11 Shows To Watch To Combat The Holiday Blues

Photo: Atlanta

Atlanta

Atlanta has far less snark and mean-spirited name calling, and a lot more sincerity about contemporary life. It may not sound like something you want to watch when you’re already feeling crappy, but trust me, it’ll pick you right up.

Atlanta is created, written and directed by Donald Glover, and if I had a vote, I’d elect this man “most supreme and ultimate coolest person in the entire universe.” The show follows Earnest “Earn” Marks as a single man trying to figure out his 20s in Atlanta. Earn becomes manager to his cousin and aspiring rapper, Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles, and they fight and scrape to make something of themselves.

Glover has said this show is meant to capture the black experience that is vital to the city of Atlanta, and to illustrate his point of view about how mainstream media treats African American characters. Yes, it does all that. But it also makes me laugh at how self-deprecating it is. It gives the bird to other shows inside this genre and offers all sorts of unconventional deliveries and tropes.

I’m from the South, so I feel like Glover is winking at me a little. I needed this pat on the back after dealing with mildly racist relatives, incessant talk of the election, and the aggressive “Merry Christmas” in response to my friendly, “Happy Holidays.”