4 ms·

Forget “Mad Men.” “Halt and Catch Fire” Is AMC’s Greatest Legacy

46 points by Apocryphon 4y ago

labrador 4y ago
Better Call Saul is AMC's greatest legacy
- Apocryphon 4y ago
  It's better than Breaking Bad?
  - sizzzzlerz 4y ago
    I don’t think so but it’s very close. BB hit the ground running from its very first episode and never lifted its foot off the gas. BCS took a season to establish itself and to figure out what to do with Kim. Once that happened, its become a juggernaut. This final season has been its best. They’re both worth the time investment.
  - labrador 4y ago
    I think so because the writers brought what they learned creating Breaking Bad to Better Call Saul
  - perrygeo 4y ago
    I think so, but they are very different pace. BCS is a deeper (slower) story with better character development, but less action. Depends on why you liked Breaking Bad.
  - tomwheeler 4y ago
    I think it's equally good, but I can appreciate that it must be far more challenging to write. From a writing perspective, Breaking Bad was amazing because they somehow created a very good story arc for the entire series, despite having no idea (at least initially) how many seasons it might last. Better Call Saul has to maintain continuity with a story that's already been written. It's like trying painting yourself into a corner and then exiting the room without leaving a footprint.
  - edmundsauto 4y ago
    I think so - Breaking bad becomes a Jack Ryan type thriller - "this semi-ordinary dude can do crazy things almost like a semi-superhero". Better Call Saul is a character study, Breaking Bad is an anti-hero action show.
  - vogt 4y ago
    Just as good. Definitely in a different way, in some aspects. If you liked BB I have to insist it's worth watching.
retrocryptid 4y ago
HCF is awesome.
phamilton4 4y ago
To lots of people in tech it's probably one of AMC's greatest. It had all the thrills and dreams of being a software engineer! It's the last "show" I bought since "The Office"... I wish it had a few more seasons, but everything good must come to an end!
monsterofcookie 4y ago
Both started strong and finished weird
- yucky 4y ago
  Yeah this is a clickbait title for sure. Halt & Catch Fire season 1 was setting it up to be an amazing show. And then the Netflix-ization of the show happened. We have to make the super hacker a hot chick and the leading male has to be secretly gay and oh yeah the real brains behind it all is the lead devs wife...and so the show was ruined.
  - Apocryphon 4y ago
    Dunno, the first season had a weird mashup of Mad Men and Breaking Bad, a little, with Joe being a slick talker Don Draper and Gordon being frustrated scientific genius Walter White (which was exacerbated when they also gave him a disease). Also Joe wasn't gay, he was bisexual. The seasons with Mutiny were a real treat, great hacker startup energy and a really fun exploration into the new tech frontiers that were opening up at the time. The overall story did end up weird, but it's one of those shows where you're free to just view the characters as vehicles into a compelling world.
    - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
      It is true that many shows only "find their feet" and "come into their own" after starting, typically in the second season. This is IMHO true of H&CF. It is also true that part of this was the pivot to foreground the female characters (1) The idea that the show was "ruined" by not portraying them as just "hot chick" and "wife" is a) extremely gross and b) a statement that's really only about the person making it. 1) https://slate.com/culture/2015/05/amcs-halt-and-catch-fire-season-2-review-how-it-pivoted-to-become-a-different-better-show.html https://slate.com/culture/2015/05/amcs-halt-and-catch-fire-s...
      - yucky 4y ago
        It does a disservice to the people that actually were there at the forefront making shit happen. All so we can "check some boxes".
prepend 4y ago
That show has my favorite quote from all of tv. It best describes how I felt discovering mosaic and the web… “When I was five, my mother took me to the city. And we went through the Holland Tunnel, and it was basic. Concrete and steel. But it was also my excitement sitting in the backseat, wondering when it was going to be our turn to emerge. It was the explosion of sunlight. And when we exited the tunnel, all of Manhattan was laid out before us. And that was the best part of the trip the amazing possibility to be able to go anywhere within something that is magnificent and never-ending. This is the first Web browser,” -Joe MacMillan (played by Lee Pace)

