Adaptation Displacement: The original comic strip was displaced by the animated series. It doesn't help that the overall tone and subject matter are very different, with the comic strip being more mundane, while the show is more outlandish (at least later down the line).
Given that he has been raised by two consecutive generations of loathsome people, it is very possible to view Ed Wuncler III as a product of his upbringing, rather than just a dangerous loony, especially since he forms a genuine friendship with Riley.
Ruckus' father is so hateful towards his son that it's at least plausible that he lied when he claimed Revitiligo wasn't real, and that Ruckus wasn't adopted. This one seems unlikely at a glance, but would be far from the weirdest thing to happen on the show. It is worth nothing that his mother continued to hold to her story.
Why does Robert regularly pursue relationships with women young enough to be his daughter? Is he a Dirty Old Man? Or is he afraid of outliving another spouse after being widowed once before?
The comic strip was a vehicle for Aaron McGruder's political views, though fortunately there was enough self-deprecating humor to balance it out. The show has distinct political overtones as well, but is usually more subtle about it.
Every single mention of BET, up to and including outright saying that they are evil.
"Freedomland" makes no attempt to hide its “the rich are keeping the poor and middle class down" message.
Huey calling out the Common Nonsense Jury in "The Trial of R. Kelly" is an extremely on-the-nose "The Reason You Suck" Speech aimed towards people who let celebrities get a free pass from crimes solely because they're celebrities.
Awesome Music: It’s widely agreed upon that the soundtrack is great. Even the parody songs which are supposed to be more funny than anything else are pretty catchy, such as "Eff Granddad".
Colonel H. Stinkmeaner. Not everyone enjoyed him reappearing once every season; particularly the Season 4 episode "Stinkmeaner: Begun the Clone War Has", which is basically a retread of "Granddad's Fight".
Sarah DuBois gets some backlash due to her treatment of Tom; such as her domineering attitude in some episodes, and the questions of her fidelity (she never cheats on her husband, but does have a habit of flirting with other men).
The DVDs are uncut, don't have the offensive language bleeped out, and include the four episodes that have been banned from reruns ("The Hunger Strike", "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show", "The Story of Jimmy Rebel", and "Pause"). Digital storefronts such as iTunes also used the uncensored DVD version as well.
Averted when the show used to be on Netflix (American feed; the Canadian version had the series uncut, uncensored, and with the missing episodes) and Hulu, as not only that was it the censored Adult Swim version (where the language is censored and the four banned episodes aren't on there), but also uses the incorrect aspect ratio that Adult Swim used for the first two seasons.
Zigzagged with the HBO Max version. Most of the episodes are available and are uncensored. However, due to fears of complaints over racist content, "The Story of Jimmy Rebel" is not available.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In "...Or Die Trying", it is revealed that Uncle Ruckus is some kind of martial arts master with nunchaku mastery and the ability to fight on Huey's level. Huey shrugs at the camera when Ruckus shows off. This was never hinted at before and never occurs again and is quickly forgotten. This becomes very noticeable when Ruckus is attacked by The Hateocracy but shows none of his prior fighting abilities.
Was the show a worthy adaptation of the comic strip or not? If it wasn't, was it because it went too far in its satire or did it play things too safe?
The way multiple characters were written changed as the series went on, especially from Season 1 to Season 2. Fans were torn about liking the Character Exaggeration or not.
Reception is somewhat split over when and where the series was at its best/worst - mostly between those who think Season 2 both improved its stride and found its particular comedic style, and those who think that Season 2 lost some of its earliest energy, symbolism and characterization. There's also a minor debate over whether the emphasis on the various characters was handled well and caused them to be more distinctive and endearing, or whether it was handled poorly and caused them to become too exaggerated and flanderized.
The base splintered over Season 4, partly because McGruder was not involved in its production in any way. Detractors say that the show's characters were too exaggerated and the sharp satire was starting to wane, while fans say that, while the season wasn't nearly as good, and [adult swim]'s treatment of it is a classic case of Screwed by the Network, there were some enjoyable episodes.
Crosses the Line Twice: Half of the show’s humor comes from jokes that should not be funny being utterly hilarious thanks to how they are executed in the most over the top manner.
