| Black Dynamite | |
|---|---|
Season 1 title card | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | |
| Developed by | Carl Jones[1] |
| Written by |
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| Voices of |
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| Narrated by | Byron Keith Minns |
| Theme music composer | Adrian Younge |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Editor | Felipe Salazar |
| Running time | 11 minutes (pilot only) 22 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Adult Swim Video |
| Release | August 8, 2011 (2011-08-08) |
| Network | Adult Swim |
| Release | July 15, 2012 (2012-07-15) – January 10, 2015 (2015-01-10) |
Black Dynamite is an Americanadult animatedblaxploitationcomedy television series developed by Carl Jones forCartoon Network's late-night programming blockAdult Swim. It is based onArs Nova's2009 film of same name, although the series follows an alternatecontinuity.Michael Jai White, Byron Keith Minns,Tommy Davidson andKym Whitley reprise their film roles as Black Dynamite, Bullhorn, Cream Corn and Honeybee, respectively.Cedric Yarbrough also reprises his film role as the Western-style pimp Chocolate Giddy-Up, along with Jimmy Walker Jr. as the restaurant owner Roscoe andArsenio Hall as fellow pimp Tasty Freeze.
Black Dynamite was announced shortly after the release of the original film.[4] Its 10-minute pilot was released onAdult Swim Video on August 8, 2011 before premiering on the channel block on July 15, 2012.[5][6] The series ended January 10, 2015 with a total of 2 seasons containing 20 episodes total.
The show, set in the 1970s, is predominantly aparody of and tribute toblaxploitation cinema. The show continues the story of Black Dynamite, Bullhorn, Cream Corn, and Honey Bee as they engage in dangerous and over-the-top misadventures sometimes involving celebrities such asMichael Jackson,O. J. Simpson,Bill Cosby,Sidney Poitier,Richard Pryor,Don Cornelius,Dick Clark,Spike Lee,Mr. T,Orphan Arnold,James Brown,Isaac Hayes,Bob Marley,Bo Derek,Rick James,Elvis Presley,Fred Rogers,John Wayne Gacy,J. Edgar Hoover, and many others, as well as Black Dynamite's recurring nemesis, PresidentRichard Nixon, who was also the main villain from the film. The show makes references to the originalBlack Dynamite film, such as Fiendish Dr. Wu as the leader of a group of ninjas; the show is set before the events of the movie, as some characters from the film who were killed off are alive in the series (notably Bullhorn and Cream Corn). This is reinforced in one episode, where Cream Corn predicts his own future manner of death while in a helicopter.
Thepilot episode features only an eleven-minute run time and was released on Adult Swim Video on August 8, 2011, and made its television debut over a year later on September 2, 2012.
| Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Trouble on Puppet Street" "Pilot" | Juno Lee | Carl Jones &Brian Ash | August 8, 2011 (2011-08-08) | 101 | 1.21[7] |
Black Dynamite is assigned by the CIA to stop That Frog Kurtis (Voiced byJ. B. Smoove), a rogue educational show puppet, from executing his diabolical plan of manipulating children on national television. Guest stars:Carlos Alazraqui,Corey Burton,Clifton Powell,J. B. Smoove | |||||
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Jackson Five Across Yo' Eyes" "Just Beat It" | Carl Jones & Justin Ridge | Carl Jones & Brian Ash | July 15, 2012 (2012-07-15) | 103 | 1.69[8] |
After Cream Corn saves youngMichael Jackson (voiced byTae Brooks) from an assassination attempt (while not helping Black Dynamite and the gang fight a troupe of blackninjas), he and the pint-sized pop star become good friends. However, once Michael gets on Black Dynamite's nerves, Cream Corn leaves, only to be subjected to the physical abuse of Jackson, who they all discover is actually an alien trying to take over the world. Guest stars:Eric Bauza,Tae Brooks,Affion Crockett,DeRay Davis,Denzel Whitaker,Debra Wilson,Cedric Yarbrough | |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Murder She Throats" "Bullhorn Nights" | Carl Jones & Nate Clesowich | Carl Jones | July 22, 2012 (2012-07-22) | 102 | 1.89[9] |
