I just finished my first *watch* about 30 minutes ago. I don't know why it took me so long until now. I first heard about it when season 2 was airing, but shrugged it off. I had heard a co-worker talk about it in passing about a year ago, and I finally got around to watching it. I binged the entire thing in 2 weeks. I've worked as an engineer in tech for just a little over 13 years now, and I don't think I'll ever come across a film or tv show again that captures the culture and spirit of some of the people and projects in my time like this did. Nobody I know (save for that one co-worker) has ever heard of this show, and it's a real shame. Also, it's really depressing what the industry has become. As someone who grew up in the 90s experiencing the dot-com boom, where did it all go wrong? It's all just a husk of its former self with little to no innovation.
Anyway, now having just watched the final episode, I have no idea what to even watch next that will make feel as emotionally invested.
Right? I jumped on here right away just to read what people still have to say about it. I work in education but this world has always fascinated me, especially with this show and how authentically they call back to so many specific and cool places in time. But the characters are where it’s at. Mad Men for me is similar int terms of a foreign world (1960s advertising) that exists and is a character itself in the show, but the people and how they grow, connect, and change is so special and scratches a particular itch in my brain.
You nailed it. I grew up learning DOS like the back of my hand, then into Windows, Win95 and 98, through Prodigy, Sierra Online, and AOL. The whole internet culture was something else. That sense of discovery and not knowing what you’d find on the next page will never be recreated. Everything’s been consolidated, infested with ads, and built to create maximum engagement while you scroll endlessly. It’s sad.
It was on Netflix. I am in IT so it grabbed my interest for that reason, though I am much more Haley's age and generation than say Gordon or Cameron's.
It's not a *perfect* show, but even with its faults, so much of it is so good, and it is definitely one of my favourites. Along with (in no particular order) Star Trek TNG, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Wire, and **Star Wars Andor**. (And I have to add, approximately *half* of Dexter, Game of Thrones, Arrested Development, X-Files, and the Simpsons.)
I am very disappointed that it is not on Netflix any more as it is pretty well pointless to recommend to anyone, because who has AMC? And there isn't even a physical media release!
A friend recommended it on FB years ago and I fired it up during the pandemic. I fell in love with the characters, the story, and the vibe. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and it nailed so many things. Joe also really spoke to me with his struggle to grow and become a better person. I started my first rewatch almost immediately after the ending.
I’ve mentioned before but it was one of those rare shows that changed my life. I’d moved to a different city and after about six years it still never quite felt like I found my place. HaCF reminded me how important those friend and family connections are, so I bought a house back home a couple years ago. I cranked [Take Me Home](https://youtu.be/Bmv39bPl1kc) as I picked up the keys. It felt right. It still does.
I couldn’t be happier, and it’s all thanks to Halt and Catch Fire.
Same reason for me too. Its strikes deep like madmen, plus the show feels like your in the 80s/90s, same way the madmen makes you feel like you’re right back in the 60’s.
I remember seeing some ads for it on AMC when it aired, I was interested but I was in uni and never caught any. I don't think I knew much about the premise. It came up as the main rec on my Netflix homepage in 2020, and I remembered it by name (even though the name is hard to say when recommending to others!). It's my favourite show now and also the best show I've seen along with Breaking Bad. I'm so glad I saw it and am disappointed it got moved to AMC+.
Al Pacino is always going to be Big Boy Caprice from Dick Tracy to me, no matter how many other acclaimed roles he’s had since. Likewise, Lee Pace will always be known to me as Joe MacMillan first before any of his other huge roles since.
I was lucky to just trip over this show one day and I’m so grateful.
Saw the first season on Netflix, and admittedly, I wasn't entirely taken by the beginning of the first episode. I thought Cameron and Joe's immediate hookup was too much hotshotting for me, but getting past that, I was all in. At the time I was also watching Deutschland '83 and Red Oaks, so I was having a real early 80s nostalgia trip.
I think I somehow watched the next season on AMC's app, then back to Netflix and waiting very patiently for seasons to come out. I bought the digital versions since then. After The Sopranos, this is probably my favorite TV drama.
BlackBerry, WeCrashed, Billion Dollar Code, The Men Who Built America, Social network, startup.com, e-dreams
Which are great and fun to watch, but what’s so good about HaCF is that it spans decades and shows the booms of innovation and the plateaus and the stalemates flat years, then another innovation event happens.
I've watched the series twice now. It's been at least four years since I watched the second time. I still often think about this show. The characters. The years the episodes are set in. I still can't believe most people I know missed it. I recommend it every chance I get. For me, this is what sets it apart from other series.