Pretty much anything pertaining to Tom's fear of being raped in prison in "A Date with the Health Inspector", especially this exchange:
Tom: Whatever you do, don't tell my baby Jasmine. I don't want her to know her daddy was somebody's bitch. Huey:(to Jasmine) Um, your father wants you to know he's nobody's bitch.
Uncle Ruckus does this every time he talks about black people due to him being an African American white supremacist.
A Pimp Named Slickback does this every time he talks, period. Here's just one example of many:
A Pimp Named Slickback: I mean, don't get me wrong, A Pimp Named Slickback will put a lot of things over a hoe. Money over a hoe? Always. Brand new gators over a hoe? Absolutely. A turkey sandwich with just tomato? Guaranteed. But homies? Oh, no. A Pimp Named Slickback don't do shit for the homies. Let me reiterate: Don't. Do.Shit for the homies. Unless that homie wanna walk that stroll and get that money, the homie ain't gettin' a goddamn thing. And the same goes for brothas, peeps, dudes, fellas, dunnies, comrades, whatever the fuck niggas is callin' each other nowadays. Sounds like some gay shit to me.
Shabazz's wrongful arrest and conviction for killing a police officer crosses from tragic to hilarious with the utterly absurd mountaing of exconerating evidence, including several eyewitnesses, murder weapon with clear fingerprints in chocolate stains, a spoken confession from the real killer, and a stenographer who happened to be present to write it down and had it signed by the killer.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s tirade towards the African American community in "Return of the King". It starts with him scolding them for their ignorance and lack of drive while using the n-word, which he acknowledges as the "ugliest word in the English language". Then he continues by taking pot shots at fixations of modern black pop culture like Usher and BET. At the end, he washes his hands of African Americans and declares he's moving to Canada.
Most of what Ed Wuncler I does is horrible, but sometimes you just can't help but laugh. He once fired everyone working at a restaurant he owned except for the Mexican workers. When one of the employees remarks that she's half-Mexican, Wuncler further specifies not the illegal Mexicans, which is followed by said illegal Mexicans offscreen shouting "¡Olé!".
In "The Story of Gangstalicious Part 2" when Riley is miserably working his way through his idea that having been a fan of the gay Gangstalicious makes him gay too, Huey poker-facedly confirming that it does and causing Riley to break down in tears would normally be a nasty Kick the Dog moment. But the way he solemnly deadpans "I know it's wrong, but I really want my own room"note Robert had said that if Riley turned out to be gay the two boys would have to get separate rooms before quietly getting up to leave while his brother weeps with unmitigated Gayngst behind him makes it hilarious.
Michael Caesar, the deuteragonist from the comic strip. Sadly, he was omitted from the show because McGruder couldn't find the right voice actor for him.
Colonel Stinkmeaner, for similar reasons as Ruckus, and being the source of quite a few memes as well.
Grandmaster Bushido Brown, "the greatest black karate man to ever live". His badass combat skills are highlighted by his fights with Huey Freeman, and later the Hateocracy.
Cindy McPhearson. Even though she only appeared in the first few years of the comic strip, and only appears in four episodes of the show, she is a fan favorite.
The show's portrayal of Ann Coulter from "The S-Word" as a ghetto, shit-talking lady who acts conservative just to get money is pretty popular.
Ming Long-dou from "The Red Ball". Even though she's only a one-shot antagonist, quite a lot of fans noticed her.
Jack Flowers from "It's Goin' Down", due to being a parody of Jack Bauer.
Lamilton Taeshawn heavily counts because he loves doing bad things.
Rollo Goodlove, for always proving himself to be a delightful Magnificent Bastard in his three appearances.
Hiro Otomo, another comic-exclusive character. He is Huey’s Japanese-American friend who loves to DJ. Despite being only present in early prototype versions of the comics (which seem to have been lost with time) and in promotional art for the syndicated strip, he has gained quite a following amongst fans. You’d be amazed at how many people wanted him in the show.
Fanon Discontinuity: Most fans like to pretend that Season 4 never existed, and that the series ended with the Season 3 episode "It's Goin' Down".
Growing the Beard: The series doesn't really come into its own until Season 2, at which point the art and animation quality receive a considerable boost and the idiosyncrasies of the characters and oddball supporting cast members come into the limelight.
