title: Oakland, California

text: Oakland's three largest public high schools are Oakland High School, Oakland Technical High School, and Skyline High School. Other Oakland public high schools include Castlemont High School, Fremont High School, and McClymonds High School, briefly known as Castlemont Community of Small Schools, Fremont Federation of High Schools, and McClymonds Educational Complex, respectively.


title: Oakland, California

text: Among charter schools in the district, North Oakland Community Charter School (NOCCS), an elementary and middle school, is one of the few public progressive schools in the country. Other charter schools include the Oakland Military Institute, Oakland School for the Arts, Bay Area Technology School, East Bay Innovation Academy, and Oakland Charter Academy.


title: Oakland, California

text: There are several religious and secular private high schools, including The College Preparatory School, Head-Royce School, Bishop O'Dowd High School, Holy Names High School, St. Elizabeth High School and Oakland Hebrew Day School. Catholic schools in Oakland are operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland also include eight K–8 schools (plus one in Piedmont on the Oakland city border). Northern Light School is a private nonprofit elementary and middle school. Bentley School is an Independent Co-educational K–12, college preparatory school on two campuses in Oakland and Lafayette, California.


title: Oakland, California

text: In 2017, the Oakland Unified School District has received funding from Pandora in partnership with Little Kids Rock, towards expanding music education programs within the schools. The result from these donations has given teachers from 20 additional Oakland- area schools the ability to participate in an eight-hour professional development workshop, and receive music education instruction from Little Kids Rock. The donation includes providing new instruments, that will benefit over 2,000 Oakland students.


title: Oakland, California

text: In 2001, the SFSU Oakland Multimedia Center was opened, allowing San Francisco State University to conduct classes near downtown Oakland. The Oakland Higher Education Consortium and the City of Oakland's Community and Economic Development Agency (CEDA) opened the Oakland Higher Education Center downtown in 2002 to provide "access to multiple higher education service providers within a shared urban facility." Member schools include primary user California State University, East Bay as well as Lincoln University, New College of California, Saint Mary's College of California, SFSU Multimedia Studies Program, UC Berkeley Extension, University of Phoenix and Peralta Community College District.


title: Oakland, California

text: Oakland is served by major television stations broadcasting primarily out of San Francisco and San Jose. The region's Fox O&O, KTVU 2, is based in (and licensed to) Oakland at Jack London Square along with co-owned independent station KICU-TV 36 (licensed to San Jose). In addition, the city is served by various radio stations as well; AM stations KKSF 910, KMKY 1310 and KNEW 960 are licensed to Oakland.


title: Oakland, California

text: Oakland was served by the "Oakland Tribune", which published its first newspaper on February 21, 1874. The Tribune Tower, which features a large clock, is an Oakland landmark. At key times throughout the day (8:00 am, noon and 5:00 pm), the clock tower carillon plays a variety of classic melodies, which change daily. In 2007, the Oakland Tribune moved its offices from the tower to an East Oakland location, before folding in 2011.


title: Oakland, California

text: The "East Bay Express", a locally owned free weekly paper, is based in Jack London Square and distributed throughout the East Bay.


title: Oakland, California

text: Oakland residents have access to the three major airports of the San Francisco Bay Area: Oakland International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and San Jose International Airport. Oakland International Airport, within Oakland's city limits, is south of downtown Oakland and serves domestic and international destinations. AC Transit provides 24-hour service to the airport, and BART's Coliseum–Oakland International Airport automated guideway transit line provides frequent service between the airport and Oakland Coliseum station.


title: Oakland, California

text: The city has regional and long-distance passenger train service provided by Amtrak, with stations near Jack London Square and the RingCentral Coliseum. Amtrak's "California Zephyr" has its western terminus at the nearby Emeryville station.


title: Oakland, California

text: Historically, the city was served by several train companies, which terminated in different terminals. Santa Fe trains terminated at its Oakland depot, actually located within the city limits of Emeryville at 40th and San Pablo. Southern Pacific trains ended at the 16th Street Station. Western Pacific trains ended at the 3rd and Washington station. However, a common feature was that the different railroads continued one more stop to a station at Oakland Pier. From this latter point passengers would ride ferries to San Francisco.


title: Oakland, California

text: Data compiled in 2007 by the United States Census Bureau before gasoline price spikes in 2008, showed that 24.3% of Oaklanders used public transportation, walked or used "other means" to commute to work, not including remote work, with 17% of Oakland households being "car free" and/or statistically categorized as having "no vehicles available."


title: Oakland, California

text: Bus transit service in Oakland and the inner East Bay is provided by the Alameda and Contra Costa Transit District, AC Transit. The district originated in 1958 after the conspiratorial dissolution of the Key System of streetcars. Many AC Transit lines follow old routes of the Key System.


title: Oakland, California

text: Intercity bus companies that serve Oakland include Greyhound, BoltBus, Megabus, USAsia, and Hoang Transportation.


title: Oakland, California

text: The metropolitan area is served by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) from eight stations in Oakland. The system has headquarters in Oakland, with major transfer hubs at MacArthur and 19th Street stations. BART's headquarters was in a building above the Lake Merritt BART station until 2006, when it relocated to the Kaiser Center due to seismic safety concerns.


title: Oakland, California

text: The Alameda / Oakland Ferry operates ferry service from Jack London Square to Alameda, Oracle Park, Pier 41, the San Francisco Ferry Building, and the South San Francisco Ferry Terminal.


title: Oakland, California

text: Oakland licenses taxi cabs, and has zoned cab stands in its downtown, including a bicycle pedi-cab service.


title: Oakland, California

text: The Oakland City Council adopted a Bicycle Master Plan in 1999 as a part of the Land Use and Transportation (LUTE) element of Oakland's 1998 General Plan. The creation of the plan was to promote alternatives to the private automobile. The Oakland City Council reaffirmed the bike plan in 2005, revised it in 2007, and reaffirmed it in 2012. From 1999 to 2007, the city installed 900 bike racks throughout Oakland, accommodating over 2,000 bicycles. By the end of 2017, over 160 bikeway miles and 9,900 bike parking spaces were constructed. Facilities for parking thousands of bicycles have been installed downtown and in other commercial districts throughout Oakland. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey, Oakland came in seventh place out of the 100 largest cities in the nation by percentage of people that chose to commute by bike in 2011.


title: Oakland, California

text: In July 2019, the City of Oakland Department of Transportation announced that it had issued official permits for the deployment of shared e-scooters to four companies: Bird, Clevr, Lime, and Lyft. Oakland requires these operators to educate users on the correct and safe use of scooters, to distribute the scooters equitably throughout the city, to ensure accessibility, and to provide insurance and indemnification.


title: Oakland, California

text: Oakland is served by several major highways: Eastbound Bay Bridge traffic entering Oakland then splits into three freeways at the MacArthur Maze freeway interchange: Interstate 580 (MacArthur Freeway) heads southeast toward Hayward and eventually to the California Central Valley; Interstate 880 (Nimitz Freeway) runs south to San Jose; and the Eastshore Freeway (Interstate 80/I-580) runs north, providing connections to Sacramento and San Rafael, respectively.


title: Oakland, California

text: Interstate 980 (Williams Freeway) begins its eastbound journey at I-880 in Downtown Oakland before turning into State Route 24 (Grove Shafter Freeway) at I-580. State Route 13 begins as the Warren Freeway at I-580, and runs through a scenic valley in the Montclair District before entering Berkeley. A stub of a planned freeway was constructed at the High Street exit from the Nimitz Freeway, but that freeway extension plan was abandoned.


title: Oakland, California

text: At the time of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Cypress Street Viaduct double-deck segment of the Nimitz Freeway collapsed, killing 42 people. The old freeway segment had passed through the middle of West Oakland, forming a barrier between West Oakland neighborhoods. Following the earthquake, this section was rerouted around the perimeter of West Oakland and rebuilt in 1997–2001. The east span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge also suffered damage from the quake when a 50-foot (15-m) section of the upper deck collapsed onto the lower deck; the damaged section was repaired within a month of the earthquake. As a result of Loma Prieta, a significant seismic retrofit was performed on the western span of the Bay Bridge. The eastern span has now been replaced with a dramatic single-tower self-anchoring suspension span.


title: Oakland, California

text: Two underwater tunnels, the Webster and Posey Tubes, connect the main island of Alameda to downtown Oakland, coming above ground in Chinatown. In addition, the Park Street, Fruitvale, and High Street bridges connect Alameda to East Oakland over the Oakland Estuary.


title: Oakland, California

text: In the hills, the Leimert Bridge crosses Dimond Canyon, connecting the Oakmore neighborhood to Park Boulevard. The Caldecott Tunnel carries Highway 24 through the Berkeley Hills, connecting central Contra Costa County to Oakland. The Caldecott has four bores.


title: Oakland, California

text: On April 11, 2020, the City of Oakland launched its Slow Streets Program. This was facilitated in part by the sudden decrease of vehicle traffic that resulted from the state-wide stay-at-home order and school closures in response to the spread of the COVID-19 in California. The goal of the program was to “support safe physical activity and alleviate overcrowding in parks and on trails by discouraging through traffic.” This was accomplished by closing 74 miles of streets to through traffic.


title: Oakland, California

text: Over the course of three months the city installed “soft closure” barriers consisting of signage, traffic cones, and barricades in over 21 miles of city streets. While the primary goal at the time was to encourage socially distanced outdoor physical activities like biking, walking, and jogging, the long term implementation of the Slow Streets Program contributed to the city's traffic calming measures and promoted alternatives to car use as well.


