Welcome back to the 2021 fall season. We’re sure you’re pondering the whereabouts of your favorite celebrities, reminiscing on the long summer days, and capturing the last of the warm weather. 

How about entertainment? Before we go any further, we must reminisce on the excitement and celebrations of the plenty that has unfolded in the months before.

Our lifesavers, our best friends, Hulu and Netflix, have yet again delivered nothing short of variety, humor, and cliffhanging seasons of our favorite new shows. Outer Banks, starring heartthrobs Madelyn Cline and Drew Starkey, streamed its entire season 2 – perfect for a couple’s day binge. Grey’s Anatomy is still going strong as its COVID-special season 17 continues. Other shows that have thwarted our realities of love and ability prove popular and promising. The Circle, a new Netflix series, derived its contestants from previous appearances in reality TV, proving that not all reality stars are one-hit wonders. 

Disney Plus has offered quite a bit for fans this summer, too. High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, The Bad Batch, and The Mysterious Benedict Society all released episodes. Marvel fans have been eagerly awaiting new episodes of Loki and What If, with Hawkeye coming this November. As far as movies are concerned, Black Widow came out in July, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings just hit theaters on September 3.

On Amazon Prime, Camila Cabello has made her acting debut as the titular character in Cinderella. Reviews have been mixed, but TikTok has especially enjoyed it (or at least enjoyed making fun of it). Dear Evan Hansen has hit festivals, also to mixed reviews, but live audiences can make up their minds on September 24.

There have also been big music releases this summer: Drake, Kanye West, Billie Eilish, Maroon 5, Lorde, and Halsey have all released albums. The most recent release is Lil Nas X’s debut album Montero which just dropped last Friday. Some of our personal favorite songs of the summer included Red Velvet’s Queendom, Lady Gaga’s Free Woman remix with Rina Sawayama, Tomorrow By Together’s Loser = Lover, and Bish’s Stacking.

More locally, the Made in America festival made a splash just this month. Justin Bieber and Lil Baby served as headliners. Other acts included Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, Kehlani, and Tinashe.

On the national level, there have been a few huge pop culture events recently. The MTV VMAs took place September 12th, with Lil Nas X’s Montero winning video of the year. Justin Bieber won artist of the year, and Olivia Rodrigo’s driver’s license won song of the year. Rodrigo won several more awards, including best new artist. 

The 2021 Met Gala occurred the next day. Some notable attendees and their outfits included Rihanna in a stunning black number, Cara Levigne with a shirt reading “peg the patriarchy,” Kim Kardashian dressed head to toe (literally) in black with her face covered, Somali-American model Iman in a beautiful sun-inspired look, and solo artist CL and Blackpink’s Rosé becoming the first female K-pop stars to attend the Met Gala.

We’ve had so many notable pop culture moments this summer and September, and we’re eagerly awaiting the future. What to expect? Our guess: 18-year-olds Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US open finalists, will be the face of new products, problems, and principles. We’re very excited to see what they, and others, have in store for us this fall.