Black Jesus (TV series)
American live-action television sitcom
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Black Jesus is an American live-action sitcom created by Aaron McGruder and Mike Clattenburg that aired on Adult Swim. The series stars Gerald "Slink" Johnson, Charlie Murphy, Corey Holcomb, Kali Hawk, King Bach, Andra Fuller, and John Witherspoon. The series premiered on August 7, 2014. On December 10, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season,[2] which premiered on September 18, 2015.[3] Its third and final season premiered on September 21, 2019.[4]
| Black Jesus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Aaron McGruder Mike Clattenburg |
| Starring | |
| Composer | Jonathan "Jon" Jackson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 31 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers | |
| Editor | Jean Crupper (season 3) |
| Running time | 20 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Adult Swim |
| Release | August 7, 2014 – November 30, 2019[1] |
Premise
The scripted live-action comedy features Jesus Christ living in modern-day Compton, California, on a mission to spread love and kindness throughout the neighborhood with his small group of followers.[5]
Cast
- Gerald "Slink" Johnson as Jesus Christ
- Charlie Murphy as Victor "Vic" Hargrove (seasons 1–2)
- John Witherspoon as Lloyd Hamilton
- Kali Hawk as Maggie (seasons 1–2)
- Corey Holcomb as Boonie
- Andra Fuller as Fish (seasons 1–2)
- Andrew Bachelor as Trayvon (seasons 1–2)
- Angela E. Gibbs as Ms. Tudi
- Antwon Tanner as Jason (main seasons 1–2; recurring season 3)
- Valenzia Algarin as Dianne (main seasons 1–2; recurring season 3)
- Dominique as Shalinka (recurring seasons 1–2; regular season 3)
- Jamar Malachi Neighbors as Ambro
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2014)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | US viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Smokin', Drinkin', and Chillin'" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | August 7, 2014 | 2.047[6] | |
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When Jesus and his "homies" fail to buy some marijuana, they decide to grow it in a neighborhood garden. | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Fish and the Con Man" | Mike Clattenburg | Mike Clattenburg & Aaron McGruder | August 14, 2014 | 1.907[7] | |
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Jesus and the crew find their garden but get into trouble with the local Mexican gang, who demands money from them. | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "The Shit Heist" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | August 21, 2014 | 1.843[8] | |
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The gang is out of money after paying off the Mexican gangsters, so they steal some manure from a boarding stable. | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "I Gave at the Playground" | Mike Clattenburg | Mike Clattenburg & Aaron McGruder | August 28, 2014 | 1.439[9] | |
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The gang holds a yard sale to help Boonie pay his child support. | |||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Fried Green Tomatoes" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | September 4, 2014 | 1.499[10] | |
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The gang's weed plants fail to grow, but the garden is full of tomatoes. | |||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Love Thy Enemy, Part 1" | Mike Clattenburg | Mike Clattenburg & Aaron McGruder | September 11, 2014 | 1.598[11] | |
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The crew start producing a green tomato sauce. | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | "The Other Shoe Drops" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | September 18, 2014 | 1.515[12] | |
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Trayvon discovers someone has been pouring bleach into the garden. | |||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Love Thy Enemy, Part 2" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | September 25, 2014 | 1.497[13] | |
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Vic and Lloyd's work leads to problems at the complex. | |||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Gangsta's Paradise" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | October 2, 2014 | 1.560[14] | |
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The gang stages an online benefit concert. | |||||||
| 10 | 10 | "WTFWBJD" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | October 9, 2014 | 1.709[15] | |
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While Jesus is on the run from authorities, Fish tries to lead the gang so they can keep the garden. Meanwhile, Lloyd sues Vic. | |||||||
Season 2 (2015)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | US viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "No Room for Jesus" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | September 18, 2015 | 1.168[16] | |
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Jesus returns from the mental hospital, and is concerned about Fish, who may have taken part in criminal activities. | |||||||
| 12 | 2 | "Jesus Gonna Get His" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | September 25, 2015 | 1.209[17] | |
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The gang fights the corrupt preacher of the Church of Jesus Christ in Compton. | |||||||
| 13 | 3 | "False Witness" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | October 2, 2015 | 1.278[18] | |
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Vic thinks the gang has committed a terrorist act. | |||||||
| 14 | 4 | "Hands of God" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | October 9, 2015 | 1.148[19] | |
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Jesus and Ms. Tudi raise money by offering holy foot massages. Tudi thinks Fish's "gift of sexiness" might raise more money. | |||||||
| 15 | 5 | "Tasty Tudi's" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | October 16, 2015 | 1.279[20] | |
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Fish obtains a no-limit EBT card from a city employee. | |||||||
| 16 | 6 | "Taco Sundays" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | October 23, 2015 | 1.158[21] | |
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The gang sells fish tacos from a food truck. Jesus loses his phone. | |||||||
| 17 | 7 | "Thy Neighbor's Strife" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | October 30, 2015 | 1.064[22] | |
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Vic is attracted to Lloyd's wife. Meanwhile, the gang shoots a music video. | |||||||