46 points by Apocryphon 4y ago

labrador 4y ago

Better Call Saul is AMC's greatest legacy

Apocryphon 4y ago
It's better than Breaking Bad?
- sizzzzlerz 4y ago
  I don’t think so but it’s very close. BB hit the ground running from its very first episode and never lifted its foot off the gas. BCS took a season to establish itself and to figure out what to do with Kim. Once that happened, its become a juggernaut. This final season has been its best. They’re both worth the time investment.
- labrador 4y ago
  I think so because the writers brought what they learned creating Breaking Bad to Better Call Saul
- perrygeo 4y ago
  I think so, but they are very different pace. BCS is a deeper (slower) story with better character development, but less action. Depends on why you liked Breaking Bad.
- tomwheeler 4y ago
  I think it's equally good, but I can appreciate that it must be far more challenging to write. From a writing perspective, Breaking Bad was amazing because they somehow created a very good story arc for the entire series, despite having no idea (at least initially) how many seasons it might last. Better Call Saul has to maintain continuity with a story that's already been written. It's like trying painting yourself into a corner and then exiting the room without leaving a footprint.
- edmundsauto 4y ago
  I think so - Breaking bad becomes a Jack Ryan type thriller - "this semi-ordinary dude can do crazy things almost like a semi-superhero". Better Call Saul is a character study, Breaking Bad is an anti-hero action show.
- vogt 4y ago
  Just as good. Definitely in a different way, in some aspects. If you liked BB I have to insist it's worth watching.

retrocryptid 4y ago

HCF is awesome.

phamilton4 4y ago

To lots of people in tech it's probably one of AMC's greatest. It had all the thrills and dreams of being a software engineer! It's the last "show" I bought since "The Office"... I wish it had a few more seasons, but everything good must come to an end!

monsterofcookie 4y ago

Both started strong and finished weird

yucky 4y ago
Yeah this is a clickbait title for sure. Halt & Catch Fire season 1 was setting it up to be an amazing show. And then the Netflix-ization of the show happened. We have to make the super hacker a hot chick and the leading male has to be secretly gay and oh yeah the real brains behind it all is the lead devs wife...and so the show was ruined.
- Apocryphon 4y ago
  Dunno, the first season had a weird mashup of Mad Men and Breaking Bad, a little, with Joe being a slick talker Don Draper and Gordon being frustrated scientific genius Walter White (which was exacerbated when they also gave him a disease). Also Joe wasn't gay, he was bisexual. The seasons with Mutiny were a real treat, great hacker startup energy and a really fun exploration into the new tech frontiers that were opening up at the time. The overall story did end up weird, but it's one of those shows where you're free to just view the characters as vehicles into a compelling world.
  - SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
    It is true that many shows only "find their feet" and "come into their own" after starting, typically in the second season. This is IMHO true of H&CF. It is also true that part of this was the pivot to foreground the female characters (1) The idea that the show was "ruined" by not portraying them as just "hot chick" and "wife" is a) extremely gross and b) a statement that's really only about the person making it. 1) https://slate.com/culture/2015/05/amcs-halt-and-catch-fire-season-2-review-how-it-pivoted-to-become-a-different-better-show.html https://slate.com/culture/2015/05/amcs-halt-and-catch-fire-s...
    - yucky 4y ago
      It does a disservice to the people that actually were there at the forefront making shit happen. All so we can "check some boxes".

prepend 4y ago

That show has my favorite quote from all of tv. It best describes how I felt discovering mosaic and the web… “When I was five, my mother took me to the city. And we went through the Holland Tunnel, and it was basic. Concrete and steel. But it was also my excitement sitting in the backseat, wondering when it was going to be our turn to emerge. It was the explosion of sunlight. And when we exited the tunnel, all of Manhattan was laid out before us. And that was the best part of the trip the amazing possibility to be able to go anywhere within something that is magnificent and never-ending. This is the first Web browser,” -Joe MacMillan (played by Lee Pace)