title: Oakland, California

text: Although the Slow Streets Program was initially praised for its rapid implementation and prioritization of pedestrian safety, the Oakland Department of Transportation quickly came under fire for its failure to collect feedback that represented the opinions of the diverse range of residents whom the program affected. The high engagement with online surveys by wealthy white residents initially suggested an almost universally positive reaction to the program. The disproportionately low number of responses from residents of East Oakland—a largely Black and Latino and low-income area—revealed both the oversight of city officials as well as the shortcomings of urban planning systems’ ability to equally benefit different social groups, which consequently perpetuates inequalities like the transport divide.


title: Oakland, California

text: After the flaws of the feedback forms were brought to light, city planners made concentrated efforts to meet with representatives from different community groups who in turn stressed that simply closing streets to through traffic wasn't enough to protect pedestrians from dangerous driving. In response the city expressed its commitment to its local residents calling for road traffic safety by rolling out Slow Streets: Essential Places, a phase of the program which installed cones and signage at dangerous traffic areas in order to make grocery stores, COVID-19 test sites, and food distribution sites easily and safely accessible.


title: Oakland, California

text: Freight service, which consists primarily of moving shipping containers to and from the Port of Oakland, is provided today by Union Pacific Railroad (UP), and to a lesser extent by BNSF Railway (which now shares the tracks of the UP between Richmond and Oakland).


title: Oakland, California

text: Historically, Oakland was served by several railroads. Besides the transcontinental line of the Southern Pacific, there was also the Santa Fe (whose Oakland terminal was actually in Emeryville), the Western Pacific Railroad (who built a pier adjacent to the SP's), and the Sacramento Northern Railroad (eventually absorbed by the Western Pacific, which in turn was absorbed by UP in 1983).


title: Oakland, California

text: As one of the three major ports on the West Coast of the United States, the Port of Oakland is the largest seaport on San Francisco Bay and the fifth busiest container port in the United States. It was one of the earliest seaports to switch to containerization and to intermodal container transfer, thereby displacing the Port of San Francisco, which never modernized its waterfront. One of the earlier limitations to growth was the inability to transfer containers to rail lines, all cranes historically operating between ocean vessels and trucks. In the 1980s, the Port of Oakland began the evaluation of development of an intermodal container transfer capability, i.e., facilities that now allow trans-loading of containers from vessels to either trucks or rail modes.


title: Oakland, California

text: Public water supply and sewage treatment are provided by East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG & E) provides natural gas and electricity service. Municipal garbage collection is franchised to Waste Management, Inc. Telecommunications and subscriber television services are provided by multiple private corporations and other service providers in accordance with the competitive objectives of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.


title: Oakland, California

text: Originating in Oakland, Kaiser Permanente is an HMO started in 1942, during World War II, by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser to provide medical care for Kaiser Shipyards workers. It is the largest managed care organization in the United States and the largest non-governmental health care provider in the world. It is headquartered at One Kaiser Plaza in Downtown Oakland and maintains a large medical center in the Piedmont Avenue neighborhood.


title: Oakland, California

text: Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, an East Bay hospital system, maintains its Summit Campus in the neighborhood known as "Pill Hill" north of downtown. Until 2000, it was the Summit Medical Center before merging with Berkeley-based Alta Bates. All campuses now operate under the Sutter Health network.


title: Oakland, California

text: Alameda Health System is an integrated public health care system organized as a public hospital authority. It operates five Alameda County hospitals including Oakland's Highland Hospital and four primary care medical clinics including Oakland's Highland Wellness Center and Eastmont Wellness Center.


title: Oakland, California

text: Children's Hospital Oakland is the primary medical center specializing in pediatrics in the East Bay. It is a designated Level I pediatric trauma center and the only independent children's hospital in Northern California.


title: Oakland, California

text: There are also several community health centers in Oakland. Some examples include Lifelong Medical Care, Asian Health Services, and Roots Community Health Center.


title: Rick and Morty (season 5)

text: The fifth season of the animated television series "Rick and Morty" consisted of 10 episodes, part of the 70 episodes ordered by Adult Swim after they renewed the series in 2018. The series stars Justin Roiland as both titular characters. The season premiered on June 20, 2021 and concluded on September 5, 2021.


title: Rick and Morty (season 5)

text: Dan Harmon and Scott Marder said that season 5 would have a stronger sense of continuity than previous seasons. At a 2020 virtual Adult Swim festival, writer Scott Marder announced that "there's epic canon in season five coming" and that season four's Space Beth is set to be a major character in the season. As of late October 2020, episodes were "pretty far along on [their] route to Adult Swim." A promotional animatic of Morty carrying a seemingly dead Rick across an alien planet was released in November 2020. Other animatics, including one that appears to be from the same episode as Rick is in the same condition he is in in the first picture, have been released as well. A final animatic shows Morty confessing his feelings for Jessica as their spaceship crashes into the ocean. Once it does, Rick's long-time nemesis Mr. Nimbus greets them. Sixth and seventh seasons have been confirmed to already be in development.


title: Rick and Morty (season 5)

text: In October 2020, show creator Dan Harmon revealed that one of the episodes written by Rob Schrab in the upcoming season, now known as "A Rickconvenient Mort", would be about Morty's relationship with a woman who is not Jessica, and said that Morty "really feels heartache on a level a man his age shouldn't... my Emmy is going to that one." Schrab's writing for the episode was "very tender." Harmon also noted that production was happening ahead of schedule. Jeff Loveness, who wrote multiple episodes in season four, has been confirmed to be returning to write his last episodes for the series, including the season premiere. The season will also delve deeper into Rick and Jerry's relationship.


title: Rick and Morty (season 5)

text: Regulars Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, and Sarah Chalke were confirmed to return as the Smith family, with other characters including new addition to the cast, Mr. Nimbus. In January 2021, it was revealed that series creator Dan Harmon and Kari Wahlgren, a recurring voice in the series, would return to reprise their roles of Birdperson, Rick's old friend turned enemy after being reprogrammed by Tammy Gueterman, and Jessica, Morty's crush throughout the show, respectively. Space Beth, a character who last appeared in the finale of the previous season, voiced by Chalke, also returned. Guest stars during the season will include Timothy Olyphant, Christina Ricci, and Alison Brie.


title: Rick and Morty (season 5)

text: The season premiered on June 20, 2021. Justin Roiland, who voices the two main characters, said that he would like to air one episode a month, so as to lengthen the time that the show is on the air. He reiterated this in March 2021. Roiland also claimed that the wait between all the rest of the seasons would "never be [as] long again" as they were between many of the previous seasons. On July 13, 2021, the seventh episode, "Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion", was leaked online in Canada through Amazon Prime Video, ahead of its official release date of August 1.


title: Rick and Morty (season 5)

text: On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, season five has a 86% score based on 100 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Bold, bombastic, and just the right amount of baffling, "Rick and Morty"'s fifth season is an action-packed journey that may finally put Rick in his place." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 89, out of 5 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Brandon Katz of Observer said "Rick and Morty persists not only for its inversion of sci-fi tropes, clever pop culture riffing and raw hilarity. It continues to hold our interest in a way few shows do because it knows we are all capable of great and terrible things." David Opie of "Digital Spy" praised the series premiere, saying "It's just as inventive as ever, and by not resetting the status quo, there's more room for character development."


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: Ioan Gruffudd (; (born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor. He first came to public attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in "Titanic" (1997), and then for his portrayal of Horatio Hornblower in the "Hornblower" series of television films (1998–2003). Subsequent roles have included Lancelot in "King Arthur" (2004), Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic in "Fantastic Four" (2005) and its , William Wilberforce in "Amazing Grace" (2006), and Tony Blair in "W." (2008).


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: His other film credits include "102 Dalmatians" (2000), "Black Hawk Down" (2001), "The Gathering" (2003), "Fireflies in the Garden" (2008), "The Secret of Moonacre" (2008), "Sanctum", "Horrible Bosses", "Foster" (all 2011), "" (2014), and "San Andreas" (2015).


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: On television, Gruffudd has starred in the CW series "Ringer" (2011–2012), the ABC drama "Forever" (2014–2015), the Lifetime series "UnReal" (2016), Sundance/ITV's "Liar" (2017–2020), and the Australian series "Harrow" (2018–present).


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: Gruffudd was born on 6 October 1973 in Aberdare, the eldest of three brothers. His parents, Gillian (née James) and Peter Griffiths (Ioan uses Gruffudd, the more traditional Welsh version of the surname), were both teachers.


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: His father was headmaster at two Welsh-language comprehensive schools in South Wales, first at Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari (in Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf) then later at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen (in Rhydfelin). He has a brother, Alun, two years younger, and a sister, Siwan, who is seven years his junior. The Gruffudd siblings were raised in a Protestant non-conformist household.


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: During his childhood, his family moved to Cardiff. Gruffudd attended Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Aberdar (Ynyslwyd; now located in Cwmdare), Ysgol Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd (in Whitchurch, Cardiff), and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf (in Llandaff North).


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: He was an accomplished oboist in his teens, achieving a Grade 8 level in the ABRSM music examinations and playing in the South Glamorgan Youth Orchestra for several years, but gave it up once acting took up most of his time. He won prizes for his high baritone singing while at school, including one at the National Eisteddfod. He has said, "As a Welshman, I grew up in a culture of singing and performing with music, and I think it was through this performing that I got my confidence as an actor."


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: Gruffudd's parents are committed Christians, and in his early 20s he was a member of the London Church of Christ, but his mother later came to London to "sort [his] head out". In June 2007, he said that he "wouldn't describe myself as a deeply religious man".


