‘The Boondocks’: The Episode That Tyler Perry Allegedly Absolutely Hated
The Boondocks is widely considered one of the funniest shows to ever grace television, but not everyone has found it entertaining.
Known for pushing the limit on satire, the program has attracted plenty of critics since its 2005 debut. This reportedly includes movie mogul Tyler Perry, who was the subject of a controversial throwback episode.
What ‘The Boondocks’ is about
Created by cartoonist Aaron McGruder, The Boondocks revolves around two Black boys, political enthusiast Huey and his impressionable, gangster-wannabe brother Riley. Originally from the Southside of Chicago, the two wind up moving to a predominantly white suburb in the city to live with their granddad, Robert Jebediah “Granddad” Freeman.
The Boondocks follows the two as they navigate life in their new neighborhood. Across four seasons, it explored themes such as race and politics all while providing plenty of punch and humor. It enjoyed a nine-year run on the air before ending in 2014.
‘The Boondocks’ episode that allegedly offended Tyler Perry
In 2010, The Boondocks ran an episode called “Pause” that riffed on Perry — the creator of Madea, an eccentric, gun-toting grandma who appears in several of his plays and movies.
Granddad winds up getting cast in a play by Winston Jerome, who plays a character reminiscent of Madea. But the thing is, Jerome is a secretly gay man who doesn’t really care about religion — he just uses it to shield his true sexuality.
After the episode aired, numerous reports emerged claiming the episode had upset Perry. There were even rumors that the House of Payne star had planned on suing McGruder for the episode. Perry would eventually deny those rumors, but The Los Angeles Times reported that he allegedly did take some sort of action over it.
Sources told the outlet that he contacted Turner Broadcasting and “complained loudly about the episode and even threatened to rethink his relationship with the company.” (Perry had several shows on the network’s channel TBS at the time.)
The report mentions that the episode pretty much disappeared from airwaves after that. However, the outlet did not know whether the episode had been banned.
There are ‘fun’ new episodes of ‘The Boondocks’ on the way
Five years after The Boondocks concluded, Variety announced that a reboot was in the works. The details were scarce, but McGruder assured fans in a statement shared with TVLine that it will be “fun” and won’t disappoint.
“There’s a unique opportunity to revisit the world of The Boondocks and do it over again for today,” he said. “It’s crazy how different the times we live in are now – both politically and culturally – more than a decade past the original series and two decades past the original newspaper comic. There’s a lot to say and it should be fun.”
We hope so! Stay tuned to Showbiz Cheat Sheet for more details on the reboot as they become available.
