SERIES PREMIERE: Justin Simien’s 2014 movie of the same name is the inspiration for this new Netflix spinoff, and claims him as an executive producer, and occasional writer and director, as well. The narration is provided by Giancarlo Esposito, who’s moonlighting from duties as the returning Gus Fring on AMC’s Better Call Saul. But here, he’s only heard, not seen, as each installment of Dear White People focuses mostly on a different core character. Central to the opening show, and the entire series, is Samantha, or Sam, played by Logan Browning. She’s a college student at Winchester University, hosting a campus radio show and living in an African-American dorm at a mostly white college, finding lessons and contradictions about race everywhere she looks. It’s a solid, entertaining show, even if some of its dialogue sounds a little too written and calculated.