Black Dynamite has Bullhorn go undercover in the porn industry as the smooth talking rhyming "Sweet Throat" to investigate a string of murders involving black porn stars. They soon uncover a scheme to stop the world's first interracial porno, but Bullhorn finds the life of celebrity too appealing to help them. Guest stars:DeRay Davis,Tim Blake Nelson,Clifton Powell,Greg Travis,Debra Wilson,Cedric Yarbrough | |||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Taxes and Death" "Get Him to the Sunset Strip!" | Carl Jones & Justin Ridge | Brian Ash & Carl Jones | July 29, 2012 (2012-07-29) | 101 | 1.74[10] |
Upon discovering he owes the IRS $60,000 in taxes, Black Dynamite decides to take on a job and he will soon regret: escorting a drug-addled and emotionally unstableRichard Pryor (voiced byEddie Griffin) to the Sunset Strip for the biggest comedy performance of his career. Guest stars:Eric Bauza,Corey Burton,Eddie Griffin,Orlando Jones,Denzel Whitaker,Debra Wilson | |||||||
| 4 | 4 | "The Dark Side of the Dark Side of the Moon" "A Crisis for Christmas" | Carl Jones & Nate Clesowich | Scott Fuselier & Carl Jones | August 5, 2012 (2012-08-05) | 104 | 1.65[11] |
When Black Dynamite discovers he's unliked during Christmas, he discovers that he has to make himself more likeable by emulating the one man who he hates most for stealing his thunder:O. J. Simpson (voiced byAries Spears). He joins O. J. on a lunar mission, but when O. J. bails at the last minute, Black Dynamite is trapped in space just as the rocket explodes in a major malfunction, making everyone believe that he is dead. Guest stars: Myles Brown,Corey Burton,Jonathan Kite,Aries Spears,Billy West,Debra Wilson | |||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Panic on the Player's Ball Express" "That's Influenza Sucka!" | Carl Jones & Justin Ridge | Brian Ash & Carl Jones | August 12, 2012 (2012-08-12) | 105 | 1.69[12] |
After fighting what he believes to be an attempt to poison all black people, Black Dynamite comes down with the flu on the weekend of the annual Player's Ball, a party for pimps which this year is taking the form of a costume party on a cross-country train. However, Leroy Van Nuys (voiced bySnoop Dogg) hijacks the train in his attempt to take revenge on pimp-kind. With the help of the spirit ofSun Tzu (voiced byChristopher "Kid" Reid), Black Dynamite must fight the flu and a horde ofIsaac Washington robots to save his friends and pimps from all over the world. Guest stars:Arsenio Hall,Jonathan Kite,Tim Blake Nelson,Christopher "Kid" Reid,Snoop Dogg,Debra Wilson,Cedric Yarbrough | |||||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Shit That Killed the King" "Weekend at Presley's" "Elvis Was a Hero to Most" | Carl Jones | Scott Sanders & Carl Jones | August 19, 2012 (2012-08-19) | 107 | 1.454[13] |
PresidentNixon (voiced byJonathan Kite) tries to destroy Black Dynamite by flooding the Black Community with cheap drugs, turning everyone into junkies, but fails and the Black Community flourishes to the White Community. To get his way, Nixon sends inElvis Presley (also voiced by Kite) to take charge, but even The King realizes he has been wrong. In a parody ofWeekend at Bernie's, Elvis apparently dies of natural causes and Black Dynamite and the gang must get him back toGraceland before his death can be blamed on anyone and everyone, in the black community. Guest stars:Arsenio Hall,Orlando Jones,Jonathan Kite | |||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Flashbacks are Forever" "Apocalypse, This!" "For the Pity of Fools" | Jong-Sik Nam & Carl Jones | Michael Jai White & Carl Jones | August 26, 2012 (2012-08-26) | 108 | 1.568[14] |
Black Dynamite and the gang are assigned by the CIA to go toVietnam to stop his former comradeLaurence Tureaud (voiced byAries Spears) from restarting theVietnam War, but hisflashbacks from the war nearly kill his friends. Guest stars:Eric Bauza,Corey Burton,Jonathan Kite,Aries Spears,Debra Wilson | |||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Honky Kong!" "White Apes Can't Hump" | Jong-Sik Nam & Carl Jones | Carl Jones & Brian Ash | September 9, 2012 (2012-09-09) | 109 | 1.423[15] |
Black Dynamite, Bullhorn and Cream Corn brings Honey Bee to the circus to appreciate her a bit more, but in a parody ofKing Kong, a giant white gorilla falls in love with Honey Bee and abducts her. Now BD must save Honey Bee from Honky Kong before child service comes! Guest stars:Orlando Jones,Jonathan Kite,Charlie Murphy,Donnell Rawlings,Debra Wilson | |||||||
| 9 | 9 | "The Race War!" "Big Black Cannon Balls Run!" | Carl Jones & Nate Clesowich | Byron Keith Minns & Carl Jones | September 16, 2012 (2012-09-16) | 106 | 1.637[16] |