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: Gruffudd started his acting career at the age of 13 in a Welsh television film, "Austin" (1986), and later moved on to the Welsh language soap opera "Pobol y Cwm" ("People of the Valley") from 1987 to 1994. He also played football with the "Pobol y Cwm" football team "Cwmderi FC" alongside co-stars Hywel Emrys, Gwyn Elfyn and Ieuan Rhys. During this time, he was also active on stage, in-school performances, and in the 1991 Urdd Eisteddfod production of "Cwlwm".


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: In 1992, aged 18, he began attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. However, he was only given small parts in the academy's productions, and feeling isolated and directionless, almost dropped out several times. However, in 1995 in his final year, he was cast in Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" as George (Jörgen) Tesman, the husband of Hedda, the lead character. This performance led to his being offered the role of Jeremy Poldark in the 1996 TV remake of "Poldark".


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: After playing Oscar Wilde's lover John Gray in 1997's "Wilde" he took a role as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in James Cameron's film "Titanic". He later landed the role of Horatio Hornblower in "Hornblower", the Meridian production of the C. S. Forester novels (1998–2003), shown on ITV and A&E. He has said: "It was quite something for an unknown actor to get the lead. So I will always be grateful to Hornblower. ... I would love to play this character through every stage of his life. I think it would be unique to have an actor playing him from the very early days as a midshipman, through till he's an Admiral. So, I would love to play this character till he perishes."


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: His television work includes playing the character Pip in the BBC TV production of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" (1999), Lt. John Feeley in BBC One's "Warriors" (1999) and architect Philip Bosinney in ITV's adaptation of "The Forsyte Saga" (2002). He has starred in the films "102 Dalmatians" (2000), "Black Hawk Down" (2001) and "King Arthur" (2004).


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: In 2007, he starred in the historical drama "Amazing Grace" as William Wilberforce, the British abolitionist, receiving critical acclaim for the role. Gruffudd has also portrayed characters of both Marvel Comics and DC Comics, having appeared as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic in Marvel's "Fantastic Four" (2005) and "" (2007), and provided the voice of Mister Miracle in DC's "Justice League Unlimited" (2004–06).


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: In 2008, he appeared in the Julia Roberts-Ryan Reynolds film, "Fireflies in the Garden". In 2008, he also appeared in "The Secret of Moonacre". In 2009, he starred alongside Josh Brolin in "W.", a biopic about the life of US President George W Bush, in which Gruffudd played Tony Blair. In 2011, he played the financier of a cave dive in "Sanctum".


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: Gruffudd débuted his new male lead of Dr Andrew Earlham, a respected surgeon and widowed father of a teenage son, on 11 September 2017, in ITV's new 6-part thriller miniseries, "Liar". Dr Earlham's world—personally and professionally—is torn asunder when his son's schoolteacher, Laura Neilson (Joanne Froggatt) accuses him of raping her after their first date, the details of which she cannot remember. "Liar" also began airing in the US on SundanceTV on 25 September 2017.


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: In 2018, Gruffudd was cast as forensic pathologist Dr. Daniel Harrow in the Australian TV show "Harrow" airing on the ABC. The show is set and filmed in Brisbane and focuses on Gruffudd's character Dr. Harrow a forensic pathologist with a total disregard for authority and an unfailing empathy for the dead which helps him to solve the most bizarre of cases. The series was a ratings hit in Australia and overseas and was renewed for a second series in 2019 and third series in 2020.


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: Apart from television and film work, he starred in the music video of Westlife's version of "Uptown Girl" (2001) alongside Claudia Schiffer. On 7 July 2007 he was a presenter at the UK leg of Live Earth at Wembley Stadium, London.


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: Gruffudd is a native Welsh speaker. He was inducted into the "Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain" (the Bardic Order of Great Britain) at the highest rank of druid in the National Eisteddfod at Meifod, mid-Wales, on 4 August 2003, with the bardic name "Ioan".


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: In July 2008, he featured in a promotional trailer in Welsh for BBC Wales, alongside fellow Welshmen Matthew Rhys and Gethin Jones, publicising BBC coverage of the 2008 National Eisteddfod of Wales in Cardiff. In early 2014, Gruffudd was among the stars of Wales in a short film from the BBC to mark the centenary of the birth of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: On 14 September 2007, he married actress Alice Evans, whom he met during the production of "102 Dalmatians".


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: One of Gruffudd's best men and speechmakers at the wedding was fellow Welsh actor Matthew Rhys, his long-time friend and former flatmate of eight years. Both are patrons of Trust PA, a UK spinal injuries charity.


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: Gruffudd and Evans have two daughters, born in 2009 and 2013. Evans announced the couple's separation in January 2021. On 1 March 2021, Gruffudd filed for divorce.


title: Ioan Gruffudd

text: On 14 February 2022, Gruffudd filed for a domestic violence restraining order against Evans. This included the protection of his girlfriend Bianca Wallace. On 2 August 2022, Gruffudd was granted a three-year permanent domestic violence restraining order against Evans.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1871, as the Boston Red Stockings. After various name changes, the team eventually began operating as the Boston Braves in 1912, which lasted for most of the first half of the 20th century. Then, in 1953, the team moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and became the Milwaukee Braves, followed by their move to Atlanta in 1966.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The name "Braves" originates from a term for a Native American warrior. They are nicknamed "the Bravos", and often referred to as "America's Team" in reference to the team's games being broadcast nationally on TBS from the 1970s until 2007, giving the team a nationwide fan base.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves and the Chicago Cubs are the National League's two remaining charter franchises. The team states it is "the oldest continuously operating professional sports franchise in America."


title: Atlanta Braves

text: From 1991 to 2005, the Braves were one of the most successful teams in baseball, winning an unprecedented 14 consecutive division titles, making a MLB record eight consecutive National League Championship Series appearances, and producing one of the greatest pitching rotations in the history of baseball including Hall of Famers Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine. Since their debut in the National League in 1876, the franchise has won an MLB record 22 divisional titles, 18 National League pennants, and four World Series championships – in 1914 as the Boston Braves, in 1957 as the Milwaukee Braves, and in 1995 and 2021 as the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are the only Major League Baseball franchise to have won the World Series in three different home cities. At the end of the 2022 season, the Braves' overall win–loss record is .


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Cincinnati Red Stockings, established in 1869 as the first openly all-professional baseball team, voted to dissolve after the 1870 season. Player-manager Harry Wright, with brother George and two other Cincinnati players, then went to Boston, Massachusetts at the invitation of Boston Red Stockings founder Ivers Whitney Adams to form the nucleus of the "Boston Red Stockings", a charter member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP). The original Boston Red Stockings team and its successors can lay claim to being the oldest continuously playing team in American professional sports. (The only other team that has been organized as long, the Chicago Cubs, did not play for the two years following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.) Two young players hired away from the Forest City club of Rockford, Illinois, turned out to be the biggest stars during the NAPBBP years: pitcher Al Spalding (founder of Spalding sporting goods) and second baseman Ross Barnes.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Led by the Wright brothers, Barnes, and Spalding, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, winning four of that league's five championships. The team became one of the National League's charter franchises in 1876, sometimes called the ""Red Caps"" (as a new Cincinnati Red Stockings club was another charter member).


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Boston Red Caps played in the first game in the history of the National League, on Saturday, April 22, 1876, defeating the Philadelphia Athletics, 6–5.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Although somewhat stripped of talent in the National League's inaugural year, Boston bounced back to win the 1877 and 1878 pennants. The Red Caps/Beaneaters were one of the league's dominant teams during the 19th century, winning a total of eight pennants. For most of that time, their manager was Frank Selee. Boston came to be called the "Beaneaters" in 1883 while retaining red as the team color. The 1898 team finished 102–47, a club record for wins that would stand for almost a century. Stars of those 1890s Beaneater teams included the "Heavenly Twins", Hugh Duffy and Tommy McCarthy, as well as "Slidin'" Billy Hamilton.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The team was decimated when the American League's new Boston entry set up shop in 1901. Many of the Beaneaters' stars jumped to the new team, which offered contracts that the Beaneaters' owners did not even bother to match. They only managed one winning season from 1900 to 1913 and lost 100 games five times. In 1907, the Beaneaters (temporarily) eliminated the last bit of red from their stockings because their manager thought the red dye could cause wounds to become infected, as noted in "The Sporting News Baseball Guide" in the 1940s. The American League club's owner, Charles Taylor, wasted little time in adopting Red Sox as his team's first official nickname (up to that point they had been called by the generic "Americans"). Media-driven nickname changes to the "Doves" in 1907 and the "Rustlers" in 1911 did nothing to change the National League club's luck. The team became the "Braves" for the first time before the 1912 season. The president of the club, John M. Ward named the club after the owner, James Gaffney. Gaffney was called one of the "braves" of New York City's political machine, Tammany Hall, which used an Indian chief as their symbol.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Two years later, the Braves put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4–18 start, the Braves seemed to be on pace for a last-place finish. On July 4, 1914, the Braves lost both games of a doubleheader to the Brooklyn Dodgers. The consecutive losses put their record at 26–40 and the Braves were in last place, 15 games behind the league-leading New York Giants, who had won the previous three league pennants. After a day off, the Braves started to put together a hot streak, and from July 6 through September 5, the Braves went 41–12. On September 7 and 8, the Braves took two of three games from the New York Giants and moved into first place. The Braves tore through September and early October, closing with 25 wins against six losses, while the Giants went 16–16. They were the only team, under the old eight-team league format, to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July. They were in last place as late as July 18, but were close to the pack, moving into fourth on July 21 and second place on August 12.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Despite their amazing comeback, the Braves entered the World Series as a heavy underdog to Connie Mack's Philadelphia A's. Nevertheless, the Braves swept the Athletics—the first unqualified sweep in the young history of the modern World Series (the 1907 Series had one tied game) to win the world championship. Meanwhile, Johnny Evers won the Chalmers Award.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves played the World Series (as well as the last few games of the 1914 season) at Fenway Park, since their normal home, the South End Grounds, was too small. However, the Braves' success inspired owner Gaffney to build a modern park, Braves Field, which opened in August 1915. It was the largest park in the majors at the time, with 40,000 seats and a very spacious outfield. The park was novel for its time; public transportation brought fans right to the park.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: After contending for most of 1915 and 1916, the Braves only twice posted winning records from 1917 to 1932. The lone highlight of those years came when Judge Emil Fuchs bought the team in 1923 to bring his longtime friend, pitching great Christy Mathewson, back into the game. However, Mathewson died in 1925, leaving Fuchs in control of the team.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Fuchs was committed to building a winner, but the damage from the years prior to his arrival took some time to overcome. The Braves finally managed to be competitive in 1933 and 1934 under manager Bill McKechnie, but Fuchs' revenue was severely depleted due to the Great Depression.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Looking for a way to get more fans and more money, Fuchs worked out a deal with the New York Yankees to acquire Babe Ruth, who had started his career with the Red Sox. Fuchs made Ruth team vice president, and promised him a share of the profits. He was also granted the title of assistant manager, and was to be consulted on all of the Braves' deals. Fuchs even suggested that Ruth, who had long had his heart set on managing, could take over as manager once McKechnie stepped down—perhaps as early as 1936.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: At first, it appeared that Ruth was the final piece the team needed in 1935. On opening day, he had a hand in all of the Braves' runs in a 4–2 win over the Giants. However, that proved to be the only time the Braves were over .500 all year. Events went downhill quickly. While Ruth could still hit, he could do little else. He could not run, and his fielding was so terrible that three of the Braves' pitchers threatened to go on strike if Ruth were in the lineup. It soon became obvious that he was vice president and assistant manager in name only and Fuchs' promise of a share of team profits was hot air. In fact, Ruth discovered that Fuchs expected him to invest some of "his" money in the team.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Seeing a franchise in complete disarray, Ruth retired on June 1—only six days after he clouted what turned out to be the last three home runs of his career. He had wanted to quit as early as May 12, but Fuchs wanted him to hang on so he could play in every National League park. The Braves finished 38–115, the worst season in franchise history. Their .248 winning percentage is the second-worst in the modern era and the second-worst in National League history (ahead of the 1899 Cleveland Spiders with a .130 winning percentage).


