The PJs

The PJs is an American stop motion animated television series created by Eddie Murphy, Larry Wilmore, and Steve Tompkins. It portrays life in an urban Chicago public housing project. The series starred Eddie Murphy, and was produced by Imagine Entertainment by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, The Murphy Company & Will Vinton Studios in association with Touchstone Television.

Forty-two episodes were aired during the show's three-year run. There were still 6 episodes left over, which were produced by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros. Warner Bros.] Each episode took over two months to produce, owing to the laborious stop motion process. Originally broadcast on FOX, the show later moved to The WB in 2000-2001, but was soon canceled due to its high budget. The last three episodes were not aired until 2003. Reruns previously aired on Trio, a cable television network. The PJs currently run in reruns on TV ONE and Cartoon Network's late night programing block, Adult Swim.

The PJs won three Emmy Awards and one Annie Award during its run. Some social activists, including director Spike Lee, accused the show of depicting a negative racial view of the projects. Quincy Jones' son QD3 along with George Clinton produced the theme music for the show.

Other characters include Sherique, Buster, Rev. Samuels', Babs & Deshaun (Smokey's girlfriend and friend) and Nola. Due to a rumoured dispute between Eddie Murphy and the Fox network (apparently over unfavorable scheduling of the show), actor Phil Morris and Mark Moseley took over the role of Thurgood in several late episodes. Some sources indicate that Murphy was actually busy on a film role at the time.
 * Thurgood Stubbs: Thurgood Stubbs (A.K.A. "The Super," or just simply as "Super") is the superintendent of the Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs projects and the main protagonist of the series. Thurgood is short-tempered, impatient, not very bright, and usually gets himself into trouble. He is often called "The Super" (or just "Super") by all of the people. He wears a yellow short-sleeved shirt, blue overalls, and brown shoes. He also has dark gray (and light gray) hair. Thurgood has a wife named Muriel Stubbs. Thurgood is terrified of black rats, as revealed in the episode, "Fear of a Black Rat." He is voiced by Eddie Murphy.
 * Muriel Stubbs (née Warren): Muriel Stubbs is Thurgood's wife -- the voice of reason. In the episode, "How the Super Stole Christmas," she wanted a computer. She wears a pink long-sleeved shirt, pink pants, and light pink shoes. She also has dark brown hair with a pink head band holding her long hair. Muriel has a sister named Bebe Ho. She is voiced by Loretta Devine.
 * Mrs. Avery: Florence Normandy Avery is the senior citizen and antagonizes Thurgood throughout the series. She hates Thurgood. Mrs. Avery was known notoriously as the one, who shot the mailman (and the garbage man). She has a dog named Lucky the Dog. She is voiced by Ja'net Dubois.
 * Lucky the Dog: Lucky the Dog is Mrs. Avery's dog, who was given to her by Thurgood. Originally a stray, Lucky got his name, "Lucky," after Mrs. Avery failed to shoot him with her shotgun (twice).
 * Calvin and "Juicy" Hudson: Calvin and "Juicy" Hudson are two children, who are best friends and idolize Thurgood. Calvin is the thin, intelligent boy, and "Juicy" is the overweight, slow-witted boy. Calvin is voiced by Crystal Scales, and "Juicy" is voiced by Michele Morgan.
 * Poppa Hudson and Momma Hudson: Poppa Hudson and Momma Hudson are "Juicy"'s parents. They are so morbidly obese, that they can no longer exit their apartment, and are thus confined inside. In the episode, What's Eating Juicy Hudson?, Poppa leaves the apartment for the first time, and his face is shown. In the episode, Boyz N the Woods, Poppa is confirmed to weigh more than half a ton.
 * "Smokey": "Smokey" is the homeless crackhead, who always angers Thurgood. His real name is Elister, but was referred to as "Mr. Crackhead" and "Mr. Crack" in the first 3 episodes of the series. In one episode, it is revealed that "Smokey" used to train fighting rats under the name, "Ratman Crothers." He is often insulted with the phrase, "You damn stupid crackhead!" by Thurgood. "Smokey" later quits drug use by season 3, but is still homeless. He is voiced by Shawn Michael Howard.
 * Jimmy Ho: James "Jimmy" Ho is a Korean tenant, who thinks that he is black. He is married to Bebe. Jimmy frequently uses urban or "ghetto" phrases (colloquialisms) when he speaks, to which Thurgood always responds, "You're not black!". Jimmy opened a casino in an episode. He is voiced by Michael Paul Chan.
 * Bebe Ho: Bebe Ho is Muriel's trash-talking sister. She dislikes Thurgood and is pregnant with Jimmy's baby. She often fights (and insults) with Muriel. She is voiced by Jenifer Lewis.
 * Haiti Lady: Mambo Garcelle "Haiti Lady" Dupris is the resident Voodoo Queen of the Hilton-Jacobs Projects. Her powers, though highly potent and proven in the episode, U Go Cart, are unreliable: They don't work, should she be challenged to prove them, as seen in Haiti Sings the Blues. She is voiced by Cheryl Francis Harrington.
 * Emilio Sanchez: Emilio Sanchez (or just simply known as "Sanchez") is Thurgood's luckless Cuban friend, who can't talk, because he smoked a lot, or because of Haiti Lady's Voodoo powers, as hinted in the episode, Haiti Sings the Blues. Emilio has to use an electronic voicebox, held up to his throat in order to communicate with other people. He once wanted to become an Opera singer, back when he had his voice. For some reason, Emilio wears a blue and white trucker hat with "Nevada" written on the front. He is voiced by Pepe Serna.
 * Walter Burkett: Walter Burkett is the parole officer with a past as a crooked cop. His past is regularly alluded to, as many people around the projects owe him favors. In the Christmas episode, "How the Super Stole Christmas," Walter arrested a thug for stealing an old woman's purse ("And on Christmas of all days."). He is voiced by Marc Wilmore.
 * Tarnell: Tarnell is the local street corner hustler, who Thurgood usually turns to when he needs something, greeted with "Tell Tarnell!" who speaks frequent slang in which Thurgood understands, until Tarnell brings him the complete opposite, which usually is the best solution for Thurgood's problem. He is voiced by James Black.
 * Rasta Man: Rasta Man is the Jamaican stereotype of a marijuana smoker. He is often seen as a walking smoke cloud. Played by Kevin Michael Richardson.
 * HUD Lady: The HUD Lady is the social worker at HUD, always seen in a silhouette, who never gives Thurgood what he wants (yet is incredibly friendly to Muriel) and simply yells, "Next!" at the end of every sentence. Her son's name is Chevron, her sister's name is Latrine, and her daughter's name is Lasagna. Played by Cassi Davis.


 * Note: The final unaired episodes have been shown in some markets, such as by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom in 2003.


 * The manhole cover that served as the show's title card had made appearances on Futurama as an entry point into the mutant-populated sewers of New New York. After seeing this, the writers of The PJs put a picture of Fry, the main character on Futurama, on a milk carton.
 * In the episode of The Simpsons entitled "Missionary: Impossible", Thurgood is one of the phone operators at the Fox Network fundraising drive.
 * The show was parodied in an episode of Robot Chicken called "Celebutard Mountain" during the "VH1's Top 100 Final Episodes Ever" skit.


 * The PJs at the Internet Movie Database
 * The PJs at TV.com
 * The PJs at TV One