In an update to the cancellation of The Boondocks, it seems that one of the reasons cited is due to Aaron McGruder’s schedule getting too hectic for the series to continue. Apparently Adult Swim & McGruder were working out a new schedule due to his upcoming series Black Jesus (also airing on Adult Swim), and couldn’t come to terms on which would allow him to work on both The Boondocks and Black Jesus on an even pacing. Boondocks began very popularly that even creates a slot-theme dedicated to this, try and play the game at Daisy slots. This was probably being worked out around the end of season 3 to the beginning of production on season 4, as Adult Swim and Aaron McGruder agreed to continue on with the fourth season without his involvement, which was likely the main piece of the series ending, McGruder is the series’ writer, showrunner, and is a producer.
It should be noted that production cost may have also been the go head for the cancellation. Beginning with season 2, all production of the series was moved to South Korea where it was being produced and animated by MOI Animation, though Japanese animation studio Mad House had been credited in the past. Animation in Asian countries is quite expensive due to the amount of quality and detailing needed for final product. And with the large gap inbetween seasons and Aaron focusing on Black Jesus from this point forward it wouldn’t have made much since for the series to go on past season 5.
It’ll be interesting to see what McGruder gives the ok for the property moving forward. Currently Sony Pictures Television holds not only the TV rights to The Boondocks, but the film rights as well. Considering a few theatrical or one off direct to DVD films would be easier on Aaron McGruder’s schedule compared to an entire season of a TV series, it’s not too far fetched to think about the possibility of direct to DVD films, if this route is chosen, it’s likely the first of them would be based on the character Uncle Rukus, McGruder previously tried to get a film based on the character going via crowd funding site Kick Starter, though this version was live-action. The time for funding ran out just shy of it’s initial goal, which I believe was $200k and it only made it to about $127k.
Another possibility is a video game spin-off, as Sony owns the Playstation brand, and if interested McGruder could sell the video game rights to Sony (thus making it a Playstation exclusive), and have a video game release exclusively to the Playstation 4 and Playstation 3 systems as a way of giving fans a small thank you.