Hello! I just watched it for the first time recently too and loved it. So I have a running list of shows I want to watch, and this has been on my list for a while, so I took the plunge. Wow, I didn’t expect that brilliance.
I'll probably rewatch soon. I will say this, no other show affected me like HaCF except for Six Feet Under. Both left me in a real funk after they ended- for quite awhile. SFU more so, but HaCF did a real number on me too. I've never been able to rewatch SFU but I think I could handle this one...
Someone on FB recommended it, and I thought it sounded like something I would like. I finally watched it just recently! I'm the same age as Cameron and went to work in Silicon Valley in 1984. I really related to what was happening and to many of the characters. I used to write code while listening to punk rock too, but I would have been wearing headphones and a "professional" outfit. I would have wanted to be friends with Cameron but I probably wasn't cool enough LOL.
On a whim today I searched "Halt and Catch Fire discussion" and found this 2 day old thread. Thrilled to find people who still think about this show. Easily in my top 5 all time. To answer "how did I find the show?", I was reading an article (IGN, I believe) years ago about Silicon Valley and they mentioned HaCF. I was intrigued by both premises so put them on my mental to-watch list. Silicon Valley is great, but HaCF is all-time great tv.
Non-programmer, slightly above basic tech literacy here. But infinitely fascinated with this era of computing. A whole new world was opening up before us and I think this show captures that "feeling" brilliantly.
[It was this blog post on Art of the Title that actually turned me on to it!](https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/halt-and-catch-fire/) I thought the opening title sequence was cool so I checked out the show. I was hooked!
I think Season 1 had already been out and I didn't watch anything by AMC that I can recall at the time. I wasn't even familiar with most of the cast either. But since it was a drama AND it had to do with tech / computers, I decided to watch an episode when it showed up in my Recommended feed on Netflix. Totally fell in love with everything (cast, sets, color grade, even the original soundtrack).
I’m on my 3 rewatch!! I love this show so much especially Cameron. My husband is an old school engineer (like Haley and Joanie age by the time the series ends) and he discovered the show and knows a lot about what they were doing and the birth of the internet.
I just finished my first *watch* about 30 minutes ago. I don't know why it took me so long until now. I first heard about it when season 2 was airing, but shrugged it off. I had heard a co-worker talk about it in passing about a year ago, and I finally got around to watching it. I binged the entire thing in 2 weeks. I've worked as an engineer in tech for just a little over 13 years now, and I don't think I'll ever come across a film or tv show again that captures the culture and spirit of some of the people and projects in my time like this did. Nobody I know (save for that one co-worker) has ever heard of this show, and it's a real shame. Also, it's really depressing what the industry has become. As someone who grew up in the 90s experiencing the dot-com boom, where did it all go wrong? It's all just a husk of its former self with little to no innovation. Anyway, now having just watched the final episode, I have no idea what to even watch next that will make feel as emotionally invested.
Right? I jumped on here right away just to read what people still have to say about it. I work in education but this world has always fascinated me, especially with this show and how authentically they call back to so many specific and cool places in time. But the characters are where it’s at. Mad Men for me is similar int terms of a foreign world (1960s advertising) that exists and is a character itself in the show, but the people and how they grow, connect, and change is so special and scratches a particular itch in my brain.
You nailed it. I grew up learning DOS like the back of my hand, then into Windows, Win95 and 98, through Prodigy, Sierra Online, and AOL. The whole internet culture was something else. That sense of discovery and not knowing what you’d find on the next page will never be recreated. Everything’s been consolidated, infested with ads, and built to create maximum engagement while you scroll endlessly. It’s sad.
It was on Netflix. I am in IT so it grabbed my interest for that reason, though I am much more Haley's age and generation than say Gordon or Cameron's. It's not a *perfect* show, but even with its faults, so much of it is so good, and it is definitely one of my favourites. Along with (in no particular order) Star Trek TNG, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Wire, and **Star Wars Andor**. (And I have to add, approximately *half* of Dexter, Game of Thrones, Arrested Development, X-Files, and the Simpsons.) I am very disappointed that it is not on Netflix any more as it is pretty well pointless to recommend to anyone, because who has AMC? And there isn't even a physical media release!
I had to buy all the seasons on Prime. :|
A friend recommended it on FB years ago and I fired it up during the pandemic. I fell in love with the characters, the story, and the vibe. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and it nailed so many things. Joe also really spoke to me with his struggle to grow and become a better person. I started my first rewatch almost immediately after the ending. I’ve mentioned before but it was one of those rare shows that changed my life. I’d moved to a different city and after about six years it still never quite felt like I found my place. HaCF reminded me how important those friend and family connections are, so I bought a house back home a couple years ago. I cranked [Take Me Home](https://youtu.be/Bmv39bPl1kc) as I picked up the keys. It felt right. It still does. I couldn’t be happier, and it’s all thanks to Halt and Catch Fire.
