Twin Peaks for rappers

Atlanta takes comedy in a weird, new direction.

- KASHIEF ACHMAT

Atlanta

Season 1 Fridays (from 13 August)

SABC3 (*193) 21:00

There are currently more than 500 different types of shows on TV and not one of them can be compared to comedy series Atlanta (2016-now). Shot in the city of Atlanta, the story follows Earnest (Donald Glover, Troy Barnes in comedy series Community, 2009-2014). He is a college dropout who is permanently on the brink of being broke. He’s trying to make a name for himself in the music industry and provide for his on-off girlfriend Vanessa (Zazie Beetz, Domino in action movie Deadpool 2, 2018) by managing his cousin Alfred/Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry, Tavis Brown in comedy series Vice Principals, 2016-2017), an up-and coming rap artist.

And Alfred’s (or then Paper Boi’s) life also isn’t easy: he seems to be teetering towards a midlife crisis while dealing with his newfound fame, thanks to his hit song Paper Boi.

Right by Paper Boi’s side is his trusty sidekick Darius (Lakeith Standfield, L in fantasy movie Death Note, 2017), who always seems to be functioning on another level to everyone else.