"The Boondocks" cannonballs the Adult Swim pool

My list of reasons Cartoon Network's Adult Swim brings me joy includes "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," "Harvey Birdman," "The Venture Brothers" and "Inuyasha." This morning, it grew by a bit: Aaron McGruder's scathing, propriety-free animated version of "The Boondocks" joins the lineup at 11 p.m. October 2. (Shameless product promotion -- You can savor his comic every day in your friendly neighborhood Seattle P-I! But anyway...)

With a voice cast that includes Regina King, "Friday's" John Witherspoon, "Reno 911!'s" Cedric Yarbrough and "Malcolm in the Middle's" Gary Anthony Williams, this may be Adult Swim's most ambitious addition yet. The comic is so unrelenting that it has ticked off a number of celebrities, including Jesse Jackson (an easy mark) and Vivica Fox (whom you don't want to mess with).

"I really thought she wanted to beat me up. She might," said the calm and rather wiry McGruder, whom Ms. Fox could easily take in a street battle.

We should all be thanking the fates the actress hasn't tracked him down -- and that "Boondocks" didn't end up as some watered-down waste on the Fox network, which was once a tangible possibility.

Had that happened, critics wouldn't have been laughing at the clip shown today. That is, when they weren't gasping at the use of the racial epithet rappers and white suburban teenagers have been spitting with ease since N.W.A. released "Straight Outta Compton."

Prepare yourself -- the dreaded N-word is coming to Cartoon Network's night-owl animation block. "I understand that word offends people," McGruder said. "Look, that's what late-night cable is for, I guess. You don't have to hear it at 8 o'clock, but you sure can hear it at 11:30 or 11 o'clock on Adult Swim if you so desire. It will be there for you."

Although we haven't seen an entire episode, I have no problem saying that if the cartoon is as good as the comic, I intend to consider it Adult Swim's apology for "Robot Chicken" and "Tom Goes to the Mayor."