One of the series' early episodes, "The Trial of R. Kelly", famously satirized a real-life legal scandal about Robert Kelly, who was charged (and acquitted) of having sexual relations with a teenage girl. In 2017, news of R. Kelly committing many more similar crimes went public. Although thankfully, the courts were finally able to nail him on those charges; and as of 2022, he faces 30+ years in prison for all his sexual offenses.
Back in 2006, the Season 1 episode "The Real" had Robert and the White Shadow wearing sunglasses, with both saying they were inspired by Bill Cosby, as "Cosbyness is next to godliness". Then in 2014, dozens of rape accusations against Cosby started to become publicized; and in 2018, he was convicted and sentenced to some prison time. Though unlike R. Kelly it didn't stick, as Cosby's conviction was overturned due to the prosecution not following proper court procedures.
Also in the same episode, it's shown that the reason why Robert's wearing sunglasses in the first place, is to pretend that he's blind as part of a scam against two reality TV shows. Not long after the rape accusations against Bill Cosby came forth, the man would soon reveal that he became blind from keratoconus.
Latarian Milton (the real-life inspiration for Lamilton Taeshawn from "Smokin' with Cigarettes") never really grow out of his "hood rat" behavior well into young adulthood, and was eventually imprisoned for carjacking.
The plot of "Mr. Medicinal" is kicked off by Granddad suffering from various health problems, including a near-fatal stroke caused by his stressful life. In 2019, his voice actor John Witherspoon died of a heart attack at age 77, which also unfortunately happened well before he was able to reprise his role for The Boondocks reboot series (which has since been canceled for myriad reasons).
Furthermore in "Early Bird Special", Robert is asked during a job interview where he sees himself going in ten years. He simply replies "dead", which is exactly what John Witherspoon would be only five years after the episode aired.
People who only knew Edward Asner for his more comedic roles will be surprised at how effectively he can play such a loathsome villain as Ed Wuncler I.
The friendship between Uncle Ruckus and Jimmy Rebel is very humorously bromantic.
Inferred Holocaust: During the Season 3 finale, It's Goin' Down, Ed Wunclear I states that the only person who would have died when he blew up his building would be the receptionist. This should go without saying, but you can't destroy a building without collateral damage. Yet, the episode glosses over the idea of people being hit by falling debris.
Huey may be cold and aloof most of the time, but during the course of "Wingmen" and "The Passion of Reverend Ruckus", we actually get to see him cry. He also counts in general considering the fact that his parents arelikely dead, his granddad constantly ignores him, his brother is constantly getting into trouble, and he is Surrounded by Idiots.
Riley has his moments of this; especially in "Riley Wuz Here" (where he somehow harnesses his troublemaking skills to impress Granddad and touch his heart), "Home Alone" (where Huey blames him for Robert leaving, puts him in an orange prison jumpsuit and imprisons him at gunpoint), and also in "Smokin' with Cigarettes" (where he gets tormented by a psychopathic bully who's trying to drag him down to a whole new level of wickedness).
Robert has some woobie moments, especially in "Wingmen" and "Good Times". Although Robert is more often than not a very poor role model for his grandsons, he still cares about them deep down. Not to mention that given his old age, it's strongly implied that most of his friends and family are dead.
Luna has suffered every type of physical and emotional abuse, and just as she makes amends for tormenting the Freemans, her friend Nicole unintentionally convinces her to blow herself up with the same grenade she threatened to use earlier on Tom and Robert.
Uncle Ruckus in "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show" and "The Color Ruckus". We learn that his hatred of fellow black people stems from abuse by his father and grandmother, along with brainwashing by his white-worshiping mother. Ruckus is so delusional that he thinks he's white, and the revelation that he's black makes him feel severely depressed.
Even Uncle Ruckus' abusive and hateful father, Mister Ruckus, counts as a woobie; considering all the abuse he suffered from the hands of his own asshole mother and racist white men.
Jack Flowers. Every woman he ever loved, they were all brutally murdered by terrorists and criminals. As a secret agent who specializes in counter-terrorism, he has seen and done awful deeds that have also emotionally scarred him.