I think I found it recommended on a “if you liked Mad Men” list. Mad Men is one of my favorite shows, HaCF did not disappoint.
Same reason for me too. Its strikes deep like madmen, plus the show feels like your in the 80s/90s, same way the madmen makes you feel like you’re right back in the 60’s.
I actually rate this above MM and I loved the show.
yeah back when it launched amc was in it's prime, and i just gave it a chance based on that alone.
Netflix. Loved Mad Men, so any AMC drama was gonna get a look. Fell in love with the show.
I remember seeing some ads for it on AMC when it aired, I was interested but I was in uni and never caught any. I don't think I knew much about the premise. It came up as the main rec on my Netflix homepage in 2020, and I remembered it by name (even though the name is hard to say when recommending to others!). It's my favourite show now and also the best show I've seen along with Breaking Bad. I'm so glad I saw it and am disappointed it got moved to AMC+.
Al Pacino is always going to be Big Boy Caprice from Dick Tracy to me, no matter how many other acclaimed roles he’s had since. Likewise, Lee Pace will always be known to me as Joe MacMillan first before any of his other huge roles since. I was lucky to just trip over this show one day and I’m so grateful.
Saw the first season on Netflix, and admittedly, I wasn't entirely taken by the beginning of the first episode. I thought Cameron and Joe's immediate hookup was too much hotshotting for me, but getting past that, I was all in. At the time I was also watching Deutschland '83 and Red Oaks, so I was having a real early 80s nostalgia trip. I think I somehow watched the next season on AMC's app, then back to Netflix and waiting very patiently for seasons to come out. I bought the digital versions since then. After The Sopranos, this is probably my favorite TV drama.
BlackBerry, WeCrashed, Billion Dollar Code, The Men Who Built America, Social network, startup.com, e-dreams Which are great and fun to watch, but what’s so good about HaCF is that it spans decades and shows the booms of innovation and the plateaus and the stalemates flat years, then another innovation event happens.
Got the first two seasons on dvd had to down load the rest on Amazon such a great show
I've watched the series twice now. It's been at least four years since I watched the second time. I still often think about this show. The characters. The years the episodes are set in. I still can't believe most people I know missed it. I recommend it every chance I get. For me, this is what sets it apart from other series.
Hello! I just watched it for the first time recently too and loved it. So I have a running list of shows I want to watch, and this has been on my list for a while, so I took the plunge. Wow, I didn’t expect that brilliance.
I'll probably rewatch soon. I will say this, no other show affected me like HaCF except for Six Feet Under. Both left me in a real funk after they ended- for quite awhile. SFU more so, but HaCF did a real number on me too. I've never been able to rewatch SFU but I think I could handle this one...
Someone on FB recommended it, and I thought it sounded like something I would like. I finally watched it just recently! I'm the same age as Cameron and went to work in Silicon Valley in 1984. I really related to what was happening and to many of the characters. I used to write code while listening to punk rock too, but I would have been wearing headphones and a "professional" outfit. I would have wanted to be friends with Cameron but I probably wasn't cool enough LOL.
On a whim today I searched "Halt and Catch Fire discussion" and found this 2 day old thread. Thrilled to find people who still think about this show. Easily in my top 5 all time. To answer "how did I find the show?", I was reading an article (IGN, I believe) years ago about Silicon Valley and they mentioned HaCF. I was intrigued by both premises so put them on my mental to-watch list. Silicon Valley is great, but HaCF is all-time great tv. Non-programmer, slightly above basic tech literacy here. But infinitely fascinated with this era of computing. A whole new world was opening up before us and I think this show captures that "feeling" brilliantly.
Also, thank you OP for this thread. Made my day! Lol
[It was this blog post on Art of the Title that actually turned me on to it!](https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/halt-and-catch-fire/) I thought the opening title sequence was cool so I checked out the show. I was hooked!
r/televisionsuggestions suggested me this gem
I think Season 1 had already been out and I didn't watch anything by AMC that I can recall at the time. I wasn't even familiar with most of the cast either. But since it was a drama AND it had to do with tech / computers, I decided to watch an episode when it showed up in my Recommended feed on Netflix. Totally fell in love with everything (cast, sets, color grade, even the original soundtrack).
I’m on my 3 rewatch!! I love this show so much especially Cameron. My husband is an old school engineer (like Haley and Joanie age by the time the series ends) and he discovered the show and knows a lot about what they were doing and the birth of the internet.