In Episode 1, Pop Literacy investigates: Why the hell is BET's new biographical miniseries about Bobby Brown so extraordinary?

The short answer is that it was written by the same guy who scripted BET's last ingenious biographical excursion, The New Edition Story. Abdul Williams talks to Pop Literacy about doing therapy-level interviews with the guys from the OG boy band, New Edition, as they worked out their decades' worth of bad blood, good times, money woes, and ego battles—and then crafted them into a gripping, accurate, and satisfying miniseries. And then did it again with New Edition member-turned-superstar Bobby Brown's messy and mesmerizing solo story.

We'll wrap it up with our thoughts on the best of the bad TV biopics (Britney Ever After!) and the best upcoming biopics (My Dinner with Hervé, starring Peter Dinklage; and The Front Runner starring Hugh Jackman).

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong and Kimberly Potts find smart things to say about pop culture so you don't have to. Just listen to Pop Literacy and you'll be the smartest person in the room. Learn more about the newest addition to the Writer's Bone Podcast Network by visiting popliteracy.com. This episode is sponsored by Libro.fm and OneRoom.