Uncle Ruckus, despite being the darkest-skinned character on the show, is intensely anti-black and never passes up an opportunity to praise the white man or denigrate black people.
Colonel Stinkmeaner. He's not so much anti-black as anti-everyone, and uses his limited screen time to insult people and generally make everyone else's life miserable.
Ed Wuncler I for being a Corrupt Corporate Executive bar none. While he's never explicitly expressed any anti-black sentiments, he's incredibly greedy and not above manipulating anyone and everyone to get what he wants, and generally regards anyone who isn't as rich as he is (everyone, in other words) with disdain.
Lamilton Taeshawn, all because he, in his own words, is a bad kid who loves doing bad things.
R. Kelly's lawyer from "Trial of R. Kelly". He is an Amoral Attorney defending a very obviously guilty predator. But because it's Adam West giving a Cold Ham makes him very amusing and quite memorable.
Wedgie Rudlin, for being a funny parody of former BET President Reginald Hudlin, and being quite polite to Ruckus.
Reverend Rollo Goodlove is a straw liberal activist whose motivations behind his multiple causes are money and publicity. First appearing in "The S-Word", Rollo convinces the Freemans to sue Mr. Petto for using a "racial slur" on Riley, and prolonging the issue by collaborating with Ann Colter in orchestrating a political debate. In "The Hunger Strike" he convinces Huey to continue his hunger strike in the kid's efforts to boycott BET, only to abandon his cause once the network gives Rollo his own TV sitcom. Helping the Freemans once again in "The New Black", he manages to convince the public that Riley is a special needs child using the word "gay" to describe things he doesn't like, switching their ire to those who sued Riley for saying the slur. While the beliefs in his causes might not be genuine, his charisma and master planning are, making Rollo one of the most likable masterminds on the show.
"Riley Wuz Here": The "Art Teacher" is a former Shell-Shocked Veteran turned crook who moonlights as an educator. Upon overseeing Riley spray painting a house, he immediately takes a liking to him and takes him under his wing. Teaching Riley basic drawing before moving out a bigger canvas, he has Riley paint several beautiful murals on various homes. Proposing on the last night to paint someone who isn't in the picture anymore, he has Riley paint a mural of his deceased parents. When the police show up, the art teacher shoots their tires and takes off. Despite only appearing in one episode, the art teacher stood out as one of the most soft spoken antagonists and provided one of the most touching scenes in the show.
Memetic Badass: If the viewers are to believed, nothing and no one can stop the Booty Warrior (except for Tom, and even then only because of a dropped soap).
Minority Show Ghetto: A notable aversion, as the show proved to be quite a success with audiences, appealing beyond just the obvious black demographic.
Misaimed Fandom: The Boondocks as a whole can be considered this. A lot of people are unaware that the series is a satire. As such, it has come under fire for its sense of humor, and it has been accused of being racist against both black and white people. It doesn't help that while McGruder has a low opinion of a lot of African American media for indulging in Uncle Tomfoolery, The Boondocks itself frequently uses black stereotypes for jokes.
Moe: Jazmine is just as guileless and adorable as a regular little girl, stark contrast to the cynical Huey.
Ed Wuncler I crosses it when he gets Ed III and Gin Rummy to set bombs in a populated building just to try and kill one man, for the sole purpose of profiting from his death, despite being rich enough to have connections to the President.
Uncle Ruckus trying to reinstate slavery, and succeeding with the Freeman family in the episodes "Good Times" and "Freedomland".
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Many Uncle Ruckus-centered episodes didn't do much to develop his character outside of "comic relief bigot". "The Color Ruckus" changed that.
Seasonal Rot: Most fans believe that Season 4 is the worst of the lot. Aside from McGruder not being involved, several voice actors had to be replaced, a lot of side characters were missing, and many felt that the new plots and humor had weakened greatly. Even Adult Swim agrees, as whenever reruns are shown, the fourth season is conspicuously absent, though Adult Swim did end up airing the season as part of a marathon in May 2020.
Shipping: Many think that Huey/Jazmine and Riley/Cindy would make great couples, even though canonically, there has never been any romance between the kids.
Gangstalicious' freestyle in "Thank You for Not Snitching" is this for MF DOOM's "Rap Snitch Knishes."