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Fuchs lost control of the team in August 1935, and the new owners tried to change the team's image by renaming it the Boston Bees. This did little to change the team's fortunes. After five uneven years, a new owner, construction magnate Lou Perini, changed the nickname back to the Braves. He immediately set about rebuilding the team. World War II slowed things down a little, but the team rode the pitching of Warren Spahn to impressive seasons in 1946 and 1947.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In 1948, the team won the pennant, behind the pitching of Spahn and Johnny Sain, who won 39 games between them. The remainder of the rotation was so thin that in September, "Boston Post" writer Gerald Hern wrote this poem about the pair:


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The poem received such a wide audience that the sentiment, usually now paraphrased as ""Spahn and Sain and pray for rain"", entered the baseball vocabulary. However, in the 1948 season, the Braves had the same overall winning percentage as in games that Spahn and Sain started.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The 1948 World Series, which the Braves lost in six games to the Indians, turned out to be the Braves' last hurrah in Boston. In 1950, Sam Jethroe became the team's first African American player, making his major league debut on April 18. Amid four mediocre seasons, attendance steadily dwindled until, on March 13, 1953, Perini, who had recently bought out his original partners, announced he was moving the team to Milwaukee, where the Braves had their top farm club, the Brewers. Milwaukee had long been a possible target for relocation. Bill Veeck had tried to return his St. Louis Browns there earlier the same year (Milwaukee was the original home of that franchise), but his proposal had been voted down by the other American League owners.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Milwaukee went wild over the Braves, drawing a then-NL record 1.8 million fans. The Braves finished 92–62 in their first season in Milwaukee. The success of the relocated team showed that baseball could succeed in new markets, and the Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers, and New York Giants left their hometowns within the next five years.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: As the 1950s progressed, the reinvigorated Braves became increasingly competitive. Sluggers Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron drove the offense (they hit a combined 1,226 home runs as Braves, with 850 of those coming while the franchise was in Milwaukee and 863 coming while they were teammates), often aided by another power hitter, Joe Adcock, while Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, and Bob Buhl anchored the rotation. The 1956 Braves finished second, only one game behind the Brooklyn Dodgers.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In 1957, the Braves celebrated their first pennant in nine years spearheaded by Aaron's MVP season, as he led the National League in home runs and RBI. Perhaps the most memorable of his 44 round-trippers that season came on September 23, a two-run walk-off home run that gave the Braves a 4–2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and clinched the League championship. The team then went on to its first World Series win in over 40 years, defeating the powerful New York Yankees of Berra, Mantle, and Ford in seven games. One-time Yankee Burdette, the Series MVP, threw three complete-game victories against his former team, giving up only two earned runs.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In 1958, the Braves again won the National League pennant and jumped out to a three games to one lead in the World Series against the New York Yankees once more, thanks in part to the strength of Spahn's and Burdette's pitching. But the Yankees stormed back to take the last three games, in large part to World Series MVP Bob Turley's pitching.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The 1959 season saw the Braves finish the season in a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers, both with 86–68 records. Many residents of Chicago and Milwaukee were hoping for a Sox-Braves Series, as the cities are only about apart, but it was not to be because Milwaukee fell in a best-of-3 playoff with two straight losses to the Dodgers. The Dodgers would go on to defeat the Chicago White Sox in the World Series.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The next six years were up-and-down for the Braves. The 1960 season featured two no-hitters by Burdette and Spahn, and Milwaukee finished seven games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, who went on to win the World Series that year, in second place, one year after the Braves were on the winning end of the 13-inning near-perfect game of Pirates pitcher Harvey Haddix. The 1961 season saw a drop in the standings for the Braves down to fourth, despite Spahn recording his 300th victory and pitching another no-hitter that year.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Aaron hit 45 home runs in 1962, a Milwaukee career high for him, but this did not translate into wins for the Braves, as they finished fifth. The next season, Aaron again hit 44 home runs and notched 130 RBI, and 42-year-old Warren Spahn was once again the ace of the staff, going 23–7. However, none of the other Braves produced at that level, and the team finished in the "second division", for the first time in its short history in Milwaukee.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves were mediocre as the 1960s began, with an inflated win total fed by the expansion New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s. To this day, the Milwaukee Braves are the only major league team that played more than one season and never had a losing record.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Perini sold the Braves to a Chicago-based group led by William Bartholomay in 1962. Almost immediately Bartholomay started shopping the Braves to a larger television market. Keen to attract them, the fast-growing city of Atlanta, led by Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. constructed a new $18 million, 52,000-seat ballpark in less than one year, Atlanta Stadium, which was officially opened in 1965 in hopes of luring an existing major league baseball and/or NFL/AFL team. After the city failed to lure the Kansas City A's to Atlanta (the A's ultimately moved to Oakland in 1968), the Braves announced their intention to move to Atlanta for the 1965 season. However, an injunction filed in Wisconsin kept the Braves in Milwaukee for one final year. In 1966, the Braves completed the move to Atlanta.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Eddie Mathews is the only Braves player to have played for the organization in all three cities that they have been based in. Mathews played with the Braves for their last season in Boston, the team's entire tenure in Milwaukee, and their first season in Atlanta.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves were a .500 team in their first few years in Atlanta; 85–77 in 1966, 77–85 in 1967, and 81–81 in 1968. The 1967 season was the Braves' first losing season since 1952, their last year in Boston. In 1969, with the onset of divisional play, the Braves won the first-ever National League West Division title, before being swept by the "Miracle Mets" in the National League Championship Series. They would not be a factor during the next decade, posting only two winning seasons between 1970 and 1981 – in some cases, fielding teams as bad as the worst Boston teams.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In the meantime, fans had to be satisfied with the achievements of Hank Aaron. In the relatively hitter-friendly confines and higher-than-average altitude of Atlanta Stadium ("The Launching Pad"), he actually increased his offensive production. Atlanta also produced batting champions in Rico Carty (in 1970) and Ralph Garr (in 1974). In the shadow of Aaron's historical home run pursuit, was the fact that three Atlanta sluggers hit 40 or more home runs in 1973 – Darrell Evans and Davey Johnson along with Aaron.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: By the end of the 1973 season, Aaron had hit 713 home runs, one short of Ruth's record. Throughout the winter he received racially motivated death threats, but stood up well under the pressure. On April 4, opening day of the next season, he hit No.714 in Cincinnati, and on April 8, in front of his home fans and a national television audience, he finally beat Ruth's mark with a home run to left-center field off left-hander Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Aaron spent most of his career as a Milwaukee and Atlanta Brave before being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers on November 2, 1974.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In 1976, the team was purchased by media magnate Ted Turner, owner of superstation WTBS, as a means to keep the team (and one of his main programming staples) in Atlanta. The financially strapped Turner used money already paid to the team for their broadcast rights as a down-payment. It was then that Atlanta Stadium was renamed Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium. Turner quickly gained a reputation as a quirky, hands-on baseball owner. On May 11, 1977, Turner appointed himself manager, but because MLB passed a rule in the 1950s barring managers from holding a financial stake in their teams, Turner was ordered to relinquish that position after one game (the Braves lost 2–1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates to bring their losing streak to 17 games).


