After a long delay, Aaron McGruder’s controversial animated series The Boondocks will jump back into the Adult Swim pool next month. The second season of highly political comedy will premiere on Monday, Oct. 8 at 11:30 p.m. (ET/ PT) during Cartoon Network’s late-night programming block. A total of 15 new episodes of the Peabody Award-winning series produced by Sony Pictures Television will air through January of 2008.
The new season finds Huey, Riley and Granddad encountering various characters, both new and familiar as a host of celebrities from music, television and film lend their voices to episodes. Among them are rappers Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Cee-lo and Lil Wayne, actors 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), Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris), Bill Duke (X-Men: The Last Stand) and Cedric the Entertainer (Talk to Me), and talkshow host Tavis Smiley. Reprising their guest roles from last season are Mos Def, Xzibit, Charlie Murphy, MTV’s Sway and Katt Williams. Returning principal cast members include Regina King (24, Ray), John Witherspoon (Next Friday),Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911!), Gary Anthony Williams (Boston Legal), Gabby Soleil (Johnson Family Vacation) and Jill Talley (Camp Lazlo).
In upcoming episodes, Granddad gets into a feud with a world-renowned rapper named Thugnificent and attempts online dating. Family friend Tom DuBois enlists the counsel of A Pimp Named Slickback when he fears losing his wife to R&B superstar Usher, and the Freemans take in a family after Hurricane Katrina.
Based on McGruder’s popular comic strip by the same name, The Boondocks won a 2007Peabody Award for the episode Return of the King, in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. awakens from a coma and reacts to gangsta rap, the war on terror and contemporary issues. In 2005, the series was nominated for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. McGruder serves as exec producer on the show, which is produced by Rebel Base in association with Sony Pictures Television.
