Black Jesus (TV series)
Black Jesus is an American sitcom created by Aaron McGruder and Mike Clattenburg that airs on Adult Swim. The series stars Gerald "Slink" Johnson, Charlie Murphy, Corey Holcomb, Kali Hawk, King Bach, and Andra Fuller. The series premiered on August 7, 2014. On December 10, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season.[1] The second season premiered on September 18, 2015.[2] Its third season[3] premiered on September 20, 2019.
Black Jesus | |
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Genre | Sitcom |
Created by | Aaron McGruder Mike Clattenburg |
Starring |
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Composer | Jonathan "Jon" Jackson |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 31 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Editor | Jean Crupper (season 3) |
Running time | 20 minutes |
Production companies |
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Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
Release | |
Original network | Adult Swim |
Picture format | 16:9 HDTV |
Original release | August 7, 2014 – present |
External links | |
Website |
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.[4]
Series overview
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
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First aired | Last aired | ||||
1 | 10 | August 7, 2014 | October 9, 2014 | ||
2 | 11 | September 18, 2015 | November 27, 2015 | ||
3 | 10 | September 20, 2019 | November 29, 2019 |
Cast
- Gerald "Slink" Johnson as Jesus Christ
- Charlie Murphy as Victor "Vic" Hargrove (seasons 1–2)
- John Witherspoon as Lloyd Hamilton (seasons 1–3)
- 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)
International broadcast
The series premiered in Australia on June 8, 2015 on The Comedy Channel,[5] and in Canada on April 1, 2019 on Adult Swim.[6]
Reception
Black Jesus has received generally positive reviews. 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.[7] 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."[8] 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."[9] 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."[10] 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."[11]
References
- Michael O'Connell. "Adult Swim Renews 'Black Jesus,' 'Mike Tyson' and 'Mr. Pickles'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- B.G. Henne. "And on the third day, Black Jesus arose with its season two trailer". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2015-09-10.
- Steinberg, Brian (12 May 2016). "Adult Swim Revives Samurai Jack As Network Courts Linear, Online Viewers". Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- Goldberg, Lesley. "'Boondocks' Creator Brings 'Black Jesus' to Adult Swim (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Lynne Segall. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- "Foxtel in June: 200+ new shows including Orange Is The New Black, True Detective, Suits, PLL, Wimbledon and more". The Green Room. Foxtel. June 1, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- https://imissbionix.wordpress.com/2019/03/22/canadian-adult-swim-channel-gets-launch-lineup-app-gets-discontinued/#more-3948
- "Black Jesus – Season 1 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
- Brian Lowry (2014-08-06). ""Black Jesus" TV Review on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim". Variety. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
- "Review: 'Black Jesus' on Adult Swim has good-natured stoner humor". LA Times. 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
- Nadia, Soraya (2014-08-08). "'Black Jesus' may drink, smoke, and curse, but he's still Messiah-ish". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
- James Poniewozik (2014-08-07). "Review of Black Jesus on Adult Swim". TIME. Retrieved 2014-08-15.
Notes
- Crofford and Newman are executive producers for Williams Street.
- Costa is producer for Williams Street
- Slink Johnson is credited as co-producer
External links
- Black Jesus at IMDb