HBO's original: Silicon Valley... Liking it so far! 'Nerdy entourage'

[MongGrel]

Finally watched it last night, was pretty good.

 

[slayer202]

solid first episode. way better than the lame ass trailers

 

[Aikouka]

These guys portray unimportant and socially inept geeks. They aren't supposed to be memorable. So if you can't remember a single name they seem to have done their job.

What's important is that this series has some decent writing and those writers should be able to flesh out those characters with a bit of time. If the writing sucked it wouldn't matter how memorable the characters in the first 30 minute debut episode were.

That... sounds like an awful cop-out for bad story writing. Just because a character doesn't leave an impression on others in the story doesn't mean they should be a bland and boring socially awkward nerd stereotype with no actual personality of their own.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

A bland, boring, and socially awkward nerd may be a stereotype but it exists for a reason. Nerds are generally withdrawn, introverted, and any personality is slowly divulged in almost a measured way. If this series attempted to portray them otherwise it wouldn't be believable.

 

[boomhower]

Finally watched it last night and I liked it. It's earned a spot in my rotation.

 

[PliotronX]

solid first episode. way better than the lame ass trailers

Totally agree, the trailers don't do it justice. I only had time to watch the first half of the pilot but it's fun to watch even for my fiancee who knows only what I've told her about computers

 

[jhansman]

You lost me at "Entourage." And I work with a bunch of nerds, sooooo, pass.

 

[nickbits]

I was disappointed but will give it a few more episodes. I thought it was supposed to be a comedy but there were zero laughs. I felt like I was watching tech news not entertainment.

 

[Aikouka]

A bland, boring, and socially awkward nerd may be a stereotype but it exists for a reason. Nerds are generally withdrawn, introverted, and any personality is slowly divulged in almost a measured way. If this series attempted to portray them otherwise it wouldn't be believable.

I have no problem with him being a socially awkward nerd, but I do have a problem if that's the excuse for the character being uninteresting. Heck, you inadvertently provided a good solution in your post. You mentioned that personality is slowly divulged, but who would have already seen that? His housemates. He acts a little more open around his housemates, but he's still incredibly mousey. Why not show a little more of his personality and try to make him a bit more likeable when he's with the housemates?

I'm still willing to give this a chance ('cause I like nerdy stuff), but the show either needs to make the characters interesting or actually have some good humor. :|

 

[Printer Bandit]

elon musk didn't like it

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/silicon-valley-cast-creators-respond-693859

 

[smackababy]

elon musk didn't like it

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/silicon-valley-cast-creators-respond-693859

I kind of agree with the response. Musk certainly hasn't been around a lot of the lower level programmers (and brogrammers, especially) that aren't very helpful.

I have no problem with him being a socially awkward nerd, but I do have a problem if that's the excuse for the character being uninteresting. Heck, you inadvertently provided a good solution in your post. You mentioned that personality is slowly divulged, but who would have already seen that? His housemates. He acts a little more open around his housemates, but he's still incredibly mousey. Why not show a little more of his personality and try to make him a bit more likeable when he's with the housemates?

I'm still willing to give this a chance ('cause I like nerdy stuff), but the show either needs to make the characters interesting or actually have some good humor. :|

I think a big problem is the characters are supposed to be bland. You can't say you have never worked with at least one person who was like that. I know I have. I had a friend who was quiet, intelligent, and incredibly bland unless you really knew him and it was one of the topics he was interested in (computer science being one of them). Mustard was too 'spicy' for him. His diet consisted of literally Ham and Cheese on white bread, Cheeseburgers plain, and stuff like that.

I have a feeling the show will follow more along the lines of that bland guy becoming that which he doesn't want without realizing it, all the while, being satirical of the entire culture that acts like that.

 

[JBT]

I'll have to check it out tonight. Sounds decently good.

 

[zinfamous]

I kind of agree with the response. Musk certainly hasn't been around a lot of the lower level programmers (and brogrammers, especially) that aren't very helpful.

I like how the thrust of his complaint is that "[Judge] probably hasn't been to Burning Man, and one has to know Burning Man to know Silicon Valley."

...that complaint really shows that Judge is spot-on with the self-delusion of these guys. Burning Man simply is not "Burning Man," or what one thinks it is supposed to be, and certainly not what it once was. Zuckerburg and Musk, et al, choppering in to a palatial party zone, that cost 10s of thousands of dollars and months to construct for one night of boozing within the week-long event, and then choppering back to Palo Alto, is EXACTLY what was going on with the opening scene of Kid Rock at that Billionaire's backyard party.

Mike Judge knows what Burning Man really is; and it seems that Musk doesn't--which is why this show works. lol.

 

[Train]

I was disappointed but will give it a few more episodes. I thought it was supposed to be a comedy but there were zero laughs. I felt like I was watching tech news not entertainment.

So hard to know when to laugh without the laugh track.

