Atlanta Dreaming

Atlanta's genius is to show the surreality of black life in America, and without the typical network explanations. It's almost as though the show has sprung, like Athena, fully formed from its creator's mind and intent on securing a major place in the pantheon of televised art. There's no pandering to an audience, either. If you don't get the jokes, you don't get them. If that seems strange—a show about day-to-day black life in one of the country's largest metropolises that doesn't exactly have a point or message—then it's probably not for you. More than anything, Atlanta is a love letter to black people and black culture, specifically the people and culture you find in the titular city. It's also a persuasive case for the artistic merits of more—and better—TV.