Black Dynamite represents the Black Community in a multiracial cross-country race and is reunited with his former talking car "Eartha K.I.T.T." (a parody ofEartha Kitt andKITT voiced byDebra Wilson), unaware that he is a pawn in yet another one of Fiendish Dr. Wu's diabolical schemes of world domination. Guest stars:Eric Bauza,Phil LaMarr,Gary Anthony Williams,Debra Wilson | |||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Father is Just Another Word for Mother Fucker" "That Seed of Kurtis" | Kalvin Lee | Carl Jones | September 23, 2012 (2012-09-23) | 110 | 1.453[17] |
After the events of "Pilot or Trouble on Puppet Street", the son of That Frog Kurtis, That Bastard Kurtis (voiced byJ. B. Smoove), enacts his revenge plan on Black Dynamite for killing his daddy on national television. Meanwhile, Black Dynamite finally finds his long-lost father (voiced byClifton Powell) and struggles to rebuild their relationship. Guest stars:Arsenio Hall,Clifton Powell,J. B. Smoove,Debra Wilson | |||||||
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code | US viewers (millions) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Roots: The White Album" "The Blacker the Community, the Deeper the Roots!" "Those Cotton Pickin' Crackers" | Carl Jones & ByungSan Park | Carl Jones | October 18, 2014 (2014-10-18) | TBA | 0.966[18] | ||||||
WhenROOTS (the miniseries) hits the air and the Black Community finally sees just how bad slavery was,Al Sharpton (voiced byGodfrey) whips everyone into a reparation frenzy and they storm Beverly Hills and Beverly Hills Adjacent for the big payback on black slavery byenslaving every white honky cracker they can find! But Black Dynamite sees that since you can't even keep white slaves alive without caviar and arugula, being slave masters is actually bringing the Black Community down. Is Black Dynamite actually going to fight for the White Man's freedom? Guest stars:Eric Bauza,Michael Colyar,Godfrey,Orlando Jones,Jonathan Kite,Debra Wilson,Cedric Yarbrough | |||||||||||||
| 12 | 2 | "Black Jaws!" "Finger Lickin' Chicken of the Sea" | Carl Jones | Hugh Moore & Carl Jones | October 25, 2014 (2014-10-25) | TBA | 1.067[19] | ||||||
A soul food-eating contest gets everyone in the Black Community down to the summer's biggest funkiest most blackest beach party ever called Blaqua Party. But the party already jumped the shark when a giant shark jumps out and starts eating black people! Captain Quinton (voiced bySamuel L. Jackson), the local old, eyepatched, shark-hunting mysterious motherf**ker tells Black Dynamite this isn't just Jaws, it'sBlack Jaws. All Black Dynamite has to do is swim out there and kill that shark, but wait, what? Black Dynamite can't swim? Oh, crap, this might be a real problem! Guest stars:Eric Bauza,Samuel L. Jackson,Orlando Jones,Jonathan Kite,Lil' Mo,Charlie Murphy,Donnell Rawlings,Debra Wilson | |||||||||||||
| 13 | 3 | "The Mean Queens of Halloween" "Warriors Come Out" | Carl Jones | Scott Sanders & Carl Jones | November 1, 2014 (2014-11-01) | TBA | 0.951[20] | ||||||
It's Halloween in LA and Cream Corn convinces Black Dynamite and the Crew to go to a street party where, let's just say, ain't nobody in the closet. Everything's gay (as in happy) and gay (as in gay) untilRip Tayles (voiced byJohn DiMaggio) is assassinated in front of everyone! The unseen shooter frames Black Dynamite and the Crew, and nowthey're on a run for their lives, trying to clear their name, pursued by every gay gang south of West Hollywood! Guest stars:John DiMaggio,Orlando Jones,Lil' Mo,Gary Anthony Williams,Debra Wilson | |||||||||||||
| 14 | 4 | "How Honeybee Got Her Groove Back" "Night of the Living Dickheads" | Carl Jones | Ian Edwards | November 8, 2014 (2014-11-08) | TBA | 0.727[21] | ||||||
With all the orphans away at orphan camp, a busted-up Whorephanage needs repairs and busted-up whores need a vacation, so Honey Bee takes the harem to Jamaica for R&R. The hoes party to their heart's content, and a disinterested Honey Bee gets her groove back when she meets the one and onlyBob Marley! Back at the Whorephanage, all the sex-starved johns turn into horny zombies trying to hump their way into the building, but Honey Bee couldn't care less, she's not coming home! Bob Marley (voiced byChance The Rapper) could be her happily ever after if not for all these assassins with machine guns constantly trying to kill them! Guest stars:Erykah Badu,Chance the Rapper,David Alan Grier, Rochelle Jordan,Sean Kingston,Mel B,Christopher "Kid" Reid,Debra Wilson | |||||||||||||
