Thirty-six years after the first film, audiences had the opportunity to bundle into theatres to view Top Gun: Maverick, the long-awaited sequel to 1986’s Top Gun. Reaching Mach-10, the action sequel hauled in more than a billion dollars at the worldwide box office and became the global blockbuster of the year. Many directors and studios generally shy away from sequels for the simple fact that they are difficult to make. Recapturing the lightning in a bottle success of a first film is tough. However, building on a first installment’s foundation to meaningfully explore different stories and new characters is even more challenging. Top Gun: Maverick proves that this laborious task is achievable. Revisiting the Goose-Maverick relationship at its heart, making callbacks to fan-favorite moments from the original, and displaying the soaring technological advancements made during its lengthy absence, Top Gun: Maverick leaves audiences mesmerized.

The American public education system while, having undoubtable strengths, has been a lesson in imperfection. For the past fifty years, funding constraints, compensation dilemmas, and resource shortages have been perennial plagues of an arrangement designed to educate the Union’s brightest. Abbott Elementary takes a deep dive into these issues through the eyes of comedy. Written in large as an ode to educators, Abbott delivers necessary commentary on an often-defective system. The show deftly highlights the crippling obstacles faced by the nation’s most important institutions, while unearthing nostalgia, sharing laughs, and delivering brilliant deadpans.

Bel-Air and Atlanta, with undeniable bravado and charisma, captured the imaginations of viewers and reinvigorated modern storytelling in unlikely ways. The story behind the creation of these two televised gems, even more unlikely. Before solidifying their spots in the cultural zeitgeist, neither drama was certain to make it to the screen; their origin stories themselves bordering on the edge of sheer serendipity and limitless luck. What’s unique about Atlanta and Bel-Air, is not their cool characters, exhilarating arcs, timeless twists or ‘blink-and-you-miss-it’ moments. In defiance, it’s how both creative entities manage to tackle serious issues, explore meaningful themes and unapologetically challenge and change the narrative for coming-of-age Black & POC stories on television, in avant garde fashion.