This week has a few notables I didn't point out because TV Guide didn't have them. Thank goodness for the DVR scheduler...
Easily enough, they all air on Saturday, May 12.
The fourth episode of Green Wing airs on BBC America Saturday from 4-5 am . I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was a bit upset that the network hasn't been airing it regularly, but I did recommend recording the first three eps that aired. And 'cuz I got yer back, I'm telling you about the fourth.
And it's a good one. It's Joanna's birthday, and she thinks the hot IT stud gave her a gift, and it was actually from lower-than-geek Dr. Statham. Plus, it is revealed that Guy has rated all the women in the hospital, and Caroline is mad she didn't rate higher.
Also on Saturday, from 6am-11am, the Sundance Channel will air the entire third (and final) season of Slings and Arrows. I haven't watched it yet, but I was hooked from the first episode of the series, especially with Paul Gross' work. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.
Finally, I don't want to hype it beyond all expectations, but I really believe the "Return of the King" episode of The Boondocks that is airing on Saturday on the Cartoon Network/[adult swim] from 10:30-11:00 pm is one of the best half-hours of television I watched all last year-- and if I was pinned down, I would rank it as the one of the best I've ever seen.
It's kind of an alternate history episode that poses the question: what would Martin Luther King, Jr. think of the state of African Americans today. When the ep first aired, I had just finished a book written by a reformed Crips (or was it Bloods?) member who related his life story, and what he had learned from many stints in jail. One of his main arguments about why black people can never get ahead is because they are held down by whites-- something I would agree with. I'm not sure if it's true on a small, personal level, but I do believe on a large corporate or government level, it's true. But I also felt that argument was missing something.
This Boondocks episode fills in the blanks a bit when it's pretty laid out there that black people cause as much damage to themselves as any other race does. King's reaction to how some party members at a rally are acting really doesn't pull any punches. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but I was shocked initially, and then the point of the scene hit me right between the eyes. Too bad not enough people watched it; or that most of the ones that did, won't "get it" (sort of what Dave Chappelle realized about peoples' reactions to The Chappelle Show). It's a very good story interlaced with profanity and the "N-Word" as well as jokes (the show is a comedy after all). But, like shows such as Chappelle's Show and South Park, the heart of the story can be missed when all people see are the jokes.
And the episode was also a great tribute to the man who had done so much for African Americans-- and Americans in general. And that was the whole point to the episode. No one has really done a good "holiday episode" about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (when this episode first aired), and, sadly, no one probably ever will. Especially since The Boondocks set the bar so high.
This episode gets my highest recommendation. If you tried Boondocks and didn't like it, give this episode a try. The tone is a little different from the other episodes, and it's worth trying again for.
And if you haven't tried the show-- shame on you! Are you not reading what I'm writing? Do I do this for nothing?
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