"Homies Over Hoes" sounds a lot like D4L's "Laffy Taffy."
Uncle Ruckus' theme tune is sourced from Jabba's theme from Star Wars.
Sgt. Gutter's "Crank That Artichoke" is pretty clearly meant to be a take-off of "Crank That" by Soulja Boy.
Take That, Scrappy!: When Ruckus' dad gives him a scathing speech about his origins, his personality, his entire being, many fans cheered. Ruckus later returns the favor to his dad in the climax.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: While both the comic strip and the show have always been critically acclaimed, there are numerous shifts that have caused division in the fanbase:
Although the comic strip didn't become widely known until it started regularly doing political commentary, there are some fans who feel that the shift to politics was detrimental. These fans feel that originally, the comic strip's appeal was its large cast of characters and most of the humor was derived from their interactions. They say that when the comic strip changed, the cast was reduced to just Huey and Caesar, and a lot of it boiled down to just Huey watching the news.
The differences between the comic strip and the show caused arguments due to the social commentary being more indirect and not as frequent, along with several changes to the personalities of the characters.
Some fans hold Season 1 in higher regard due to the show becoming Denser and Wackier in subsequent seasons, the social commentary taking a backseat to more general plots, and Huey being Demoted to Extra and losing a lot of his passion in general.
Some feel this way about Season 4 since McGruder wasn't involved.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Cindy McPhearson in the cartoon. She played an antagonistic role towards Riley in the episode "Ballin," then came back in "The Fundraiser" where she teamed up with him to make money. She could have been a good partner-in-crime/support character for Riley, as well as a way to comment on white kids who become obsessed with stereotypical black culture. She fell Out of Focus for the rest of season 3 and disappeared afterwards.
This is more hypothetical, but it's quite likely that many fans have been left wondering why neither the comic strip nor the show have ever bothered to explain what happened to Huey's and Riley's father, mother, and grandmother. This is especially odd considering that Uncle Ruckus, of all people, got an episode that explored his backstory and family.
Season 4 in general doesn't feel like much of a conclusive final season for the series.
The comic strip was very topical, and most of the humor revolved around the political news and popular culture of the time; it stands out as a product of the late 1990s and (especially) the early-to-mid 2000s, in the same way Bloom County's humor made it a product of the 1980s.
On a less-topical note, the comic also dated itself by references to technology of the time. For example, the boys started out playing games on an original PlayStation before eventually upgrading to a PlayStation 2, with occasional references to other consoles from the 6th Generation.
The music of Thugnificent and Gangstalicious is an element specific to the show that ties it to the period it was made, as the styles of rap that they parody (crunk for the former, snap for the latter, and more generally the "ringtone rap" era for both) were enormously popular in the middle of the decade, but were Condemned by History by 2009. Thugnificent's career decline can be seen as a nod to crunk's demise, but overall, their presence dates itself.
Riley's catchphrase "Nigga, you gay" would be considered a lot more homophobic nowadays than it was in the early 2000s, where homophobic insults were a lot more common. Though this is somewhat subverted by the fact that his homophobia is supposed to be the joke, and that it's immature and ridiculous, and emblematic of fragile masculinity. This is further lampshaded and deconstructed in the last episode of Season 4, "The New Black", when Riley's infamous catchphrase lands him in a lot of trouble with LGBT activists.
In both the comic strip and the cartoon, Robert would threaten to commit acts of child abuse on his grandsons, such as threatening to "violate some child abuse laws" when Riley asked for a gun while he was watching his stories during the story arc where Riley wanted to join the NRA, or threatening to "beat Huey till the cops come and beat me" when Huey repeatedly asked if his grandfather did drugs. There were also moments where Robert would spank Riley, such as one instance where Riley didn't want to go to school, or the scene from "Smokin' With Cigarettes" where he spanked Riley for hanging out with Lamilton. These scenes were played for laughs, but nowadays it would suicidal to portray such punishment as funny.
In "Guess Hoe's Coming to Dinner"
Robert teaches a single mother how to give her child a whuppin', leading to her spanking her son in front of several shoppers, most of which laugh at the sight. Today, the mother would be kicked out of the store or banned for doing such an action in public, and the shoppers would report to higher authority about such an action being done, if there weren't any security cameras present.