Lots of little touches were funny, IMO. The running shoes with toes while wearing a suit, just something a pretentious wanna-be-hip tech CEO would do. That and the fact that it was Alby Grant wearing them probably made it a little funnier.

 

[Train]

If you follow tech entrepreneurial culture, you can see how the incubator owner is a perfect caricature of a lot of the one hit wonders who think they are full of profound business wisdom and they know enough to be a mentor to others. That in itself, to the right crowd, is funny.

 

[Aikouka]

I think a big problem is the characters are supposed to be bland. You can't say you have never worked with at least one person who was like that. I know I have. I had a friend who was quiet, intelligent, and incredibly bland unless you really knew him and it was one of the topics he was interested in (computer science being one of them). Mustard was too 'spicy' for him. His diet consisted of literally Ham and Cheese on white bread, Cheeseburgers plain, and stuff like that.

Honestly, that sounds a lot like me. I'm not that bland, but I am the type of person that eats at all the same places, always orders the same thing, and doesn't talk much to anyone... unless I know them.

Part of me wondered if I didn't like it because it hit too close to home (some people don't like staring in the proverbial mirror); however, I probably just don't care much for Judge's style of comedy. I've never cared for Beavis & Butt-head. I may find Office Space quotable, but I've never laughed at it. The only Mike Judge movie that I'll ever say that I really like is Idiocracy. I did pick up on the things that people are talking about in this thread, and while I get that it's poking fun at the Silicon Valley culture, that doesn't mean that it will make me laugh.

 

[MaxDepth]

Anyone seen "The IT Crowd" from BBC? I wonder how this show compares. I wonder how hard it is to keep fresh material when now just about every show has the loner, outsider type as the computer nerd.

At least Walking Dead's nerd rocks the mullet, I'll give them that.

 

[Aikouka]

Anyone seen "The IT Crowd" from BBC? I wonder how this show compares. I wonder how hard it is to keep fresh material when now just about every show has the loner, outsider type as the computer nerd.

As much as I've smack talked this show, I like The IT Crowd. Some of the episodes aren't as good as others, and the good plot points don't always have anything to do with technology, but it's usually fun. The best part about the show has to be the interesting characters. Moss is awesome, and Roy is a good counter to him (albeit definitely the weaker character).

Silicon Valley is definitely different than The IT Crowd. The IT Crowd is sort of like a British version of The Big Bang Theory that's actually good. Silicon Valley does have more of that "duck out of water" Entourage vibe (not well-off kid from the Bronx making it big in Hollywood).

 

[purbeast0]

watched the first 2 episodes the past couple days. i'm liking the show so far. the awkwardness is awesome. the 2nd episode was better than the first one. the scene with the stripper was pretty funny because it's so true how awkward nerds can be around girls.

im a dev myself, and i remember when my wife came to one of our xmas parties and we went out after, when we left she gave hugs to some of my coworkers, and one of them stood there with his arms at his side, he didnt know what to do.

 

[blankslate]

The show had me at "Jobs was a poser."


lulz.



.....

 

[bbhaag]

I'm liking this show so far but its only been two episodes so we'll see. I thought the second episode was better to so hopefully they get better and better as the series goes on.

 

[ZaneNBK]

I thought the first episode was funnier than the second IMO. It covered a lot of ground and made fun of a broad cross-section of the culture. Second episode was still decent though.

I've never worked in Silicon Valley but many of those caricatures apply to IT companies in general, corporate IT and tech conventions. The backyard party in the first episode reminded me a lot of something like Oracle World or DreamForce (Salesforce.com convention).

 

[OutHouse]

The show had me at "Jobs was a poser."


lulz.



.....

Lol me too. "Jobs didn't code" lol

 

[smackababy]

Lol me too. "Jobs didn't code" lol

I think the point of that was to make it clear the title character was missing what it actually takes to run a company with an a good idea. Without Jobs (or something like Jobs), Woz would have just been a run of the mill engineer with a bunch of cool stuff in his basement. And that is the parallel with the show. The title character is Woz and without a Jobs, he won't get very far. He has to either be both, or find someone who fits.

Look at the thread about the electric car company that squandered nearly a billion dollars and failed. Yeah, great technology and a great idea, but zero business sense.

 

[blankslate]

I think the point of that was to make it clear the title character was missing what it actually takes to run a company with an a good idea. Without Jobs (or something like Jobs), Woz would have just been a run of the mill engineer with a bunch of cool stuff in his basement. And that is the parallel with the show. The title character is Woz and without a Jobs, he won't get very far. He has to either be both, or find someone who fits.

While that could definitely be argued it also shows that one person isn't and probably can't be the one with all the ideas behind a company.

Eon Musk for example probably isn't the one who does all the engineering that goes into making all of the Tesla's but he knows what sells to his targeted customer base.

The thing is how many Apple fans know the name Steve Jobs but aren't exactly clear about Steve Wozniak's contributions?

That's why it's a great piece of dialogue.

.....