Atlanta: B.A.N.

October 12, 2016 8:36 AM - Season 1, Episode 7

The tv show Montague; Special guest Paper Boi and Dr. Deborah Holt.

You're watching the Black American Network. Montague's talk show with Paper Boi and Dr. Deborah Holt. Commercials featuring the Dodge Charger, Arizona tea, Mickey's alcohol, Swisher Sweets, Ahmad White (the sandwich guy from the bus), and Coconut Crunch-O's.

Special guest star Nileseyy Niles, who has done some previous "as a white guy" work.

posted by cashman (8 comments total)

I thought the parts with Nileseyy Niles were questionable at best. I could have done without the connection of white intolerance and trans acceptance coupled with the further segment involving his mom. It was just too many mixed messages for me. I did get tickled by the extended nod session.

The jpeg artifact type bad superimposing on Ahmad White's bizarre ads was hilarious. All in all it was a pretty weird episode, and them censoring the n word during Montague but letting the Coconut Crunch-O wolf say it made it even odder. But I guess that worked too because it was jarring enough that it caught me off guard and I laughed loud enough that I had to replay it because I missed the part that immediately followed.

And even though snl and others have done the fake commercial thing for a while now, it was somehow more cognitively unnerving when an actual commercial came on after the ones that were Atlanta content. I think the Dodge Charger one got me best because after it just kept repeating with only minor changes, I wondered if it was an actual ad that Dodge decided to run within the content. And then, it clearly was not. Also, hey, no gun in this episode! I think that makes 2 straight.
posted by cashman at 8:47 AM on October 12, 2016

This episode! It was almost like an episode of Mr Show or Brass Eye. Absolutely brilliant.

If you aren't following this show, you still should check this standalone episode out.
posted by Catblack at 9:56 AM on October 12, 2016

1-260-33QUEST (reddit.com/r/donaldglover)

the number (1 [phone]) is from Saint Joe Indiana. It has a recording of the guys voice saying "salutations and welcome to freeing your mind Im unavailable right now due to a brief incarceration please type in your number and remember the brotherhood will contact you shortly. Enjoyable day to you." Then it beeps as though to allow you to leave a message.

That was a great episode, with only one of the core characters. Sepinwall called it "essentially a lost episode of Chappelle's Show or Key & Peele."

And it was fun to see Alano Miller again. A more jovial role than his part of Cato on Underground (FanFare series), but interestingly still in the role of person between worlds.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:38 AM on October 12, 2016 [1 favorite]

"Mr. Boi!"
posted by yonega at 8:35 PM on October 12, 2016

I noticed the title intro has a black SUV in the lower right corner going in "reverse" on an empty freeway/road. It's after the images of birds on wires. Has anyone else noticed it on other episodes?
posted by Lil Bit of Pepper at 8:54 PM on October 12, 2016

I did think this was funny, but I missed the characters. That's still a compliment for the show, right? Louie could do this, and it wouldn't bother me. I'm invested in Atlanta's characters, so I missed their stories this time.
posted by gladly at 5:52 AM on October 13, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm only watching this series now (better late than never), but this episode is seriously one of the best things I have ever seen on television.

I LOVE this show.
posted by biscotti at 7:35 AM on June 29, 2018

I'm newly watching this show and mostly loving it. Good stuff!

But this episode bummed me out. It went so, so far out of its way to be anti-trans. Specifically setting up an equivalence between a trans-woman and "transracial identity". It felt explicitly transphobic to me. This essay captures my thoughts.

Eh, comedy misses sometimes. I liked the larger structure of the show, the parody of BET.
posted by Nelson at 8:05 AM on July 23, 2018 [1 favorite]