Halt and Catch Fire is an American period drama television series created by Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers that premiered on AMC on June 1, 2014. The series depicts a fictionalized insider's view of the personal computer revolution of the 1980s and later the growth of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s. The series' first two seasons were set in the Silicon Prairie of Dallas-Fort Worth, while the third season is set in Silicon Valley. The show's title refers to computer machine code instruction HCF, the execution of which would cause the computer's central processing unit to stop working ("catch fire" was a humorous exaggeration).
In August 2014, AMC renewed Halt and Catch Fire for a second season, which premiered on May 31, 2015 and concluded on August 2, 2015. In October 2015, AMC renewed the series for a 10-episode third season, with the first episode airing on August 21, 2016, ahead of the two-hour season premiere on August 23, 2016. AMC renewed Halt and Catch Fire for a fourth and final season of 10 episodes on October 10, 2016.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Cast
Main cast
- Lee Pace as Joe MacMillan
- Scoot McNairy as Gordon Clark
- Mackenzie Davis as Cameron Howe (born Catherine Howe)
- Kerry Bishé as Donna Clark (nee Emerson)
- Toby Huss as John Bosworth
- Aleksa Palladino as Sara Wheeler (season 2)
Recurring cast
Production and development
AMC ordered the pilot for Halt and Catch Fire in November 2012, and production began on the pilot in April 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. AMC announced in July 2013 that it had ordered Halt and Catch Fire to a series of ten episodes. The series was created by Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers, with Jonathan Lisco as showrunner. In August 2014, AMC renewed the show for a second season of ten episodes, which premiered on May 31, 2015 and concluded on August 2, 2015. Lisco stepped down as showrunner after the second season, with Cantwell and Rogers taking over the role for the third season.
Influences on the show's development and production included works such as Steve Jobs' biography and Tracy Kidder's The Soul of a New Machine.
Episodes
Distribution
The pilot was screened at the South by Southwest festival on March 8, 2014; it was also made available online for streaming on AMC's Tumblr page beginning May 19, 2014 and is the first TV series to premiere on Tumblr.
Home media
The first season was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on May 5, 2015. Season 1 was also released on Netflix and AMC.com for home streaming on April 8, 2015, for a limited time. It is also available on Amazon Video in the UK and Germany. The second season was released on DVD in region 1 on August 9, 2016.
International
The series premiered in Australia on June 23, 2015, on Showcase.
Reception
Critical response
The first season received generally positive reviews from critics and has a Metacritic rating of 69 out of 100, based on 30 reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season a 78% rating with an average score of 7.3 out of 10 based on 40 reviews, with the consensus: "A refreshingly well-acted period drama, Halt and Catch Fire convincingly portrays the not-too-distant past." Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe expressed promise after the series premiere, writing "it's easy to see why the network chose it. Set in Dallas in 1983, it has a distinctive visual style--something AMC, with the cinematic Breaking Bad and the elegant Mad Men, wants to make part of its brand identity". Speaking of the show's dynamic characters, Gilbert added, "Gordon is the Steve Wozniak to Joe's Steve Jobs, in a way. Add to that dynamic immature 22-year-old coding expert Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis)...and you've got a chemical mixture on the verge of exploding".
The second season received generally positive reviews, with some critics noting the series had improved since the first season. On Metacritic, the season has a score of 73 out of 100 based on 8 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the second season a 94% rating with an average score of 8.3 out of 10, based on 18 reviews, with the critical consensus noting "Halt and Catch Fire version 2.0 has received some upgrades and improvements, including a welcome focus on its female leads." Alan Sepinwall of HitFix gave it a very positive review, calling the performances "terrific" and wrote that "those who stayed patient with Halt season 1, or those who come to the show now that the quality has gone up significantly, will be rewarded." Willa Paskin of Slate wrote that the series has "become a different, better show". James Poniewozik of Time also gave it a positive review, writing that the series has improved in many ways.
The third season received critical acclaim. On Metacritic, the season has a score of 83 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Rotten Tomatoes gave the third season a 95% rating with an average score of 8.5 out of 10, based on 19 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads "Halt and Catch Fire finds its footing in an optimistic third season that builds on the fascinating relationship between a pair of emerging protagonists."
Accolades
Halt and Catch Fire was listed with six others for the Critics' Choice Television Award as one of the Most Exciting New Series of the year. For the 19th Satellite Awards, the series was nominated for Best Drama Series and Lee Pace was nominated for Best Actor in a Drama Series. For the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards, the series was nominated for Outstanding Main Title Design.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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