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Turner used the Braves as a major programming draw for his fledgling cable network, making the Braves the first franchise to have a nationwide audience and fan base. WTBS marketed the team as "The Atlanta Braves: America's Team", a nickname that still sticks in some areas of the country, especially the South. Among other things, in 1976 Turner suggested the nickname "Channel" for pitcher Andy Messersmith and jersey number 17, in order to promote the television station that aired Braves games. Major League Baseball quickly nixed the idea.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: After three straight losing seasons, Bobby Cox was hired for his first stint as manager for the 1978 season. He promoted 22-year-old slugger Dale Murphy into the starting lineup. Murphy hit 77 home runs over the next three seasons, but he struggled on defense, unable to adeptly play either catcher or first base. In 1980, Murphy was moved to center field and demonstrated excellent range and throwing ability, while the Braves earned their first winning season since 1974. Cox was fired after the 1981 season and replaced with Joe Torre, under whose leadership the Braves attained their first divisional title since 1969. Strong performances from Bob Horner, Chris Chambliss, pitcher Phil Niekro, and short relief pitcher Gene Garber helped the Braves, but no Brave was more acclaimed than Murphy, who won both a Most Valuable Player and a Gold Glove award. Murphy also won an MVP award the following season, but the Braves began a period of decline that defined the team throughout the 1980s. Murphy, excelling in defense, hitting, and running, was consistently recognized as one of the league's best players, but the Braves averaged only 65 wins per season between 1985 and 1990. Their lowest point came in 1988, when they lost 106 games. The 1986 season saw the return of Bobby Cox as general manager. Also in 1986, the team stopped using their Indian-themed mascot, Chief Noc-A-Homa.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: From 1991 to 2005 the Braves were one of most consistently winning teams in baseball. The Braves won a record 14 straight division titles, five National League pennants, and one World Series title in 1995. Bobby Cox returned to the dugout as manager in the middle of the 1990 season, replacing Russ Nixon. The Braves finished the year with the worst record in baseball, at 65–97. They traded Dale Murphy to the Philadelphia Phillies after it was clear he was becoming a less dominant player. Pitching coach Leo Mazzone began developing young pitchers Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, and John Smoltz into future stars. That same year, the Braves used the number one overall pick in the 1990 MLB draft to select Chipper Jones, who became one of the best hitters in team history. Perhaps the Braves' most important move was not on the field, but in the front office. Immediately after the season, John Schuerholz was hired away from the Kansas City Royals as general manager.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The following season, Glavine, Avery, and Smoltz would be recognized as the best young pitchers in the league, winning 52 games among them. Meanwhile, behind position players David Justice, Ron Gant and unexpected league Most Valuable Player and batting champion Terry Pendleton, the Braves overcame a 39–40 start, winning 55 of their final 83 games over the last three months of the season and edging the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game in one of baseball's more memorable playoff races. The "Worst to First" Braves, who had not won a divisional title since 1982, captivated the city of Atlanta (and the entire southeast) during their improbable run to the flag. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in a very tightly contested seven-game NLCS only to lose the World Series, also in seven games, to the Minnesota Twins. The series, considered by many to be one of the greatest ever, was the first time a team that had finished last in its division one year went to the World Series the next; both the Twins and Braves accomplished the feat.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Despite the 1991 World Series loss, the Braves' success would continue. In 1992, the Braves returned to the NLCS and once again defeated the Pirates in seven games, culminating in a dramatic game seven win. Francisco Cabrera's two-out single that scored David Justice and Sid Bream capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Braves a 3–2 victory. It was the first time in post-season history that the tying and winning runs had scored on a single play in the ninth inning. The Braves lost the World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays, however. In 1993, the Braves signed Cy Young Award winning pitcher Greg Maddux from the Chicago Cubs, leading many baseball insiders to declare the team's pitching staff the best in baseball. The 1993 team posted a franchise-best 104 wins after a dramatic pennant race with the San Francisco Giants, who won 103 games. The Braves needed a stunning 55–19 finish to edge out the Giants, who led the Braves by nine games in the standings as late as August 11. However, the Braves fell in the NLCS to the Philadelphia Phillies in six games.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In 1994, in a realignment of the National League's divisions following the 1993 expansion, the Braves moved to the Eastern Division. This realignment was the main cause of the team's heated rivalry with the New York Mets during the mid-to-late 1990s.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The player's strike cut short the 1994 season, prior to the division championships, with the Braves six games behind the Montreal Expos with 48 games left to play.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves returned strong the following strike-shortened (144 games instead of the customary 162) year and beat the Cleveland Indians in the 1995 World Series. This squelched claims by many Braves critics that they were the "Buffalo Bills of Baseball" (January 1996 issue of "Beckett Baseball Card Monthly"). With this World Series victory, the Braves became the first team in Major League Baseball to win world championships in three different cities. With their strong pitching as a constant, the Braves appeared in the and 1999 World Series (losing both to the New York Yankees, managed by Joe Torre, a former Braves manager), and had a streak of division titles from 1991 to 2005 (three in the Western Division and eleven in the Eastern) interrupted only in 1994 when the strike ended the season early. Pitching was not the only constant in the Braves organization —Cox was the Braves' manager, while Schuerholz remained the team's GM until after the 2007 season when he was promoted to team president. Terry Pendleton finished his playing career elsewhere but returned to the Braves system as the hitting coach.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In October 1996, Time Warner acquired Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting System and all of its assets, including its cable channels and the Atlanta Braves. Over the next few years, Ted Turner's presence as the owner of the team would diminish.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: A 95–67 record in produced a ninth consecutive division title. However, a sweep by the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series prevented the Braves from reaching the NL Championship Series.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In December 2005, team owner Time Warner, which inherited the Braves after purchasing Turner Broadcasting System in 1996, announced it was placing the team for sale. Liberty Media began negotiations to purchase the team.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In February 2007, after more than a year of negotiations, Time Warner agreed to a deal to sell the Braves to Liberty Media, which owned a large amount of stock in Time Warner, pending approval by 75 percent of MLB owners and the Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig. The deal included the exchange of the Braves, valued in the deal at $450 million, a hobbyist magazine publishing company, and $980 million cash, for 68.5 million shares of Time Warner stock held by Liberty, worth approximately $1.48 billion. Team President Terry McGuirk anticipated no change in the front office structure, personnel, or day-to-day operations of the Braves, and Liberty did not participate in day-to-day operations. On May 16, 2007, Major League Baseball's owners approved the sale. The Braves are one of only two Major League Baseball teams under majority corporate ownership (and the only NL team with this distinction); the other team is the Toronto Blue Jays (owned by Canadian media conglomerate Rogers Communications).


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The 2010 Braves' season featured an attempt to reclaim a postseason berth for the first time since 2005. The Braves were once again skippered by Bobby Cox, in his 25th and final season managing the team. The Braves started the 2010 season slowly and had a nine-game losing streak in April. Then they had a nine-game winning streak from May 26 through June 3, the Braves longest since 2000 when they won 16 in a row. On May 31, the Atlanta Braves defeated the then-first place Philadelphia Phillies at Turner Field to take sole possession of first place in the National League East standings, a position they had maintained through the middle of August. The last time the Atlanta Braves led the NL East on August 1 was in 2005. On July 13, 2010, at the 2010 MLB All-Star Game in Anaheim, Braves catcher Brian McCann was awarded the All-Star Game MVP Award for his clutch two-out, three-run double in the seventh inning to give the National League its first win in the All-Star Game since 1996. He became the first Brave to win the All-Star Game MVP Award since Fred McGriff did so in 1994. The Braves made two deals before the trade deadline to acquire Álex González, Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth from the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals, giving up shortstop Yunel Escobar, pitchers Jo-Jo Reyes and Jesse Chavez, outfielder Gregor Blanco and three minor leaguers. On August 18, 2010, they traded three pitching prospects for first baseman Derrek Lee from the Chicago Cubs. On August 22, 2010, against the Chicago Cubs, Mike Minor struck out 12 batters across 6 innings; an Atlanta Braves single game rookie strikeout record. The Braves dropped to second in the NL East in early September, but won the NL Wild Card. They lost to the San Francisco Giants in the National League Division Series in four games. Every game of the series was determined by one run. After the series-clinching victory for the Giants in Game 4, Bobby Cox was given a standing ovation by the fans, also by players and coaches of both the Braves and Giants.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: On October 13, 2010, the Braves announced that Fredi González would replace long-time Braves manager Bobby Cox as manager of the team in 2011. The announcement came just two days after the 2010 Braves were eliminated from the postseason. It was also announced that pitching coach Roger McDowell, third-base coach Brian Snitker, and bullpen coach Eddie Pérez would retain their current positions, while former hitting coach Terry Pendleton would replace Glenn Hubbard as the first-base coach and newcomer Carlos Tosca would become the new bench coach. Hubbard and former bench coach Chino Cadahia were not offered positions on the new coaching staff. Larry Parrish was hired as hitting coach on October 29, 2010.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves franchise became the third franchise in MLB history to reach 10,000 wins with their win over the Washington Nationals on July 15, 2011. On July 31, 2011, just sixteen days after registering their 10,000th win, the Florida Marlins defeated the Braves by a score of 3–1, handing the team the 10,000th loss in franchise history. The Braves become only the second team in big league history with 10,000 losses after the Philadelphia Phillies reached the plateau in 2007.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves led the National League Wild Card standings for much of the 2011 season, with the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies in first place in the National League East. The Braves entered the final month of the regular season 25 games above .500 with a record of 80–55 and an -game lead in the Wild Card standings. The nearest team trailing them, the St. Louis Cardinals, who also trailed the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers by games at the time, were considered a long-shot to gain a spot in the postseason. Just days prior on August 26, the Cardinals found themselves games behind and in third place. With 27 games to play, the Braves went 9–18 in September to finish the season with a 89–73 record and missed the postseason.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In 2012, the Braves began their 138th season after an upsetting end to the 2011 season. On March 22, the Braves announced that third baseman Chipper Jones would retire following the 2012 season after 19 Major League seasons with the team. The Braves also lost many key players through trades or free agency, including pitcher Derek Lowe, shortstop Alex González, and outfielder Nate McLouth. To compensate for this, the team went on to receive many key players such as outfielder Michael Bourn, along with shortstops Tyler Pastornicky and Andrelton Simmons. Washington ended up winning their first division title in franchise history, but the Braves remained in first place of the NL wild-card race. Keeping with a new MLB rule for the 2012 season, the top two wild card teams in each league must play each other in a playoff game before entering into the Division Series. The Braves played the St. Louis Cardinals in the first-ever Wild Card Game. The Braves lost the game 6–3, ending their season.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: After a losing season in 2014, the Braves fired general manager Frank Wren, and John Hart replaced him as interim general manager, choosing to only take the title of President of Baseball Operations. The Braves promptly traded Gold Glove Award winner Jason Heyward to the St. Louis Cardinals along with pitcher Jordan Walden for pitchers Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. By the beginning of the season, the Braves made 11 trades in all.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: After a 9–28 start in 2016, Fredi González was fired on May 17 and replaced by Gwinnett Braves' manager Brian Snitker as interim manager. Snitker replaced González once before in the 2006–07 offseason as the Braves third base coach when González left the Braves to manage the Marlins. The Braves finished the season 68–93 and in last place in NL East.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: After the 2016 season was over the Braves promoted interim manager Brian Snitker to full-time manager.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: On October 2, 2017, John Coppolella resigned as general manager of the Braves amid a Major League Baseball investigation into Atlanta's international signings, having committed what the Braves termed "a breach of MLB rules regarding the international player market". On November 13, 2017, the Braves announced Alex Anthopoulos as the new general manager and executive vice president. John Hart was removed as team president and assumed a senior adviser role with the organization. Braves chairman Terry McGuirk apologized to fans "on behalf of the entire Braves family" for the scandal. McGuirk described Anthopoulos as "a man of integrity" and that "he will operate in a way that will make all of our Braves fans proud." On November 17, 2017, the Braves announced that John Hart had stepped down as senior advisor for the organization. Hart said in a statement that "with the hiring of Alex Anthopoulos as general manager, this organization is in great hands."


