More Thoughts From Me #36: Halt and Watch This TV Show

It should be obvious to you by now that I love video games. What might not be obvious, since I never write about it here, is that I’m also addicted to TV shows. I watch a lot of TV. Maybe too much TV. But there is currently one show that brings together my love of video games and my love of TV Shows! That show is called Halt and Catch Fire. I want to tell you about the show and why you should be watching it!

WARNING: The following may include some spoilers from AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire

Halt and Catch Fire, a TV show on AMC, started out being about the creation a computer. The show is set during the 1980s, a time when owning a personal computer was still a new experience! Not everyone owned a computer, they were not cheap, and the internet was barely around. So Halt and Catch Fire started out about the main characters creating a computer. The show has changed a lot since then!

Halt and Catch Fire has become much more about building something that is sort of gaming related on the internet rather than building computers. I won’t tell you how that happened! I recommend going back to season 1 and seeing how it all first started. However, I will tell you that with Halt and Catch Fire you’ll be witnessing the birth of some computer related things that we take for granted now. Along with that, you’ll encounter characters that are very complex and interesting. Halt and Catch Fire is more of a character based drama then anything else. It has a plot, but its much more focused on who these characters are and why they do what they do. I love the characters and the look at how PC technology was back then, but there is one big product that was released then that gets mentioned a lot and I love it every time. I’m talking about, of course, the NES from Nintendo.

Halt and Catch Fire has mentioned Nintendo a lot since season two. The show is now in its third season and Nintendo is still being mentioned. How can you not mention Nintendo though? In the 1980s, Nintendo came to America and changed the video gaming landscape. No longer did you have to play games just on your PC. And a couple of the characters in Halt and Catch Fire actually play the NES a lot in season 3. There was a great episode, just last week, where the first Super Mario Bros was a part of some very important scenes. In those scenes, we saw the characters play (and beat) the first Super Mario Bros game! It was an absolute treat and definitely added a lot to the show.

I’m sure by now you all know how much I love Nintendo. I have been a fan of the company since the days of the NES. So seeing the NES on Halt and Catch Fire really takes me back. But before you think that Halt and Catch Fire is just a show for people who lived in that era, let me stop you and say no it isn’t. Halt and Catch Fire is a show about the 80s, computers, the internet, and gaming, but its also a show about the people who lived that era. The show is about these very unique, very human characters who navigate life back then. So yes the show taps into nostalgia for those who lived then, but its also a show that anyone can watch.

The NES scenes that I mentioned were important and perhaps life changing for two of the characters in the show. Halt and Catch Fire doesn’t just mention 80s technology as a gag, the tech is very much a character of its own and the show wouldn’t feel real without it. Halt and Catch Fire, overall, is a well put together show. The acting and writing on this show is great!

I highly recommend Halt and Catch Fire to every video game fan, especially if you are a PC gamer or a Nintendo fan. You should be watching this show! Halt and Catch Fire is one of the best shows on TV.

And if you missed seasons one and two, you can catch them on Netflix (or dvd) right now! Season 3 is currently airing on AMC. Halt and Catch Fire airs on Tuesday nights at 10/9 central. Wait! Thats tonight!

Check out this video from AMC about Halt and Catch Fire Season 1:

Have you seen Halt and Catch Fire? If so, what do you think of it?

Next week: Let’s start October off right by talking about…Castlevania! What was the first Castlevania game I played? Which of the games is my favorite? Which is my least favorite? Come back next week to find out!

More Thoughts From Me is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed here are mine and mine alone. Now go binge watch Halt and Catch Fire on Netflix!