The trouble began before The Boondocks — now a Peabody Award-winning send-up of American race relations and stereotypes — ever even hit the airwaves. In print, the 300-newspaper comic strip on which the show was based toned down its frequent use of the n-word with profanity symbols. But in July 2005, a few months before the TV version aired on the Cartoon Network, creator Aaron McGruder declared that the show would use no bleeps. "I think it makes the show sincere," he said. "I understand the word offends a lot of people. But that's what late-night cable is for."