title: Atlanta Braves

text: On November 21, 2017, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the findings of the MLB investigation into Atlanta's international signings. Manfred ruled that the Braves must forfeit 13 international prospects, including highly touted Kevin Maitan, an infielder from Venezuela who signed for $4.25 million in 2016. The team also forfeited a third-round draft pick in the 2018 draft. Former Braves general manager John Coppolella was placed on baseball's permanently ineligible list.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Additionally, the Braves shall be prohibited from signing any international player for more than $10,000 during the 2019–20 signing period and their international signing bonus pool for the 2020–21 signing period will be reduced by 50%.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves introduced a new mascot named Blooper on January 27, 2018 at the Atlanta Braves fan fest. Blooper succeeded the Braves' "Homer of the Brave" mascot after he went into retirement. The Braves began a new streak of NL East division titles in 2018, when they went 90–72. In 2019, their 97–65 record was their best since 2003. However, in neither season did the Braves advance past the Division Series. In the 2020 National League Championship Series against the Dodgers, the Braves led 3–1 before the Dodgers came back to win the series and advance to the World Series. The Braves returned to the NLCS in 2021 after beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3–1 in the 2021 NLDS on the heels of a Freddie Freeman game-winning home run in the bottom of the 8th inning in Game 4. With the score tied at 4, Freeman delivered a blast to left center field to give the Braves a 5–4 lead headed to the top of the 9th. After allowing a lead off single to Eduardo Escobar, Will Smith subsequently retired the side in order to secure the Braves berth in the NLCS.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: On October 23, 2021, the Braves defeated the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, a rematch of the 2020 NLCS, in six games to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1999, thereby securing their first pennant in 22 years. They defeated the Houston Astros in six games to win their fourth World Series title.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Over the 117 years since the inception of the World Series, the Braves franchise has won a total of four World Series Championships, with at least one in each of the three cities they have played in.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Atlanta Braves home ballpark has been Truist Park since 2017. Truist Park is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of downtown Atlanta in the unincorporated community of Cumberland, in Cobb County, Georgia. The team played its home games at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium from 1966 to 1996, and at Turner Field from 1997 to 2016. The Braves opened Truist Park on April 14, 2017, with a four-game sweep of the San Diego Padres. The park received positive reviews. Woody Studenmund of the Hardball Times called the park a "gem" saying that he was impressed with "the compact beauty of the stadium and its exciting approach to combining baseball, business and social activities." J.J. Cooper of Baseball America praised the "excellent sight lines for pretty much every seat."


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Since 2019, the Braves have played spring training games at CoolToday Park in North Port, Florida. The ballpark opened on March 24, 2019, with the Braves' 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Braves left Champion Stadium, their previous Spring Training home near Orlando to reduce travel times and to get closer to other teams' facilities. CoolToday Park also serves as the Braves' year round rehabilitation facility.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves–Mets rivalry is a rivalry between the two teams, featuring the Braves and the New York Mets as they both play in the National League East.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Although their first major confrontation occurred when the Mets swept the Braves in the 1969 NLCS, en route to their first World Series championship, the first playoff series won by an expansion team (also the first playoff appearance by an expansion team), the rivalry did not become especially heated until the 1994 season when division realignment put both the Mets and the Braves in the NL East division. During this time the Braves became one of the most dominant teams in professional baseball, earning 14 straight division titles through 2005, including five World Series berths, and one World Series championship during the 1995 season. The rivalry remained heated through the early 2000s.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: While their rivalry with the Philadelphia Phillies lacks the history and hatred of the Mets, it has been the more important one in the last decade. Between 1993 and 2013, the two teams reigned almost exclusively as NL East champions, the exceptions being in 2006, when the Mets won their first division title since 1988 (no division titles were awarded in 1994 due to the player's strike), and in 2012, when the Washington Nationals claimed their first division title since 1981 when playing as the Montreal Expos. The Phillies 1993 championship was also part of a four-year reign of exclusive division championships by the Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates, their in-state rivals. While rivalries are generally characterized by mutual hatred, the Braves and Phillies deeply respect each other. Each game played (18 games in 2011) is vastly important between these two NL East giants, but at the end of the day, they are very similar organizations. Overall, the Braves have five more National League East division titles than the Phillies, the Braves having won 16 times since 1995, and holding it for 11 consecutive years from 1995 through 2005. (The Braves also have five NL West titles from 1969 through 1993.)


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Atlanta Braves originally wore the same uniform design from their final years in Milwaukee, save for the red-brimmed navy cap which was changed from a block "M" to a script "A". Both the home and road uniforms have navy piping and the "Braves" script in red with navy trim, along with chest numbers which were also red with navy trim. The "screaming Indian" patch was added on the left sleeve.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: During this period navy became the team's primary color, and pinstripes were worn on the home uniform. The chest numbers and piping were removed, with red only used exclusively on the road uniform. The original navy/red cap was only used at home, while an all-navy cap was used on the road. By 1969, the all-navy cap served as the primary, retiring the navy/red cap.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves entered the polyester era with a new look, changing from navy to royal blue while keeping red as a trim color. Home uniforms were white with blue sleeves, while road uniforms were blue with white sleeves. Chest numbers returned with this uniform. Both sleeves contain a feather patch. Caps became royal blue with white panels, along with a lowercase "a" in red with white and blue trim.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves returned to wearing pinstripes and gray uniforms with this set. The home uniform removed the blue sleeves and feather patch, and replaced them with red pinstripes and collar. The road uniform kept the previous template but returned to a gray base with blue sleeves, with the feather patch exclusive only to the left sleeve. The road uniform also featured a script "Atlanta" in front, with the first "a" in lowercase. In 1979, blue player names were added to the road uniform.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves' home uniform again removed the pinstripes and added player names in blue. Collars and sleeves featured red, white and blue stripes. The road uniform was changed to powder blue minus the contrasting sleeve colors and red trim. In 1981, the road uniform was tweaked slightly, adopting the uppercase "A" script on the word "Atlanta". The Braves also wore two all-blue caps: the home cap featured the white "A" script with red trim, while the road cap lacked the red trim on the "A".


