooking and selling an illegal substance (though it's explosive hair cream rather than methamphetamine).
  • Robert's meeting with a financial adviser about his bankruptcy, is similar to Walter White's appointment with his doctor about his cancer.
  • Boss Willona, though not bearing much physical resemblance, seems to play a similar role to Breaking Bad antagonists like Krazy-8, Tuco, and Gus.
  • All of the scenes involving an RV in the desert are directly spoofed from the Breaking Bad pilot.

Early Bird Special

Freedom Ride or Die

• Robert quotes Hudson from Aliens ("I don't know if you've been keeping up with current events, but we just our asses kicked, pal"),
• Ruckus plants a bomb on a bus that will explode if it goes over 15 miles an hour, a parody of the plot of Speed.

Granddad Dates a Kardashian

• If you didn't already notice, this one parodies Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
• Huey meets an expy of Mother Theresa.

Freedomland

• Riley makes a reference to Toby from Roots.
• Ruckus compares the slave revolt in Freedomland to Planet of the Apes.

I Dream of Siri

• The title is likely an allusion to I Dream of Jeannie.
• The iPhone commercial at the beginning involves George Lucas asking Siri about fan reactions to Star Wars controversies.

Stinkmeaner: Begun the Clone War Has

• While Stinkmeaner's clone explains Nigga Moments again, he mentions Scarface, and shows a picture of Ronald Reagan. He also says that Nigga Moments are like "Groundhog Day for niggas!"
• A direct allusion to Star Wars, not only in the title, but also a dream scene in which Granddad imagines that he's a Jedi being trained by Yoda to fight a Darth Stinkmeaner.
• Robert, who is suddenly dressing and acting like Stinkmeaner, tries to start a fight with an expy of Mister Rogers.

The New Black

• The spokesman for the "No Probe" special interest group bears a strong resemblance to Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys.
• Rollo Goodlove mentions Trayvon Martin.
• Riley quips that the word "special" should apply to extraordinary people like Luke Skywalker, not to the mentally disabled.