‘Atlanta’ Season 3 Teaser: Donald Glover’s Comedy Returns to FX After Three Years Off the Air
Donald Glover has shared the first teaser trailer for the third and latest season of FX’s “Atlanta,” the cult comedy series he launched in 2016. It’s been off the air since May 2018, with shooting on Season 3 delayed due to the pandemic. The trailer was shared via a link to a website called Gilga, which although shrouded in mystery, contains a clock, shows your location, and includes the video. You can watch it below.
Soundtracked by Sun Ra’s “It’s After the End of the World,” the trailer shows various deserted locations but concludes with a close-up of Paper Boi (who is played by Brian Tyree Henry).
Production on Season 3 and the already greenlit Season 4 commenced in April of this year. In September 2020, FX Networks and FX Productions chairman John Landgraf announced in September 2020 that filming was expected to resume in early 2021, while noting that production had been delayed by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic but the the show’s writing team had completed all of the scripts for “Atlanta” seasons 3 and 4 in the early months of the pandemic.
The third season was ordered in June 2018, several weeks after the show’s second season ended. The long pause between Season 2 and Season 3 was ascribed to Glover’s busy schedule prior to the pandemic; Glover released his fourth studio album in 2020, wrote and produced 2019’s “Guava Island” musical film, and voiced Simba in Disney’s 2019 “The Lion King” remake.
“Atlanta” has enjoyed consistent critical success since its first season premiered in 2016. IndieWire’s Ben Travers praised the series’ writing in his grade A review of Season 2 in 2018.
“Brothers Donald and Stephen Glover, who penned the episodes, continue to find natural rhythms to convey the bigger picture,” Travers said in his review. “When Paper Boi drives home the theme of Episode 3 in one perfect comparison, it connects. And so much hits home even without a declarative statement, like the bizarre climax of the premiere. You’re waiting for a moment to happen without really knowing why. Then it happens and everything clicks. Never does it feel like the show is up on a pulpit, nor does it stray from its characters’ compelling points of view.”
