Donald Glover’s four-season masterpieceAtlantashould be required viewing for everyone. There are plenty ofgreat TV shows that everyone should watch at least oncein their lives. Game-changing modern classics likeBreaking Bad,The Sopranos,Mad Men, andThe Wireeach revolutionized the art of television and told groundbreaking stories with pitch-perfect writing and nuanced acting.
The best TV shows are driven by an auteur’s distinctive vision.The Twilight Zoneis Rod Serling’s opus,Fleabagis Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s opus, andThe White Lotusis Mike White’s opus.Atlantais Glover’s opus, and everyone should give it a watch.
Atlanta Is One Of The Best TV Shows Of The Century
Donald Glover’s Surreal Look At The Hip-Hop Business Is A TV Masterpiece
Created and executive-produced by Glover,Atlantapremiered on FX in 2016. The seriesallowed Glover to channel his unique voice, both as a comedian and as a musician, into a single mind-blowing project. He stars as Earnest “Earn” Marks, a college dropout who manages the music career of his cousin, rapper Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles, played by Brian Tyree Henry.
Atlantais available to stream on Hulu.
Plenty of other shows have taken place in the music industry, butAtlantatakes an approach like no other. It takes the notion that the music industry is so bizarre that it feels like a world of its own to the furthest extreme. The showimagines Atlanta’s lively hip-hop scene as an alternate magical-realist dimension.
Atlanta Is Not A Traditional Comedy (And It Doesn’t Fit Into Any Genre)
It Starts Off With A Traditional Premise, But Then Takes Some Strange Turns
In its first season,Atlantasets up a pretty traditional premise. Earn wants to do right by his daughter and get his life back on track, so he reconnects with his cousin to help guide him through the chaotic music business. Like any other sitcom, it has a protagonist with a goal and takes place in an inherently funny world.
But as the show goes on, it takes increasingly strange turns that take it further and further away from a solid genre classification.It takes place in a heightened realitywhere the rules of our world don’t necessarily apply. It has episodes that abandon the comedic conceit altogether, likethe infamous “Teddy Perkins.”
Atlantawould often indulge in standalone bottle episodesthat didn’t feature anyone from the main cast. It ignored all the established rules of television. In season 2, it changed its title toRobbin’ Season. In season 3, it changed its filming location to various countries across Europe.
Atlanta is a TV show like no other. It’s both a curious exercise in cinematic weirdness and a poignant commentary on race in America.
Ripped straight from Glover’s idiosyncratic mind,Atlantais a TV show like no other. It’s both a curious exercise in cinematic weirdness and a poignant commentary on race in America. It’s a masterpiece of Afro-Surrealism.
