Common Sense Media Review
By Kari Croop
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based on child development research. How do we rate?
Exciting period tech drama shows drinking, swearing, sex.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Halt and Catch Fire
What's the Story?
Beginning in Texas' "Silicon Prairie" circa 1983, HALT AND CATCH FIRE follows four risk-takers with ambitious goals about what tech can do for humanity. Spearheading their first project together is Joe MacMillan (Lee Pace), a former IBM executive who recruits a disillusioned engineer, Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy), to dissect his ex-employer's flagship PC. But to succeed, the two must add unpredictable prodigy Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis) and Gordon's wife, engineer Donna Clark (Kerry Bishé), to the mix. Through years of working together (and butting heads), these visionaries lay down the brickwork for the dot-com boom that's to come.
Is It Any Good?
There are shades of Don Draper to this frothy show's charismatic Joe MacMillan, and that's probably no coincidence. Halt and Catch Fire debuted near the end of Mad Men—and so the network delivers another period hero who's handsome, mysterious, and ever charming. As Joe draws the doubtful into his web, he draws in viewers, too, with a seductive quality that's hard to ignore.
Of course, Halt and Catch Fire's characters are fictional, but, since their stories are set in a real time and place, anyone who watches stands to learn something. (Lesson 1: There's a lot more to high-tech history than Silicon Valley.) The real success of the series, though, is its ability to make old technology feel new by turning the complicated language of computing into a universal human drama that modern audiences can relate to.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Halt and Catch Fire blends fictional and factual storytelling. How accurate is its portrayal of the tech industry in the 1980s and '90s? How can viewers understand what's fact and what's fiction?
What role do women play in the show? What kinds of sexism do they face at home and at the workplace? Since the 1980s and '90s, how has the tech industry improved (or worsened) on this front?
How has technology changed since the advent of the world's first personal computer? What are the pros and cons of today's technology? Where do we go next?
TV Details
- Premiere date : June 1, 2014
- Cast : Lee Pace , Scoot McNairy , Mackenzie Davis , Kerry Bishé
- Network : AMC
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : STEM , History
- Character Strengths : Integrity , Perseverance , Teamwork
- TV rating :
- Award : Emmy - Emmy Award Nominee
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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