Adult Swim has given a series order to “Black Jesus,” a half-hour live-action scripted comedy from “The Boondocks” creator Aaron McGruder. The show stars newcomer Gerald “Slink” Johnson (“Grand Theft Auto V”) as Jesus living in present-day Compton, CA on a daily mission to spread love and kindness throughout the neighborhood with the help of his small but loyal group of downtrodden followers, reports Deadline.com.
“Black Jesus” co-stars Charlie Murphy, Corey Holcomb and John Witherspoon. Production has begun in Los Angeles for a premiere later this year. The series pickup for Black Jesus comes on the heels of the Jesus race controversy triggered by Fox News star Megyn Kelley’s recent “Jesus is white” comments.
Deadline’s Nellie Andreeva writes:
Possibly because of its subject matter, the network had kept the project pretty quiet. Its May 2013 upfront slate included a live-action pilot by McGruder but no premise was announced. McGruder, who created the series, will serve as executive producer through his 5 Mutts Prods. along with writer-director Mike Clattenberg (Trailer Park Boys) and LEG’s Norman Aladjemand John Bravakis. Johnson previously guest starred in an episode of McGruder’s Adult Swim animated comedy “Boondocks.”
