“Atlanta” follows Earn (Donald Glover) in his daily life as he tries to make amends with his ex-girlfriend Van (Zazie Beetz), who is also the mother of his daughter Lottie. Supporting characters include Earn’s parents and his cousin Alfred (Brian Tyree Henry), who is known as “Paper Boi” on the Atlanta rap scene. Additionally, they all must grapple with the complexities of life in America and how racism, capitalism, and parenting affect every decision they make.
Returning to Atlanta to do the show gave Glover a chance to return to his old neighborhood, and his brother Stephen, who serves as a writer on the show, even found a letter Glover wrote to him while he was in college , in which he mentions having a dream about the two writing a show together. “I really believe in magic and we forgot about it,” he said. “It’s kind of the dream part of my show – you have to believe in keeping the magic alive.”
Glover isn’t the first creative to describe a “Trojan horse” approach to getting a show greenlit. Speaking to NPR in 2013, “Orange is the New Black” creator Jenji Kohan described how she portrayed the show’s beautiful, white, blonde, wealthy protagonist, Piper Chapman, in a manner similar to Glover’s fake “Atlanta” pitch used:
“In many ways, Piper was my Trojan horse. You’re not going to go on a network and sell a show with really fascinating stories about black women and latina women and old women and criminals. But if you take this white girl, this type of fish out of water, and you follow her in, then you can expand your world and tell all these other stories. But it’s hard to just go in and try to sell those stories initially .The girl next door, the cool blonde, is a very easy entry point and relatable to many audiences and many networks looking to target a specific demographic. It is useful.
Season 3 of “Atlanta” premieres Thursday, March 24 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on FX. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and Atlanta will end its historic run with the conclusion of Season 4 later this fall.