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves updated their uniform set in 1987, returning to buttoned uniforms and belted pants. This design returned to the classic look they wore in the 1950s.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The white home uniform features red and navy piping, the "Braves" script and tomahawk in front, and radially arched (vertically arched until 2005; sewn into a nameplate until 2012) navy letters and red numbers with navy trim at the back. The gray road uniforms are identical to the white home uniforms save for the "Atlanta" script in front.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Initially, the cap worn with both uniforms is the red-brimmed navy cap with the script "A" in front. In 2008, an all-navy cap was introduced and became the primary road cap the following season.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves have had three different versions of their Friday red alternate home uniform. The first uniform, worn from 2005 to 2013, featured navy and white piping, navy "Braves" script and tomahawk in front, and white letters and navy numbers with white trim at the back. It was paired with a navy cap with red brim featuring the alternate "tomahawk A" logo. From 2014 to 2018, the Braves tweaked the uniform; the "Braves" script was now adorned with stars while the tomahawk was removed. The "tomahawk A" cap was also retired. In 2019, the Braves reverted to a variation of the original red alternate uniform minus the white piping.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The cream alternate uniforms were introduced in February 2012 as a tribute to the Braves' first season in Atlanta in 1966. This set is similar to the primary home uniform, but with chest numbers in place of the tomahawk and blue piping minus the red accents. An alternate "crossing tomahawks" logo featuring the team name and foundation date was added to the left sleeve. The Braves quit wearing the cream alternate uniforms after the 2019 season.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves have worn two versions of their alternate navy blue road jerseys. The first iteration was introduced on opening night of the 2008 season against the Washington Nationals, and featured navy lettering. The only red elements on the uniform can be seen on the tomahawk. For 2019, the Braves drastically changed the uniform to feature red lettering, a red tomahawk and silver piping.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Unlike the home uniforms, which are worn based on a schedule, the road uniforms are chosen on game day by the starting pitcher. However, they are also subject to Major League Baseball rules requiring the road team to wear uniforms that contrast with the uniforms worn by the home team. Due to this rule, the gray uniforms are worn when the home team chooses to wear navy blue, and sometimes when the home team chooses to wear black.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: From 1945 to 1955 the Braves primary logo consisted of the head of an Indian warrior. From 1956 to 1965 it was a laughing Indian with a mohawk and one feather in his hair. When the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, the "Braves" script was added underneath the laughing Indian. In 1985, the Braves made a small script change to the logo. The Braves modern logo debuted in 1987. The modern logo is the word "Braves" in cursive with a tomahawk below it. In 2018, the Braves made a subtle color change to the primary logo.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: In addition to having strong fan support in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the state of Georgia, the Braves also boost heavy support within the Southeastern United States particularly in states such as Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The tomahawk chop was adopted by fans of the Atlanta Braves in 1991. Carolyn King, the Braves organist, had played the "tomahawk song" during most at bats for a few seasons, but it finally caught on with Braves fans when the team started winning. The usage of foam tomahawks led to criticism from Native American groups that it was "demeaning" to them and called for them to be banned. In response, the Braves' public relations director said that it was "a proud expression of unification and family". King, who did not understand the sociopolitical ramifications, approached one of the Native American chiefs who were protesting. The chief told her that leaving her job as an organist would not change anything and that if she left "they'll find someone else to play."


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The controversy has persisted since and became national news again during the 2019 National League Division Series. During the series, St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher and Cherokee Nation member, Ryan Helsley was asked about the chop and chant. Helsley said he found the fans' chanting and arm-motions insulting and that the chop depicts natives "in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren't intellectual." The relief pitcher's comments prompted the Braves to stop handing out foam tomahawks, playing the chop music or showing the chop graphic when the series returned to Atlanta for Game 5. The Braves released a statement saying they would "continue to evaluate how we activate elements of our brand, as well as the overall in-game experience" and that they would continue a "dialogue with those in the Native American community after the postseason concludes." The heads of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Cherokee Nation both publicly condemned the chop and chant.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: During the off-season, the Braves met with the National Congress of American Indians to start discussing a path forward. In July 2020, the team faced mounting pressure to change their name after the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins announced they were discussing brand change. The Braves released a statement announcing that discussions were still ongoing about the chop, but the team name would not be changed.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Braves have retired eleven numbers in the history of the franchise, including most recently Chipper Jones' number 10 in 2013, John Smoltz's number 29 in 2012, Bobby Cox's number 6 in 2011, Tom Glavine's number 47 in 2010, and Greg Maddux's number 31 in 2009. Additionally, Hank Aaron's 44, Dale Murphy's 3, Phil Niekro's 35, Eddie Mathews' 41, Warren Spahn's 21 and Jackie Robinson's 42, which is retired for all of baseball with the exception of Jackie Robinson Day, have also been retired. The color and design of the retired numbers reflect the uniform design at the time the person was on the team, excluding Robinson.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Of the ten Braves whose numbers have been retired, all who are eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame have been elected with the exception of Murphy, whose eligibility has expired.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: After years of stability, the Braves have faced a period of transition in their radio and television coverage.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The 2007 season was the last for Braves baseball on the TBS Superstation. TBS showed 70 games throughout the country, then cleared the decks to make way for a new national broadcast package that began in earnest with the 2007 postseason, and expanded to Sunday afternoon games in 2008. Until his dismissal in 2009, Chip Caray, one of the Braves' current broadcasters, called play-by-play for the national package, which includes the Division Series every season and alternating coverage of the ALCS and NLCS. Caray is joined by Joe Simpson, who has provided color commentary for the Braves since 1992.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: Braves baseball had been on TBS since it was WTCG in 1972 and had been a cornerstone of the national superstation since it began in 1976. WPCH-TV/Peachtree TV, formerly WTBS Atlanta, still carried Braves games after 2007, but only in parts of the Southern United States. After the transfer of the channel's operations from Time Warner to Meredith Corporation, all Peachtree TV games were simulcast on Fox Sports South outside of the Peachtree TV coverage area in 2011 and 2012. On February 27, 2013, it was announced that Fox Sports South and SportSouth (now called Bally Sports Southeast) would carry every regionally televised Braves game exclusively, ending the team's partnership with WPCH-TV after 40 years.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: After the 2004 season, longtime radio flagship station 750 WSB was replaced by WGST 640AM. Due to WGST's weak signal at night, which fails to cover the entire Atlanta metropolitan area, all games began to be simulcast on FM radio when the rights were transferred. The games first appeared on 96.1 WKLS (formerly "96 Rock") in 2005, but moved to country music station 94.9 WUBL ("94.9 The Bull") in 2007 after WKLS underwent a change in format from classic rock to active rock and became Project 9–6–1. In the 2009 season, the Braves returned to WKLS for FM broadcast and remained with WGST for AM. The Braves switched to WCNN 680 The Fan in Atlanta for AM coverage and WNNX 100.5 for FM in 2010.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: The Atlanta Braves radio network currently serves 134 radio stations across the Southern United States, including 20 in Alabama, 4 in Florida, 68 in Georgia, 1 in Mississippi, 13 in North Carolina, 14 in South Carolina, and 14 in Tennessee.


title: Atlanta Braves

text: From 2009 to 2018, the radio announcers were former Brewers announcer Jim Powell and Don Sutton. Sutton was released after the 2006 season and called Washington Nationals games on television from 2007 to 2008, but returned for the 2009 season. Sutton retired after the 2018 season (and subsequently died in 2021) and Powell has continued under the same capacity since. Longtime Braves voices Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren were the primary play-by-play voices of Braves baseball until Skip's sudden death on August 3, 2008, and Van Wieren's retirement after the 2008 season.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: The Boondocks is an American adult animated sitcom created by Aaron McGruder for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. It is based upon his comic strip of the same name. The series premiered on November 6, 2005. The show focuses on a dysfunctional black family, the Freemans, settling into the fictional, friendly and predominantly white suburb of Woodcrest. The perspective offered by this mixture of cultures, lifestyles, social classes, stereotypes, viewpoints and racialized identities provides for much of the series' satire, comedy, and conflict.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: The series ended its run on June 23, 2014, with a total of 55 episodes over the course of the show's four seasons, the last of which was produced without any involvement from McGruder. The series also has aired in syndication outside the United States and has been released on various DVD sets and other forms of home media.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: Widely regarded as one of the greatest animated series of all time, "The Boondocks" has received several accolades including an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series and two Peabody Awards. On June 12, 2019, it was announced that Sony Pictures Animation would be producing a reboot of the television series that was set to premiere in 2022 with McGruder's involvement; John Witherspoon was also attached to the project to reprise his role as Robert Freeman before his passing on October 29, 2019. On September 18, 2019, it was announced that HBO Max had picked up the reboot with a two-season order. The two seasons were set to consist of twelve episodes. On February 2, 2022, it was revealed that development had been cancelled and that the project was shelved.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: "The Boondocks" began as a comic strip on Hitlist.com, one of the first music websites. The strip later found its way into "The Source" magazine. Following these runs, McGruder began simultaneously pitching "The Boondocks" as both a syndicated comic strip and an animated television series. The former goal was met first, and "The Boondocks" debuted in newspapers in April 1999.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: In the meantime, the development of the TV series continued. McGruder and film producer/director Reginald Hudlin (President of Entertainment for BET from 2005 to 2008) created a "Boondocks" pilot for the Fox network, but found great difficulty in making the series acceptable for network television. Hudlin left the project after the Fox deal fell through, though McGruder and Sony Pictures Television were contractually obligated to credit him as an executive producer for the first two seasons. Mike Lazzo, president of Adult Swim and executive producer for "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" and "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", stumbled across the pilot and declared it "too networky". He then ordered a 15-episode season and told McGruder to "just tell stories".