| 18 | 8 | "Never Say When" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | November 6, 2015 | 1.201[23] | |
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Lloyd gets a job advertising liquor. | |||||||
| 19 | 9 | "Janky Cable" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | November 13, 2015 | 1.140[24] | |
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Vic tries to ruin the gang's opportunity to watch the big fight on free cable. | |||||||
| 20 | 10 | "Good for Nothing" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | November 20, 2015 | 1.019[25] | |
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Lloyd's wife wants a divorce. | |||||||
| 21 | 11 | "A Very Special Christmas In Compton" | Mike Clattenburg | Aaron McGruder & Mike Clattenburg | November 27, 2015 | 1.099[26] | |
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Jesus makes a Christmas wish to no longer be divine. | |||||||
Season 3 (2019)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [27] | US viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 1 | "The Compton Carter" | Dale Stern | Story by : Aaron McGruder Teleplay by : Aaron McGruder and Rusty Cundieff | September 21, 2019 | 0.445[28] | |
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Jesus returns from jail to discover his running buddy Boonie has relocated from their old Compton Gardens apartment complex to the "New" Compton Gardens, where Lloyd is building manager. | |||||||
| 23 | 2 | "Vatican Guys" | Rusty Cundieff | Story by : Aaron McGruder Teleplay by : Aaron McGruder and Rusty Cundieff | September 28, 2019 | 0.445[29] | |
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After discovering the leaked video of Jesus performing a miracle, the Vatican sends two secret Vatican agents from Italy to Compton to kidnap "the Black Jesus" and determine if this oversized black guy is really the Son of God. | |||||||
| 24 | 3 | "Parole Officer" | Tina Mabry | Story by : Aaron McGruder and Mike Clattenburg Teleplay by : Aaron McGruder | October 5, 2019 | 0.657[30] | |
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The parole officer for Jesus, a friendly white dude that just wants to make the world a better place, witnesses proof of Jesus' divinity, has a spiritual upheaval and decides to stop going to work and follow Jesus. | |||||||
| 25 | 4 | "Operation SHUT'EMDOWN" | Tina Mabry | Story by : Aaron McGruder and Mike Clattenburg Teleplay by : Aaron McGruder and Rusty Cundieff | October 19, 2019 | 0.622[31] | |
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AmBro, the head of security at The New Compton Gardens, has formed a militia to scare off drug dealers in the hood. In a show of force, his troops take over the street for a day, which screws up a drug deal the gang planned for that day. | |||||||
| 26 | 5 | "Boonie Christ" | Rusty Cundieff | Rusty Cundieff | October 26, 2019 | 0.655[32] | |
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Jesus lets Boonie have the power of Christ so he can see how difficult being the Son of God really is. While Boonie is trying to figure out how to make his new powers work for him, Jesus takes a skip day for himself. | |||||||
| 27 | 6 | "The Compton Crusader" | Luke Matheny | Story by : Aaron McGruder and Mike Clattenburg Teleplay by : Aaron McGruder | November 2, 2019 | 0.545[33] | |
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There's a vigilante in Southwest Compton, and he's taken matters into his own hands. Jesus has to stop him before he goes too far. | |||||||
| 28 | 7 | "Hair Tudi" | Heath Cullens | Alyson Fouse | November 9, 2019 | 0.551[34] | |
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Ms. Tudi miraculously scores a small business loan, and now she can open "Tudi's Wigs, Weaves, and Whatnots". The Korean Bitch Mafia isn't happy the store is on their turf, and that means war. | |||||||
| 29 | 8 | "Boonie Comes Up" | Heath Cullens | Story by : Hugh Moore Teleplay by : Hugh Moore and Rusty Cundieff | November 16, 2019 | 0.487[35] | |
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Boonie thinks he has been possessed by the soul of a dead gangster and begins acting like a serious badass. That day, Lloyd serves Jesus papers - he's taking him to "Homie's Court" for making him sober, and to settle up for $600. | |||||||
| 30 | 9 | "God's Team" | Luke Matheny | Story by : Robert Eric Wise, Christopher Powell and Chip Hall Teleplay by : Christopher Powell and Chip Hall | November 23, 2019 | 0.572[36] | |
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Jesus suddenly finds himself as the coach for the Compton Devils junior high football team. His agenda to spread love and kindness is at odd with winning at all costs, and we see his struggle play out in the big game. | |||||||
| 31 | 10 | "The Real Jesus of Compton" | Dale Stern | Rusty Cundieff | November 30, 2019 | 0.525[37] | |
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The gang talks Jesus into starring in a variety show after a sleazy producer promises them fame and fortune. It's a disaster from start to finish, but Jesus is determined to get Pop's good word out as a result. | |||||||
International broadcast
The series premiered in Australia on June 8, 2015, on The Comedy Channel,[38] and in Canada on April 1, 2019, on Adult Swim.[39]
Reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the first season received an average score of 73, which indicates "generally positive reviews", based on five reviews.[40] Brian Lowry of Variety gave the series a positive review, saying: "Black Jesus is funny in part because it ventures so eagerly into areas most producers and networks, worn down by years of calls for sponsor boycotts and bad publicity, have simply decided it’s easier to avoid."[41] Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times gave the series a positive review, saying: "I'm not saying it's particularly deep, and it is filled with language that cannot be reproduced in this newspaper, but it's good-natured and, compared with a lot of what's on television, the comedy is gentle and hopeful."[42] Soraya Nadia McDonald of The Washington Post said: "Like his earthly counterparts, Black Jesus doesn’t have a perfect track record, but he gets the big concepts and leads by example. If anything, it seems McGruder is trying to tell his audience that if Jesus is just like us, maybe it’s not so much of a stretch for us to be just like him."[43] James Poniewozik of Time stated: "You might expect McGruder, given his Boondocks history, to be out for pointed religious satire, but Black Jesus is really more of a stoner hangout comedy with a heart."[44]
As the series shows Jesus using several curse words, smoking marijuana, and drinking alcoholic beverages, several pastors called for its removal from broadcasting.[45]