The episode has some very sexist undertones in addition to a clear disdain for sex workers. Huey and Riley spend some scenes debating whether or not most or all women are "hoes." Robert's latest crush, Cristal, who is a "hoe" of some kind is portrayed as a loud mouth, gold digging leech on Granddad who willingly chooses to remain with her pimp (i.e. human trafficker) instead of someone who loves her. While sex work as a whole remains controversial, it's well known now that most people turn to it out of need more than want. If this episode were to come out today, Cristal would probably be given a much more sympathetic showing than just some promiscuous woman who plays with men's hearts.
What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: Though the TV show averts this, the comic strip is the biggest example in the medium of newspaper cartoons. Most newspaper comic strips in the U.S. are predominantly aimed at children and families. However, The Boondocks is not aimed at children in the slightest with many references to African American culture and American politics, especially those relating to race. Due to this, many newspaper syndication services refused to pick up the comic strip due to the subject material being deemed "too edgy" and inappropriate for children.
Tom frequently qualifies for this; whether it's all the disrespect he receives from his friends, and even from his wife, or his paranoid phobia of Prison Rape, which he almost became a victim of. It's especially hard not to feel sad for him during the episode "Tom, Sarah and Usher". First, Sarah starts flirting with Usher, on their anniversary, and leaves the table to take pictures with him. When Tom confronts her about it afterward, she gets defensive and leaves the car to walk home. Then, he gets kicked out when trying to assert his dominance as the man of the house and moves in with the Freemans. Finally, when he tries to assert his dominance, he slaps Usher, which provokes the singer and his bodyguards into beating him to a pulp. And if that wasn't enough, while he's getting pummeled, his own daughter apologetically cries, not for him, but for Usher.
Jazmine sometimes took on this role in the comics, due to being insecure about her mixed ancestry, and also because of Huey's rudeness towards her. But especially in the episode "The Block Is Hot", where she falls prey to Ed I's ruthless scheming.
Martin Luther King Jr. in "Return of the King". Even though his appearance was non-canon, it's still sad to see such an idealistic activist realize that his hopes and dreams really didn't turn out the way he wanted them to, becoming very disillusioned in the end.
Thugnificent in "Bitches to Rags", due to the end of his music career coinciding with his debt and bankruptcy. He seems to adjust well enough to his new blue-collar job though.
Thugnificent's friend Leonard, as the poor guy works non-stop at Wendy's to pay for Thugnificent's decaying mansion.
Woolseyism: For obvious reasons, most of the humor was adapted in many foreign-dubbed versions:
The Mexican Spanish dub has a weird approach on this: While they avoided the Animation Age Ghetto by keeping the original expletives intact (and sometimes even adding extra expletives), on the other hand and due to an unexpected limitation of the Spanish language, the slur Nigger is translated as negro (literally "black" as both "black color" or "Black people"). Normally the word Negro is not an insult by default in Mexico and many Spanish-speaking countries (though "negro" was once used in the US as an adjective for black people and it was Fair for Its Day, but now it's not), and it's only an insult when you add an adjective on it. It's not the same saying in Spanish "Eres un negro" (You're a Black guy) than saying "Eres un Maldito Negro" (You're a Damn Black guy) which is the closest thing to saying Nigger in Spanish. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't, especially when someone is using the slur as either an insult, or just to describe a black person in a peyorative way by another black person.
The Hungarian dub ads extra profanities and exaggerated the speech mannerisms of certain characters. Uncle Ruckus speaks an improper rural folk dialect, though others randomly dip in and out of the same speech pattern too, especially in scenes where American urban slang proved untranslatable. The word "nigger" is near consistently used in the dub instead of "nigga", mainly because the latter would make no sense in this language — the closest equivalent to "nigga" would be "feka" (slang for black), which is spoken at times, but only rarely. However, in scenes that specifically call out the difference between the two words, the dub uses "nigga". Other expressions were changed too. Stinkmeaner's "nyugga" was replaced with "nyugger", a common real life slang term for retired people (from the base word "nyugdíjas", meaning pensioner). The term "bitch dependency" was changed to "picsalódás", a portmanteau of "picsa" (cunt) and "csalódás" (disappointment).
by Thugnificent.