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Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

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Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#291

Post by abustamam »

skerit wrote: post #220
bubblewand wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have seen two of your five shows and like them a lot, and heard of another and it’s already on my to-watch list. This is enough overlap to get the other ones added to the list (plus that pilot). Given the agreement in taste so far, here’s a couple to try if you haven’t: - Sweet Vicious — marred by getting cancelled after one season, but a fun season anyway. College sexual assault survivor becomes an anti-rapist vig…

> Avoid seeing episode counts if at all possible I don't understand. How would knowing how many episodes there are have an impact on the show? (And the number of episodes seems just... fine?)

My understanding was that if you know you're on the last episode then you'll expect things to be resolved or something like that. Similarly, you probably don't expect any twists on the second episode.

I've not heard of the series so I can't comment on it specifically but that was my take on their warning.

Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#292

Post by abustamam »

rurban wrote: post #142
autoexec wrote: post #132

> This piece contains spoilers for Halt and Catch Fire. I'm glad they put this at the top. I instantly closed the tab. On the off chance that the title is remotely true, I wouldn't want to have the show ruined for me before I even saw an episode. For others who have never heard of this show, here's a little I picked up from carefully scanning over the wikipedia page: It's a AMC period drama about the early days of PC…

Then you are the only one who haven't watched it. Go watch it now! It's fantastic (at least the first Compaq seasons)

I haven't watched it nor have I heard of it prior to this post, but based on the comments here, it seems like required watching for a techie! Adding it to the never ending list of things to watch :)

(I also haven't seen Silicon Valley which, as I understand it, is simultaneously required watching and required avoidance for HN people...)

Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#293

Post by hbn »

I've watched through the show and I enjoyed season 1 a lot, but I found it eventually ran into the issue lots of shows do where it's just meandering and you realize it won't go anywhere because if they write towards a conclusion they can't make more seasons.

I was pretty bored by the time it got into browser wars stuff. And the ending of the show was kinda baffling and cringe-inducing.

Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#294

Post by georgeecollins »

danielvaughn wrote: post #3

Lee Pace's performance in that show is one of my all time favorites. It's incredibly hard to play a charismatic marketing guru because in some sense, you're not acting. In a given scene, the character might be trying to convince people around him of some crazy idea, but if he hasn't convinced you, the viewer, then the entire illusion falls apart. So he really has to do in real life what he's pretending to do on scree…

Great show! Toby Huss is also good as the guy you underestimate. He had a great scene in Weapons last year.

Scoot McNary is good in lots of things-- Monsters is a favorite. Mackenzie Davis in Station 11!

Viewers may have missed the show but casting agents didn't.

Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#295

Post by joenot443 »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #269

I just finished my third run through the series. There have been a lot of movies and shows about how tech "grew up" in the 80s and 90s, but this one feels closest to home for me. It was an incredible time to live through. Everybody was trying all kinds of stuff, fundamental stuff not stuff around the edges, and nobody knew what would hit and what wouldn't. Some kid in East Minnesota had the same shot as some guy in S…

> Can you write an independent iOS app without spending a lot of time screwing around with Apple?

Yes! I've spent much more time screwing around with linkers and search paths than I ever have App Store Connect. It's really not very difficult, it's always surprising to hear engineers expect it'd be something they'd sink time into.

Honestly, I think it's pretty remarkable you can distribute software to billions of devices with about as much clicking and form-filling as buying a plane ticket. Was there a time it was even easier?

Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#296

Post by Carstairs »

jll29 wrote: post #265

"HCF": "In computer engineering, Halt and Catch Fire, known by the assembly language mnemonic HCF, is an idiom referring to a computer machine code instruction that causes the computer's central processing unit (CPU) to cease meaningful operation, typically requiring a restart of the computer. It originally referred to a fictitious instruction in IBM System/360 computers (introduced in 1964), making a joke about its…

The net?

I've not seen that since the 90s so it might not be a classic but if you've ever seen an unexpected pi symbol (look on the bottom right of old.reddit.com) in software then they're probably referencing that movie.

Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#297

Post by jclulow »

skerit wrote: post #219
tptacek wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Patriot is amazing, more people should watch it, everyone I know who has was enthralled by it. Counterpart was great but structure made it hard for to watch knowing it'd been cancelled. Scavengers Reign was great; I couldn't get into Common Side Effects. Evil is exactly the Catholic X-Files, which is an amazing concept, but by the end of the 2nd season it is all the way off the rails and hurtling into a canyon. Given…

Oh, so does "Counterpart" not have an ending?

It does actually wrap up well enough I reckon. It's not really a cliffhanger or whatever.

Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#298

Post by woodrowbarlow »

redhale wrote: post #266
robot_jesus wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Patriot is my single favorite show of all time. I absolutely adore it and every preposterous, absurd line. So many quotable moments. Vantasner Danger Meridian. Structural Dynamics of Flow. The attaché badge. So many phenomenal scenes. I’m not surprised it didn’t get more traction with the general public but it was unafraid to take some serious and weird risks. But they pay off in spades for me!

Are you me? Patriot is amazing and I will never stop recommending it no matter how many dumbfounded looks I get. I have a framed "Structural Dynamics of Flow" poster on my wall in my home office, visible on Teams calls. Only 1 person has ever recognized the reference.

gosh, the scene where he stumbles into the lecture hall, almost late, and then delivers a flawless retro-encapulator-esque pitch... that had me giddy.

Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#299

Post by pixelmonkey »

Someone named Ashley Blewer did such a deep dive on this show that she produced a full online course and syllabus centered around it.

https://bits.ashleyblewer.com/halt-and-catch-fire-syllabus/

It allows people to form a "watch club" around the show, similar to a book club, and have plenty of extra reading materials to understand the different tech eras covered in the show.

I think this show -- combined with the documentary "General Magic" and the book "Fire in the Valley" -- is a great way to be immersed in the techno-optimism of the early tech industry around the time of the desktop PC revolution and early internet.

For me, that sort of techno-optimism has stuck with me even if modern tech has more dystopian elements with which one has to grapple. It is still an amazing industry, all things considered.

p.s. total aside that Apple TV sells a digital "box set" of this show for a pretty low price these days. I am usually not a fan of "buying" a show from a streaming service but might be worth it in this case since it's around $16 USD for every episode across its 4 seasons, Apple has a good track record honoring digital purchases, and watching the show is a commitment.

Re: Halt and Catch Fire: TV’s best drama you’ve probably never heard of (2021)

#300

Post by nobleach »

raffael_de wrote: post #247
danielvaughn wrote: post #3

Lee Pace's performance in that show is one of my all time favorites. It's incredibly hard to play a charismatic marketing guru because in some sense, you're not acting. In a given scene, the character might be trying to convince people around him of some crazy idea, but if he hasn't convinced you, the viewer, then the entire illusion falls apart. So he really has to do in real life what he's pretending to do on scree…

I have Lee Pace on the radar since Singh's The Fall. Your assessment of movie magic is only partially correct. Obviously, a character has to be convincing by himself but the heavy lifting of the illusion is done by the peer characters acting as if they believe the role he plays. "The king is always played by the others" Not sure who is to credit for this quote but in my opinion it is one of the most important insight…

Even though Pushing Daisies ended too abruptly, I thought he was GREAT in that series as well.
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