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: The series has a loose connection with the continuity of the comic strip, though during the final year of the strip McGruder made a point to try to synchronize them. He introduced Uncle Ruckus into the strip, and the comic-strip version of Riley's hair was braided into cornrows to match the character's hair in the series. During Season 1, McGruder put the strip on a 6-month hiatus beginning in March 2006. He did not return to the strip the following November, and the strip's syndicate, Universal Press Syndicate, announced that it had been canceled.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: The opening theme song used in the series (slightly remixed for Season 2 and 3) is performed by hip-hop artist Asheru.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: The series was produced in widescreen since the beginning, but the image was cropped to accommodate the aspect ratio at the time of their original broadcasts as well as reruns. Adult Swim rarely crops widescreen material. Since the third season, the series has been produced in high definition and presented in its original aspect ratio and resolution.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: In 2014, it was announced that McGruder would not be involved in the show's fourth season. Adult Swim stated, "a mutually agreeable production schedule could not be determined." The fourth season premiered on April 21, 2014, ending its run on June 23, 2014.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: The series opens with the Freemans settling into the fictional, peaceful, and mostly white suburb of Woodcrest. Evidence for the real-world location of the fictional Woodcrest is mixed. Proponents of the Chicago's South Side theory cite the real-life suburb of Crestwood, Illinois and the similarity of the two names. The first season features several Chicago landmarks: a skyline shot showing the Willis Tower, Grant Park, buildings of the Michigan Avenue Historic District, and Lake Michigan; as well as elevated rapid transit endemic to the city, resembling the Chicago "L". More conclusive evidence is presented in "The Trial of Robert Kelly", in which Riley asks Grandad, "Can you take us into the City tomorrow to watch the R. Kelly Trial?". Grandad denies his request and tells him to walk, and Riley replies "But it's 40 miles!" R. Kelly is from Chicago, and his trial was held there, giving more evidence that "The Boondocks" is in fact set in Illinois. Another reference to Chicago is Martin Luther King Drive, a major street running through South Chicago, mentioned for its violent activity in the 9th episode of season 1, "Return of the King". Additionally, in "Let's Nab Oprah", Ed Wuncler III, Gin Rummy and Riley go to Oprah Winfrey's television studio in an attempt to kidnap her. The Oprah Winfrey Show was recorded at Harpo Studios in Near West Side Chicago.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: Proponents of the Columbia, Maryland theory, cite other evidence, such as McGruder's own childhood there, where his father worked for the National Transportation Safety Board. In the comics, Huey's cellphone number has a 443 area code, which belongs to the Baltimore metropolitan area. In "Wingmen", the Freemans fly 'home' to Chicago, where they lived before moving to Woodcrest, to attend a funeral. In "The Fried Chicken Flu", a reporter on a passing television screen reports on the titular disease's effect on the state of Maryland. In addition, in Season 4's first episode, "Pretty Boy Flizzy", a man references an upcoming concert at Woodcrest Post Pavilion, which may be a play on Columbia's notable concert venue Merriweather Post Pavilion.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: Both the comic strip and the cartoon were influenced by McGruder's love of anime and manga. He cites "Cowboy Bebop" and "Samurai Champloo" as sources of inspiration for the series' fight scenes. The opening sequence of Season 1 contains similarities to that of "Samurai Champloo". Some of the humor is based on the characters' anime-style movements. In 2006, McGruder explained in an interview, "We now have a Japanese anime studio named Madhouse to help us out", but at some point, the deal with Madhouse fell through. Instead, the Emmy Award-winning South Korean studio Moi Animation, handled the animation for season two onwards. As a result, the following seasons of the series have more detailed animation, as well as minor updates for most of the character designs.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: The episode "Pause" presents a thinly veiled parody of Tyler Perry, presented as using his religion to hide his cross-dressing. The episode reportedly angered Perry, with the network responding to his complaints by saying that they should have warned him before the episode aired.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: While the series was originally going to end with the third season, on March 21, 2014, it was revealed via press release from Adult Swim that "The Boondocks" would return for a fourth and final season. It was later revealed that the fourth season would be produced without the involvement of the series creator Aaron McGruder. The reason cited for the split between the creator and the company was a disagreement over the production schedule. The fourth and final season was co-produced and animated by South Korean studio Studio Mir.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: "The Boondocks" gives commentary on American politics from a black perspective. The series accomplishes this by using satire and controversial statements, such as one of the opening lines in the series, "Jesus was Black, Ronald Reagan was the devil, and the government is lying about 9/11." The show has also given input on subjects like the American government's response to Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq War, and other controversial political events that took place throughout the 2000s. When asked about the show and the approaches taken that make it so controversial, series creator Aaron McGruder said, "I just hope to expand the dialogue and hope the show will challenge people to think about things they wouldn't normally think about, or think about it in a very different way."


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: The series typically features appearances by well-known entities (singers, rappers, public figures) within Black popular culture as well as parodies of them. Episodes often feature cameos, as in the episode "Let's Nab Oprah", which features appearances from Oprah Winfrey, Maya Angelou, and Bill Cosby. Other appearances and parodies within the show include R. Kelly on trial for sexual misconduct accusations, DMX's disbelief when told about Barack Obama running for president in an interview, and an episode that mimicked "Juice." The series also parodies famous news reports including a broadcast in which a freshman in high school was called a "nigga" by his teacher, who thought the word was acceptable to use. "The Boondocks" recreates this incident with Riley and his teacher.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: The series often challenges the ways African Americans behave and think. It has used sardonic humor to teach lessons and get people thinking since it was a comic strip, critiquing the behavior of famous African Americans throughout the early 2000s. McGruder was interviewed by Nightline in early 2006 on the episode "Return of the King", which sparked much controversy after Martin Luther King Jr. was portrayed reprimanding a crowd of African Americans for being lazy and unaware of their political climate. In the interview, McGruder said, "In the episode, King is critical of our apathy and inactivity... We carry the blame of our own apathy and inactivity... We deserve to take a look at that and be honest about it."


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: "The Boondocks" is known for its frequent usage of the word "nigga", which has been a source of controversy for the show throughout its tenure. McGruder once said about the word, "I think it makes the show sincere... the word "Nigga" is used so commonly now, not only by myself but people I know, that I feel it's fake to write around it and not use it." He also said in a 2005 ABC News article, "This isn't the nigga show... I just wish we would expand the dialogue and evolve past the same conversation that we've had over the past 30 years about race in our country."


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: Writer Terence Latimer asserts that many of the characters in "The Boondocks" can be seen as caricatures and personifications of recurring identities and ideologies in the Black-American community: Riley Freeman personifies Black pop culture, Huey Freeman represents Black counterculture, Jazmine Dubois is representative of biraciality and loss of innocence in the Black-American community, Uncle Ruckus is a caricature of internalized racism, and Granddad Freeman represents the older, disciplinarian generation struggling to adjust in a new era. In his essay for "The" "Culture Crypt", Niall Smith echoed Latimer’s statements but focused on brothers Huey and Riley Freeman for much of his analysis, arguing that through them is the series able to achieve much of satire and critique of the Black-American community. Smith also notes the importance of secondary characters such as Sarah Dubois, who—through her liking to womanizers and caricatures such as Usher, Pretty Boy Flizzy, and a Stinkmeaner-possessed Tom Dubois—serves to show "how society fetishes and reduces Black men to their most animalistic and negative qualities to appease others".


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: "The Boondocks" received critical acclaim. In January 2006, it was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 37th NAACP Image Awards alongside "The Bernie Mac Show", "Everybody Hates Chris", "Girlfriends", and "Half & Half". The show won a Peabody Award in 2006 for the episode "Return of the King". The first season garnered a score of 72 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 21 reviews and a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews. IGN named it the 94th-best animated series, describing it as a sharp satirical look at American society.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: Critic Jeffrey M. Anderson of the "San Francisco Examiner" said, "Each episode is beautifully crafted, with an eye on lush, shadowy visuals and a pulsing, jazz-like rhythm... the show is almost consistently funny, consistently brilliant, and, best of all, compulsively watchable."


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: Mike Hale of the "New York Times" has considered "The Boondocks" among the top television shows of 2010, citing "Pause" as a "painfully funny" satire of Tyler Perry being portrayed as a superstar actor and a leader of a homoerotic cult. In 2013, IGN placed "The Boondocks" as number 17 on their list of Top 25 animated series for adults.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: "The Boondocks" has been a frequent subject of controversy since its comic-strip debut in 1999, with ABC News noting, "Fans and critics of "The Boondocks" loved and hated the strip for the same reasons: its cutting-edge humor and unapologetic, sometimes unpopular, views on various issues, including race, politics, the war on terrorism and the September 11 attacks." Numerous outlets predicted the show would encounter controversy prior to its November 2005 debut, due to its casual use of the word "nigga". In 2006, the Reverend Al Sharpton protested the first-season episode "Return of the King", for Martin Luther King Jr.'s character's use of the word "nigga", saying "Cartoon Network must apologize and also commit to pulling episodes that desecrate black historic figures." Cartoon Network released a statement in response defending McGruder: "We think Aaron McGruder came up with a thought-provoking way of not only showing Dr. King's bravery but also of reminding us of what he stood and fought for, and why even today, it is important for all of us to remember that and to continue to take action," the statement said. The episode was later awarded a Peabody Award for being "an especially daring episode".


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: During Season 2, two episodes were removed from broadcast without any official word from the network. Originally slated to air on November 16 and December 17, "The Hunger Strike" and "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show" were both heavily critical of BET. An exclusive clip of "The Hunger Strike" was given to "HipHopDX.com" in late January 2008, before both episodes were included in full on the Season 2 DVD release in June 2008. An anonymous source close to the show told "HipHopDX.com" that they heard BET had been pressuring Sony (the studio behind "The Boondocks") to ban the episodes and threatened legal action. Cartoon Network publicly stated that "...neither Turner nor Adult Swim were contacted by BET, Ms. Lee or Mr. Hudlin". However, BET's parent company, Viacom, did threaten legal action against Sony if said episodes were broadcast to air in the United States.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: Tyler Perry was reportedly infuriated by his depiction in the Season 3 episode "Pause", first aired in June 2010, although he has officially given no response. The episode stars Winston Jerome, a parody of Perry, a "closeted, cross-dressing cult leader whose love of the Christian faith is a mask for his true sexuality," in what the "Los Angeles Times" described as "one of the sharpest public criticisms of Perry". Soon after the episode aired, Perry got in touch with executives at Turner Broadcasting and "complained loudly" about the episode, threatening to rethink his relationship with the company.


title: The Boondocks (2005 TV series)

text: In 2010, "Time" magazine named "The Boondocks" as sixth out of "10 of the Most Controversial Cartoons of All Time".