The Year in Entertainment 2022: ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ premieres, ‘Atlanta’ ends and more

Abbott Elementary premiered late last year, but the new show brought joy to many in 2022 with its comedy and satire. While viewers embraced Quinta Brunson’s series, they parted ways with a few other shows. Here’s what happened on the big and small screens this past year:

Abbott Elementary – In December 2021, Quinta, who first made waves on social media, premiered Abbott Elementary, a series loosely based on her mother’s experience as a kindergarten teacher and named after Joyce Abbott, one of her elementary school teachers.

The show has since become a fan favorite. In 2022, it shattered several of ABC’s rating records and earned social media praise, as well as a few award nominations. Quinta made Emmys history as the youngest Black woman ever nominated in the comedy acting category and the first Black woman to earn three nods in the comedy categories in the same year. She fulfilled her promise to win Sheryl Lee Ralph an Emmy when the actress won the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Atlanta – After four years of waiting, fans were treated to two seasons of the FX show, but they were unfortunately the last. The season finale premiered in November, bringing an end to the adventures of Paper Boi, Van, Earn and Darius. “I think we definitely put something out there that people will talk about and hopefully it will influence the next generation,” writer Stephen Glover told Deadline of Atlanta‘s legacy.

Black-ish – The Kenya Barris-created show about Dre Johnson and his struggle to create a sense of cultural identity while living in a predominantly white, upper-middle-class neighborhood came to an end in April after eight seasons.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – The sequel to Black Panther premiered in November and captured the people of Wakanda as they fought to protect their home from intervening world powers while mourning the death of King T’Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman. It was the #1 movie in North America for five consecutive weeks.

The Woman King – Viola Davis starred in the dramatic epic about the Agojie, an all-women warrior army in the historical African kingdom of Dahomey. Also starring Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch and John Bodega, the film reigned at the box office with a $19 million debut. Davis shared videos of viewers reenacting some fighting scenes.

Janet Jackson documentary – Back in February, the Janet Jackson documentary premiered on Lifetime, and saw the singer flashing back to some notable moments in her life and career. The doc averaged over 15.7 million total viewers across Lifetime and A&E’s linear and digital platforms for its premiere ratings, per Variety, becoming cable’s best non-fiction debut since ESPN/ESPN2’s The Last Dance.