Atlanta, the US show it shouldn't have taken the BBC nearly two years to pick up

(FX)

At the start of the month, on the same day that Donald Glover hosted Saturday Night Live for the first time, “This is America” was released into the world. Instantly iconic, it felt like the kind of epochal video and song Michael Jackson specialised in, one that will be remembered in a quarter of a century. It confirmed that, whether releasing music under the Childish Gambino moniker or writing, directing and acting using his own name, Glover is working on a different level to almost any of his contemporaries. Kanye West, undeniably a creator of masterpieces, shared the video while many critics noted that this is the kind of work he no longer seems capable of as he cosies up to the President, offers startling comments on slavery and watches Rick and Morty. The king is dead, long live the king.

This Sunday, Glover’s Atlanta will finally make its debut on terrestrial television in this country just as the second series comes to an end in the United States. The show, created by and starring the erstwhile Community star, concerns two cousins and their friends attempting to navigate their personal and professional lives in and around the Atlanta rap scene. This, however, is merely the starting point since Atlanta represents an astonishing feat of worldbuilding where just about anything is possible. It is a rich and textured comedy-drama that touches on any number of key contemporary issues without ever seeming didactic. More importantly, it’s hilarious.

The first season alone contains gun violence, drug deals gone wrong, the perils of social media, a real-time spoof talk show episode and a black Justin Bieber. Glover is on record as being acutely aware of his own talent and desperate to make the most of it yet he seems perfectly happy to leave his ego at the door for the greater good. If he wants to tell a story about two female friends (as is the case in the sixth episode of the first season), the show’s creator does not attempt to shoehorn his own character into the storyline. Like Jerry Seinfeld in Seinfeld, Glover seems only too willing to watch his colleagues play since the results are so satisfying. Special mention must go to Brian Tyree Henry as rapper “Paper Boi”, a performance of such nuance and complexity that it deserves to win every award going.

In an era in which television is increasingly made to be binged, Atlanta episodes play out like brilliant short films. There are through-lines that run through the seasons but the tone, cast and direction vary wildly from week to week. Glover is unwilling to rest on his laurels and seems eager to prevent complacency in his audience. Like Nathan for You, another recent masterpiece currently airing here, Atlanta seems to have a tone all of its own. Glover grew up in the city and Henry fell for it while attending college and one can feel that passion in the writing and performances however bleak things sometimes look for our heroes. Glover is not yet 35 and he’s so gifted it’s frightening but, at this stage in his career, this television programme represents his magnum opus. This is Atlanta.

Atlanta season 1 episode 1 airs on BBC Two on Sunday night at 10pm.