The PJs

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The PJs
Image:PJs portrait.jpg
Genre Comedy
Created by Eddie Murphy
Larry Wilmore
Steve Tompkins
Voices of Eddie Murphy
Loretta Devine
Cassi Davis
Theme music composer George Clinton
Quincy Jones III
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 46
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 Eddie Murphy
Will Vinton
Ron Howard
Brian Grazer
Running time 30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel FOX
The WB
Original run January 10, 1999 – May 20, 2001
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The PJs is a stop motion animated television series created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It centers around life in a Detroit urban public housing project. The show 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.

40 episodes were aired during the show's three-year run. There were still 6 episodes left over, which were produced by Warner Bros.. Each episode took over two months to produce, owing to the laborious stop motion process. Originally broadcast on FOX, the show later moved to The WB in 2000-2001, but was soon cancelled due to its high budget. The last three episodes were not aired until 2003. Reruns previously aired on Trio, a cable television network.

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 a negative racial view of the projects.[1] Quincy Jones' son QD3 along with George Clinton produced the theme music for the show.

The PJs returned in re-runs on November 5, 2007 on TV One. It is aired weeknights at 9:30 PM Eastern/8:30 PM Central. [2]


Contents

[edit] Characters

  • Thurgood Stubbs - The superintendent of the projects. He is short-tempered and usually gets himself in trouble. Played by Eddie Murphy.
  • Muriel Stubbs - Thurgood's wife - the voice of reason. Played by Loretta Devine.
  • Mrs. Avery - The senior citizen, who was known notoriously as the one who shot the mailman...and the garbage man. Her full name is Florence Normandy Avery. Played by Ja'net Dubois.
  • Lucky - A dog owned by Mrs. Avery that was given to her by Thurgood. Originally a stray, he got his name after Mrs. Avery failed to shoot him (twice) with her shotgun.
  • Calvin & Juicy - Two children who are best friends and who idolize Thurgood. Juicy is the fat slow-witted boy. Calvin is played by Crystal Scales. Michele Morgan plays Juicy.
  • Momma & Poppa Hudson - Juicy's parents, both of whom are so morbidly obese that they can no longer exit their apartment, and are thus confined inside. In the episode Boyz N the Woods, Poppa Hudson is confirmed to weigh more than half a ton.
  • Smokey - The crackhead who always angers Thurgood. His real name is Elister, but was referred to as "Mr. Crackhead" and "Mr. Crack" in the first two episodes of the series. In one episode, it is revealed that he used to train fighting rats under the name "Ratman Crothers." He is often insulted with the phrase "You damn stupid crackhead!" by the Super, he later quits drug use by Season 3, but he is still homeless. "Smokey" was Played by Shawn Michael Howard.
  • Jimmy Ho - A Korean tenant (married to Bebe) who thinks he is black. He opened a casino in an unaired episode. Played by Michael Paul Chan.
  • Bebe Ho - Muriel's trash-talking sister. She hates Thurgood. Played by Jenifer Lewis.
  • Garcelle "Haiti Lady" DuPris - the resident Voodoo Queen of the Hilton-Jacobs Projects. Played by Cheryl Francis Harrington. Her powers, though proven in the episode U Go Cart, are unreliable; and do not work should she be challenged to prove them, as seen in Haiti Sings the Blues.
  • Emilio Sanchez - Thurgood's friend who is unable to talk because he smoked a lot. He has to use an electronic voicebox held up to his throat in order to communicate. Played by Pepe Serna.
  • Walter - The parole officer with a past as a crooked cop. His past is regularly alluded to, as many people around the projects owe him favours. Played by Marc Wilmore.
  • Tarnell - the local street corner hustler, who Thurgood usually turns to when he needs something, greeted with "Tell Tarnell!" who speaks frequent slang in which Thurgood understands, until Tarnell brings him the complete opposite, which usually is the best solution for Thurgood's problem. Played by James Black.
  • Rasta Man - The Jamaican stereotype of a marijuana smoker. He is often seen as a walking smoke cloud. Played by Kevin Michael Richardson.
  • HUD Lady - The social worker at HUD always seen in silhouette who never gives Thurgood what he wants (yet is incredibly friendly to Muriel) and simply yells, "Next," at the end of every sentence. Her son's name is Chevron and her daughter's name is Lasagne. Played by Cassi Davis.

