The PJs: Season 1

Does The PJs traffic in negative stereotypes or slyly and satirically subvert them? This debate dogged the series (the title is slang for inner-city housing projects) during its three-season run from 1999 to 2001. No less than Spike Lee blasted it, calling it “hateful towards black people.” But considering the impressive comic cred of its creators—Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore of In Living Color and The Daily Show, and Steve Tomkins of The Simpsons—most will agree this is satirical subversion. The PJs is set in Detroit's dilapidated Hilton-Jacobs Projects (named after an actor from Welcome Back, Kotter), where cranky superintendent Thurgood Stubbs (voiced by Murphy) oversees the crime-ridden building where he lives with his wife, Muriel (Loretta Devine). In addition to Muriel's sister and Asian brother-in-law (Jenifer Lewis, Michael Paul Chan), the other occupants include a voodoo priestess, a crackhead, and an elderly dingbat, with much of the plot revolving around their interactions with Thurgood, who also serves as a surrogate father to two neighborhood kids (Crystal Scales and Michele Morgan). The writing is mostly knife-sharp (“HUD,” a neighborhood sign reads, “Keeping you in the projects since 1965”); but what really distinguishes The PJs is the richly detailed stop-motion animation by Will Vinton Studios, best known for its California Raisins campaign. Compiling 13 out of 14 episodes from the 1999 season (the missing entry is a holiday-themed segment), this is recommended. (D. Liebenson)