| 15 | 5 | "Sweet Bill's Badass Sing-Along Song" "Bill Cosby Ain't Himself" | Carl Jones | Byron Keith Minns & Carl Jones | November 15, 2014 (2014-11-15) | 207 | 0.904[22] | ||||||
When Black Dynamite's old buddy, maverickSweet Sweetback filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles (voiced byKevin Michael Richardson), gears up to shoot his nextblaxploitation movie in the Black Community calledBlackity BlackBlackBlack, everyone's excited to help out exceptBill Cosby (also voiced by Richardson)! Desperate for positive black images, Bill Cosby kidnaps the entire all-star cast and tries to brainwash them into besweatered, upstanding representatives of the black race! While Bullhorn, Cream Corn, and Honey Bee fill-in for the talent and try to keep the film afloat, Black Dynamite must track down the pudding-pop-pusher himself and save all of black film history! Guest stars:Eric Bauza,Orlando Jones,Luenell,Kevin Michael Richardson,Eddie Rouse,Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins Note: This is Eddie Rouse's last television role before his death on December 7, 2014. Note #2: This episode was released 30 days afterHannibal Buress'sstand-up routine on October 16, 2014. | |||||||||||||
| 16 | 6 | "Please Don't You Be His Neighbor" "Mister Rogers' Revenge" | Carl Jones | Scott Fuselier | November 22, 2014 (2014-11-22) | 202 | 1.003[23] | ||||||
On the Orphans' collective birthday, Black Dynamite brings them all to a show taping with their favorite TV white man,Mister Rogers (voiced byCorey Burton). Now, you'd think that Fred Rogers was never a trained Special Forces killer and that he would definitely not kidnap all the Orphans in a deranged attempt to protect them from evil TV executives and that's exactly what doesn't not happen! With the cops outgunned and the Orphans behind guerrilla defenses, it's up to Black Dynamite to invade that neighborhood and face off with Mister Rogers himself! Guest stars:Eric Bauza,Corey Burton,Jonathan Kite,Lil' Mo,Tim Blake Nelson,Waka Flocka Flame,Debra Wilson | |||||||||||||
| 17 | 7 | "American Band Standoff" "The Godfather of Soooul Train" "Get on Your Goodfellas" | Carl Jones | Michael Jai White & Carl Jones | November 29, 2014 (2014-11-29) | 204 | 0.889[24] | ||||||
Cream Corn is excited as hell at getting a chance to dance onSoooooooul Train, the hippest trip in America, but Black Dynamite knows the truth that the music game is a vicious battle to-the-death between the GodfatherDon Cornelius (voiced byKevin Michael Richardson) and murderousDick Clark ofAmerican Bandstand (voiced byEric Bauza). Cream Corn becomes a Soul Train dancer and Don Cornelius' old muscle Black Dynamite sees that just when he thought he was out…they pull him back in. Guest stars:Eric Bauza,Orlando Jones,Kevin Michael Richardson,Debra Wilson | |||||||||||||
| 18 | 8 | "The Hunger Pang Games" "Diff'rent Folks, Same Strokes" | Carl Jones | Jason Van Veen & Carl Jones | December 6, 2014 (2014-12-06) | TBA | 0.960[25] | ||||||
Child Services is finally on to the Whorephanage and slaps them with a shutdown notice! But it's okay, because rich white Mr.Phil Drummond and his rich white friends (all voiced byCorey Burton) adopt all the orphans at once and whisk them off to a luxury high-rise in the sky. Just as Black Dynamite comes to terms with no longer having the Orphans around, he learns that luxury skyscraper is actually a deathmatch arena where the Orphans fight each other to the death for food! He's got to put an end to theseHunger Pang Games, no matter how popular they are! Guest stars:Erykah Badu,Corey Burton,Lil' Mo,Cree Summer,Dennis L. A. White,Debra Wilson | |||||||||||||
| 19 | 9 | "The Wizard of Watts" "Oz Ain't Got Shit on the Wiz" | Carl Jones | Carl Jones & Byron Keith Minns | January 10, 2015 (2015-01-10) | TBA | 1.014[26] | ||||||
| 20 | 10 | ||||||||||||
In this hour-long musical finale episode, Black Dynamite's one day off couldn't be more work—everyone needs his help AND a riot blows up. A brick to the head sends BD hallucinating intothe Magical Land of Oz-Watts, a trippy technicolor world where…everyone needs his help! Between getting Scarecorn some game, Lionhorn a muzzle and the Tin Bee a set of balls, BD has to fight off theWicked Bitch of the West Side and reach theGreat and Powerful Mother#*?@#$%'s palace, or he'll never get home. Guest stars:Tichina Arnold,Erykah Badu,Eric Bauza,John DiMaggio,Orlando Jones,Tim Blake Nelson,J. B. Smoove,Tyler, the Creator,Gary Anthony Williams,Debra Wilson,Cedric Yarbrough | |||||||||||||