These days, it's never too late to catch up on good television. If you're worried about having missed the hype around Donald Glover's TV series 'Atlanta' however, we're here to tell you that now is the best time to tune in. While the show's first season launched back in 2016, it only reached a UK broadcaster this year. Believe us when we tell you that the excitement surrounding the programme hasn't waned for a second.
With a third season of Atlanta already confirmed and the second season of Donald Glover's masterpiece only just hitting UK screens, you might just be grateful for that transatlantic delay.
The series is a comedy-drama that richly documents the lives of two cousins - Ernest, the Ivy-league drop out returned home and Albert, also known as Paper Boi, a local burgeoning rap talent - as they try to navigate the Atlanta music scene on top of the every day pressures of being young, black and broke that commands their personal lives.
Here's what you've been missing out on, and how to get into one of the best shows around.
The 'Atlanta' Story
Atlanta might not be on Netflix, but in Donald Glover's television masterpiece you're about to find the smartest, most brilliantly worthy binge-watch that doesn't remotely feel like your typical 'binge-watch'. Its wildly captivating, but without that anticlimactic post-series guilt that follows when you emerge after 'accidentally' watching all thirteen episodes of the same uninspiring sitcom fodder.
In the first two or three episodes you're made overtly aware that they're a lot to unpick from what we're being shown. Season one opens with a shooting, and with that we're thrust into Glover's Georgia State capital and have mere seconds to prepare for his ecclectic take on life on often surreal terms.
But if you're familiar with Donald Glover's work, you'd know without even watching a teaser trailer or two that his critically acclaimed and widely celebrated series is at the same time also about so much more than that.
Rest assured that the comedy shines through, though. In between moments of societal questioning, reality of modern racism and the intricacy of a life that feels both familiar and otherworldly, is sincere hilarity that somehow manages to make you laugh (out loud, might I add) without diminishing the value of the topics that are more difficult to face.
While Donald stars, writes and produces Atlanta, his presence in the series is anything but overbearing. The story arch extends way beyond his own and he takes measures steps away from the choppy narrative to tell other important stories. In short, you won't tire of his brilliant performane, nor that of the rest of the cast. The names Brian Tyree Henry (who plays Al/Paper Boi) and Zazie Beetz (Earn's ex-girlfriend and mother of their young daughter) deserve to be well known.
If last year's two Emmy Awards for the show - Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and two Grammy's on top aren't enough to convince you to tune in, then the enduring acclaim and high articulation for the second (and now third) series should be enough to nudge you into a recap.
WATCH: The Trailer For 'Atlanta'
How To Watch 'Atlanta' Season One
The first series of Atlanta finally made its way over to the UK earlier this year with none other than BBC two attaining the rights to air. Their broadcasting of the show has just about rapped but you can catch all ten half-hour episodes on BBC iPlayer for the next couple of months.
How To Watch 'Atlanta' Season Two
The second season of Atlanta, also known as Atlanta: Robbin Season has just finished in the US to yet another round of celebratory praise. You're in for a chance of tone and a slight shift in focus but everything at the core of Glover's vision that drew everyone to the first season remains well and truly intact. If you have Sky, you're in luck. The second season is on its way to channel Fox UK this June. Whether it'll make its way over to good old BBC Two again is yet to be announced.
How To Watch 'Atlanta' Season Three
It's official. After successful second season that has just finished airing in the US, Atlanta has been picked up for a third installment. There hasn't been a confirmed date for the third series just yet but eyes are on a 2019 release date if the new season is the follow the length of time that fell between the first and the third.
As always, Atlanta will air first in America on FX. While that leaves us plenty of time for British terrestrial television to catch up, here's hoping we don't have to wait another two years for the BBC to broadcast one of the smartest shows in entertainment right now.
MORE: Here Are Some Books By And About Women Of Colour To Add To Your Reading List
Debrief Books By Or About Women Of Colour
1 of 8Grand Union, Zadie Smith
The first ever collection of stories from the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author of Swing Time and White Teeth
3 of 8My Sister, the Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaite
My Sister, the Serial Killer is a blackly comic novel about how blood is thicker - and more difficult to get out of the carpet - than water
4 of 8She: A Celebration Of Renegade Women, Harriet Hall
Consider this a neat package of female inspiration in one book. It features one hundred women - from Frida Kahlo to Beyoncé - who have given a middle finger to the rules and made defining contributions to the world we know.
5 of 8Daughters Of Nri (The Return of the Earth Mother), Reni K Amayo
A gruesome war results in the old gods' departure from earth. The only remnants of their existence lie in two girls. Twins, separated at birth. Goddesses who grow up believing that they are human. Daughters Of Nri explores their epic journey of self-discovery as they embark on a path back to one another.
6 of 8When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele
This is the first memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. It's one of those crucial reads that you'll struggle to forget about any time soon, which is a good thing, trust us. It tells the story of the movement and the people who survived the years of that prompted it.
7 of 8Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams
A darkly comic and unflinchingly raw depiction of a young woman trying to navigate her way in the world, QUEENIE is about identity, independence and carving your own path
8 of 8Slay In Your Lane: The Journal
With Slay in Your Lane Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke started a national conversation. Now they want you to join them in making changes. Packed full of practical exercises, worksheets, questionnaires and actionable tips, Slay in Your Lane: The Journal will help you get ahead in everything from relationships to starting a successful side hustle, building your personal brand, knowing your worth at work, finances, self-care, and health.
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