The PJs is an American stop-motion animated television series created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It portrayed life in an urban public housing project, modeled after the Brewster-Douglass housing projects in Detroit that once housed Diana Ross & Lilly Tomlin. The series starred Eddie Murphy, and was produced by Imagine Entertainment by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, The Murphy Company & Will Vinton Studios in association with Touchstone Television.
The original run of the series debuted on FOX on Sunday, January 10, 1999 in the time slot following a divisional conference football playoff game. Two days later the second episode aired in its regular Tuesday night time slot following King of the Hill. The first season of the show was released on DVD by Lions Gate Entertainment on May 3, 2011. and Season 2 on July 5, 2011
Summary
42 episodes aired during the show's three-year run. Each took over two months to produce, owing to the laborious stop-motion process. After two seasons on
Fox, the show moved to
The WB in 2000. Its high budget and declining ratings led to its cancellation in 2001; the final three episodes were not aired until 2003. The show aired in syndication for a time on
Trio and
Cartoon Network's
Adult Swim, and now can be seen on
TV One.
The PJs won three Emmy Awards and one Annie Award during its run. Some social activists, including director Spike Lee, accused the show of depicting negative racial stereotypes of life in the projects. Quincy Jones' son QD3 along with George Clinton produced the theme music for the show.
Characters
Main Characters
Thurgood Orville Stubbs (A.K.A. "The Super" or just simply as "Super") (Eddie Murphy) - the superintendent of the Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs projects and the main protagonist of the series. Thurgood is short-tempered, impatient, not very bright, and suffers from a variety of health issues. He wears a white short-sleeved shirt, blue overalls, and brown shoes. He also has salt and pepper hair, which changed from an afro to its current style following a dance accident the day they were married. Thurgood is terrified of black rats, as revealed in the episode, "Fear of a Black Rat." Much of the show's humor is derived from Thurgood's unwillingness to repair the dilapidated projects or deal with the many frustrations of leading a community of the urban poor. Despite his laughably poor education, he is shown to be kind and a natural leader when the situation calls for it. His diet is another source of humor, as he prefers fried foods, red meat and Forties.
Muriel Stubbs (née Warren) (Loretta Devine) - Thurgood's wife and the voice of reason. She wears a pink sweatsuit with the word "Paris" on it (which she got on a trip to Paris with Don King) and light pink shoes. Muriel has a sister named Bebe Ho who is married to another tenant. Muriel and Bebe were likely raised in Alabama during the era of school desegregation, as evidenced by Muriel's having met her state's governor when she attended an all-white high school. However, Muriel attests that the only reason she got to meet the governor was because he was blocking the school door.
Other Main Characters
Florence Normandy Avery (Mrs. Avery) (Ja'net Dubois) - a senior citizen who antagonizes Thurgood throughout the series. She, like the other tenants, hates him with a passion because he never fixes her run-down apartment. A retired con artist, Mrs. Avery often tells random and inappropriate stories of her past as a grifter. She suffers from numerous ailments and has had multiple strokes. She keeps a loaded shotgun in her apartment, which she uses to shoot both the garbage man, the mailman and most people who knock on her door. She also has a dog named Lucky who was given to her by Thurgood. Originally a stray, Lucky got his name after Mrs. Avery (twice) failed to shoot him with her shotgun.
Calvin (Crystal Scales) and "Juicy" Hudson (Michele Morgan) - two children, who are best friends and idolize Thurgood. Calvin is a thin and intelligent boy, while "Juicy" is overweight and slow-witted. Juicy's parents are morbidly obese shut-ins, leaving Calvin and Thurgood as a surrogate family. He is often made to wear a sign stating "Do Not Feed" when he leaves his apartment.
"Smokey" (
Shawn Michael Howard) - a homeless
crackhead, whose antics often anger Thurgood. His real name is Elister, but was referred to as "Mr. Crackhead" and "Mr. Crack" in the first 3 episodes of the series. In one episode, it is revealed that "Smokey" used to train fighting rats under the name, "Ratman Crothers". He is often insulted with the phrase, "You damn stupid crackhead!" by Thurgood. (This phrase results in a stand-up comedy act with Smokey and Thurgood in one episode) "Smokey" later quits drug use by season 3, but is still homeless. Despite his homelessness, as well as his tendency to steal from tenants whenever possible, Smokey is considered a part of the projects community by most residents.
Jimmy Ho (Michael Paul Chan) - a Korean tenant, who considers himself part of the African-American community. He is married to Bebe, making him Thurgood's brother-in-law. Jimmy frequently uses urban or "ghetto" phrases (colloquialisms) when he speaks, and also speaks of himself as a black person, much to Thurgood's frustration.
Bebe Ho (née Warren) (Jenifer Lewis) - Muriel's loud and obnoxious sister. She extremely dislikes Thurgood, and has a jealous feud with Muriel. Bebe appears to have had an active dating/sex life, having slept with most of her high school teachers and an exotic dancer the night before her wedding. Jimmy Ho is her fifth husband.
