“Jesus was black, Ronald Reagan was the devil and the government is lying about 9/11.”

Huey Freeman, a character in “The Boondocks,” expects pandemonium and chaos from the rich, white audience. Instead, they smile and politely applaud.

The premiere of “The Boondocks” on Adult Swim on Sunday night was the beginning of a 15-episode foray into comedy, political satire and popular culture.

First and foremost a comic strip, “The Boondocks” is mainly comedy and satire, but it is both politically and racially charged. Frequently, the comic strip is moved into the opinion-editorial pages or removed from a newspaper altogether.

“When you become a satirist, you decide to be misunderstood by all types of people,” says the creator, Aaron McGruder. “That’s the price of entry.”

McGruder, a native of Chicago, has been drawing the comic “The Boondocks” since 1997. It became syndicated in 1999 and is now published in more than 300 papers nationwide. The main character’s quote above and the audience’s reaction is just a hint of the political irony that drives the show.

“Yes, it is a commentary on the strip,” he says, “And people’s inability in general to act strongly to anything.”

Political topics the show will tackle will be wide and varied, according to the Sony Pictures press release, and will include celebrities such as R. Kelly and Oprah. McGruder and the writers were careful about which topics to cover so the show wouldn’t become too “dated.”

“I didn’t want to tell a bunch of Bush jokes and date the show,” McGruder says. “We’ll do something specific if it’s a safe joke and not immediately dated.”

There are many topics that are both off-limits to the comic and the show, however. McGruder would not elaborate on specific topics, but he says creative freedom is “only yours until someone takes it away from you.

“You hope that when that’s all said and done, you tell a good story,” he says.

The artistic style for the show distinctly resembles Japanese animation or “anime.” Although Adult Swim shows anime programming, the decision for this style was McGruder’s, he says.

“I have always been a been a big anime fan,” McGruder says. “I wanted the show to have serious moments and dramatic action in addition to the comedy.”

Together with the freedom of 30 minutes as opposed to three panels, said he can focus more on storytelling than simple one-liners. McGruder says the experience in creating the television show was creatively liberating.

“I’ve been trying to sell the show for five or 10 years,” McGruder says. “Adult Swim understood the show the best.”

The television medium also sets higher expectations toward the humor. Many different newspaper comics before – Dilbert, for example – have made their way onto television only to fail.

“Although comic to television ten

ds to be hit or miss, this show falls into a variety of categories, such as late night comedy, racial and pop culture,” McGruder says.

People who enjoy the punchline-style jokes in the comic strip, he says, may dislike a television show that uses those very same techniques.

“People expect the show to be much funnier and much more entertaining,” McGruder says. “They read a comic and get a smile, cool, they’re happy, but people on late night cable want to laugh out loud.”

McGruder is positive about the future of the show, saying they had produced about two season’s worth of material after a few brainstorming sessions. He also says Sony and Adult Swim are both very positive about the show’s prospects.

“Adult Swim prides itself on being unexpected,” McGruder says. “It’s a different show.”