Other characters include Sherique, and Nola. Due to a rumoured dispute between Eddie Murphy and the Fox network (apparently over unfavorable scheduling of the show), actor Phil Morris 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.

[edit] Episode list

[edit] Season 1 (FOX): 1999

Pilot: Unaired pilot episode

  1. Hangin' With Mr. Super (1/10/1999)
  2. Bones, Bugs, & Harmony (1/12/1999)
  3. The Door (1/19/1999)
  4. The Journal (1/26/1999)
  5. Rich Man, Porn Man (2/2/1999)
  6. Bougie Nights (2/9/1999)
  7. A Hero Aint Nothin But A Super (2/16/1999)
  8. He's Gotta Have It (Nominated for an Emmy) (2/23/1999)
  9. Boyz N The Woods (4/6/1999)
  10. Operation Gumbo Drop (4/13/1999)
  11. U Go Kart (5/4/1999)
  12. House Potty (5/11/1999)
  13. Haiti Sings The Blues (5/18/1999)
  14. How the Super Stoled (sic) Christmas (12/17/1999)

[edit] Season 2: 1999-2000

  1. Home School Dazed (5/30/2000)
  2. The Preacher's Life (6/6/2000)
  3. The HJs (6/13/2000)
  4. Haiti & The Tramp (6/27/2000)
  5. Weave's Have A Dream (6/27/2000)
  6. Let's Get Ready To Crumble (7/4/2000)
  7. Who Da Boss? (7/4/2000)
  8. Ghetto Superstars (7/11/2000)
  9. Fear Of A Black Rat (7/11/2000)
  10. What's Eating Juicy Hudson? (7/18/2000)
  11. The Jeffersons (7/25/2000)
  12. Robbin HUD (8/1/2000)
  13. Cliffhangin With Mr. Super (8/15/2000)
  14. The Last Affirmative Action Hero (8/29/2000)
  15. Parole officer & A Gentleman (9/5/2000)

[edit] Season 3 (WB): 2000-2001

  1. Boyz Under The Hood (10/8/2000)
  2. New Years Eve Special: 32. Scathroat (12/31/2000)
  3. Smoke Gets In Your High Rise (2/4/2001)
  4. National Buffoon's European Vacation (2/11/2001)
  5. Cruising For A Bluesing (2/18/2001)
  6. It Takes A Thurgood (2/25/2001)
  7. Miracle Cleaner on 134th Street (4/29/2001)
  8. Survival: In Tha Hood (5/6/2001)
  9. Let's Get Ready To Rumba (5/13/2001)
  10. A Race To His Credit (5/20/2001)
  11. Red Man's Burdem (Unaired)
  12. Clip Show (Unaired)
  13. Untitled Episode (Unaired)
  14. Thurgood, Boxer (Unaired)
  15. Richness Is Me (Unaired)
  16. Untitled last episode (Unaired)
  • Note: The final unaired episodes have been shown in some markets, such as by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in 2003.

[edit] Soundtrack

The PJs: Music from & Inspired By the Hit Television Series
The PJs: Music from & Inspired By the Hit Television Series cover
Soundtrack by Various Artists
Released March 30, 1999 (1999-03-30)
Genre R&B
Hip-Hop
Length ??:??
Label Hollywood Records
  1. It's Nothing (Featuring R.O.C.) — Jermaine Dupri & Da Brat
  2. Talkin' Trash (Featuring Bassy) — Timbaland
  3. Life In The Projects — Snoop Dogg
  4. Hat Low — Goodie Mob
  5. Way 2 Strong — Bizzy Bone
  6. The Ghetto (Featuring O) — Krayzie Bone
  7. Giant Size — Raekwon Feat. American Cream Team
  8. Rapid Fire — O
  9. Holiday (Featuring Marie Antoinette) — Earth, Wind & Fire
  10. Get Involved — Raphael Saadiq & Q Tip
  11. What I Am — Smith, Sy
  12. No More Rainy Days — Destiny's Child
  13. Here I Go — Infamous Syndicate
  14. Til It's Over — Krumbsnatcha
  15. Always Been You — Imajin
  16. PJs — George Clinton

[edit] External links

[edit] 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. This is consistent with the plot of Futurama, in which Fry is frozen in 2000 and thawed in 3000.
  • In the episode of The Simpsons entitled "Missionary: Impossible", 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.
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