Mambo Garcelle "Haiti Lady" (Cheryl Francis Harrington) - the resident Voodoo queen of the Hilton-Jacobs Projects and a Haitian immigrant. Her powers, though highly potent and proven in the episode, "U Go Cart", are rarely seen in action. She often incurs Thurgood's anger for regularly clogging her toilet with paper towels. He is generally unfazed by the animal parts and voodoo accessories she flushes with the paper towels, however.
Emilio Sanchez (or just simply known as "Sanchez") (Pepe Serna) - Thurgood's luckless Cuban friend. He speaks with an electrolarynx due to years of smoking, but it was implied in the episode "Haiti Sings the Blues" that Haiti Lady may have used her voodoo powers to cause that. He once wanted to become an Opera singer. He often expresses sadness over his dead wife, Esperansa. Sanchez wears a blue and white trucker hat with "Nevada" written on the front, which he actually bought in California.
Recurring Characters
Walter Burkett (Marc Wilmore) - the neighborhood parole officer with a past as a crooked cop. His past is regularly alluded to, as many people around the projects owe him favors or are subject to his blackmail. In the Christmas episode, "How the Super Stole Christmas," Walter arrested a thug for stealing an old woman's purse, but kept the thug locked in his trunk rather than call the police. He also once helped Thurgood get into prison for free dental care, and is shown to be willing (and able) to blackmail judges and business owners.
Tarnell (James R. Black) - the local street corner hustler, who Thurgood usually turns to when he needs something unusual. He speaks almost entirely in street slang, which Thurgood usually misunderstands, leading to Tarnell delivering the wrong items.
Rasta Man (Kevin Michael Richardson) - A Jamaican resident and a stereotype of a marijuana smoker. He is seen as a walking smoke cloud.
Papa Hudson and Mama Hudson - Juicy's parents. They are morbidly obese and confined to their apartment. Because Papa Hudson is so fat, we usually only see his arm and stomach through his door or window. In the episode "Bougie Nights," Poppa's face is shown for the first time. In the episode "What's Eating Juicy Hudson?", Papa leaves the apartment for the first time. In the episode "Boyz N the Woods", Papa is confirmed to weigh more than half a ton. Because of the Hudsons' obesity, Juicy is tasked with performing most household functions for the family.
HUD Lady (Cassi Davis) - is the receptionist at HUD, always seen through frosted glass, who never gives Thurgood what he wants. Despite her unwillingness to help Thurgood do his job, she is surprisingly friendly to Muriel. Her trademark phrase is "Next!," which she yells at the end of most sentences directed at Thurgood. Her son's name is Chevron, her sister's name is Latrine, and her daughter's name is Lasagna. She represents the stereotype of faceless, underfunded and uncaring bureaucracy upon which HUD residents depend for supplies and guidance.
Due to a rumored dispute between Eddie Murphy and the Fox network (apparently over unfavorable scheduling of the show), actor Phil Morris and Mark Moseley took over the role of Thurgood in several late episodes. Some sources indicate that Murphy was actually busy on a film role at the time.
Locations
Thurgood and Muriel's Apartment - A below street-level apartment near the front of the building
Front of the Building and Courtyard - Most outdoor scenes take place here. Thurgood and Sanchez occasionally play chess at the table in the corner of the courtyard.
Boiler Room - Room where Thurgood comes to plan ideas or relax with a Forty and his collection of Jet Magazines. It was briefly a beauty salon for Muriel and Bebe in "Weave's Have a Dream." It also, in one episode, features a nuclear reactor that powers the projects.
The Roof - A variety of events and activities take place here, including the community garden as seen in "Haiti Sings The Blues" and a gumbo cookoff in "Operation Gumbo Drop."
Street Corner - This is where Thurgood usually meets Tarnell and gets the items he's after.
HUD Building - Where Thurgood comes to get equipment for the building. The front sign features a number of cynical HUD 'slogans' that change in each episode.
Episodes
Season 1 (Fox): 1999
Season 2: 2000
Season 3 (The WB): 2000–2001
Other episodes
Note: The final unaired episodes have been shown in some markets, such as by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in 2003.
Soundtrack
References in other series
The manhole cover that served as the show's title card had made appearances on Futurama as an entry point into the mutant-populated sewers of New New York. After seeing this, the writers of The PJs put a picture of Fry, the main character on Futurama, on a milk carton as a missing person.
In the episode of The Simpsons entitled "", Thurgood is one of the phone operators at the Fox Network fundraising drive.
The show was parodied in an episode of Robot Chicken called "Celebutard Mountain" during the "VH1's Top 100 Final Episodes Ever" skit. Ironically The PJs would end up airing on Adult Swim soon after the episode aired.
References
External links
The PJs at TV One
Category:1999 American television series debuts
Category:2001 American television series endings
Category:1990s American animated television series
Category:2000s American animated television series
Category:American animated television series
Category:Stop-motion animated television series
Category:American television sitcoms
Category:Animated sitcoms
Category:Black sitcoms
Category:Clay animation television series and films
Category:English-language television series
Category:Fox network shows
Category:Television series by Buena Vista Television
Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television
Category:Television shows set in Detroit, Michigan
Category:WB network shows
Category:Television series revived after cancellation
