Image via AMC
The definition is in the opening sequence: Halt and Catch Fire is "an early computer command that sent a machine into a race condition, forcing all instructions to compete for superiority at once. Control of the computer could not be regained." Now it takes on another meaning: It's AMC's most exciting new show of the year, the network's great hope now that Breaking Bad is over and Mad Men on its way out.
In an age where everyone watches their favorite '90s movies on their iPads, listens to '70s rock on their wireless headphones, and uses a GPS to get them back home, AMC's newest series, Halt and Catch Fire fits right in. It's perfectly nostalgic. The '80s-set story follows the quest of Don-Draper-esque entrepreneur Joe Mac Millan (Lee Pace), frustrated engineer Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy), and rebellious prodigy Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis)—not unlike Angelina Jolie in Hackers—to cash in on the personal computing boom. With the help of a reluctant corporate bigshot John Bosworth (Toby Huss) and the wary support of Clark's wife Donna (Kerry Bishe), the trio attempt to top IBM.
For anyone jaded by technology, the series is a refreshing look into an era we've taken for granted, an era that created whatever you're reading this on right now. Soundtracked by '80s hits, the show is dressed in neon and riddled with awful haircuts and bad suits, yet you can't look away. Eye candy and ear candy abound. The clever dialogue, the nerd words you can't understand, and all the distinct characters will pull you right in. Just like the technology the trio seek out to create, it's addictive.
Before you tune into the show's premiere tonight at 10 p.m., get to know the cast. Complex got a chance to wax nostalgic with Pace, McNairy, Davis, Bishe, and Huss as each of them recounted the first time technology really impacted their lives.
As told to Tara Aquino (@t_akino)
[Ed note: This article originally appeared as part of Complex Pop Culture's SXSW coverage.]
Lee Pace
"I remember when my dad had Windows. It had that word processing program and I'd be doing high school reports and kind of playing with the font a lot. Which reminds me, in the pilot I say, 'Computers aren’t the thing. They are the thing that gets us to the thing.'
"It's not about that computer. For Scoot's character Gordon and for Mackenzie's Cameron, it's about the machine. But what my character Joe wants to offer is a tool for you to live your life with, much like the wheel. You could do with it what you want. That's the opportunity that Joe sees. Whether it's a beautiful way to type up a report or a spreadsheet—actually, the show is based in the time when spreadsheets were a revolutionary idea."
Scoot McNairy
"My first real computer experience would be Nintendo, like the Super Mario Brothers and Zelda. I was an outdoors-y kid but that system kept me indoors for at least two years.
"When you look back on Super Mario Brothers and Zelda, it wasn’t visually stimulating but it was at least fast enough to keep my interest. It tends to move and you have the fireballs and stuff."
Mackenzie Davis
"My mom had a car phone that I used to play with a lot. It was a true phone in the car with a cord. I used to have an invisible friend named Flower, and her dad was God who was in jail for murder. I would call him on the phone for sleepovers. I have a birthmark that she cut out of me to make a blanket. [Laughs.]"
Kerry Bishe
"I loved some video games when I was a kid. Oregon Trail was really big! Also, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego!
"I wonder if part of the draw of a show like Halt and Catch Fire is that we get back to a place where we can really appreciate the magical quality of our devices now, like the iPhone. We look at the origin story of technology and gain some sort of sense of appreciation for how far we have come."
Toby Huss
"I'd say my Mattel Football game. Playing that thing blew my mind. It had those little dots that would go 'Doo doo!" and you could pop up and make one dot go further, then you could throw a pass and make the dots out run the other ones.
"I remember in 1982, we had a computer class that we had to take in high school and we had to write code. There were like five lines that you had to write on the screen and it was the orange letters and the green letters and then you would hit return and it would say your name over and over and scroll down. I remember thinking, 'OK, this is kind of cool, but of course this is just bullshit and it's a ridiculous machine that's not liable to do anything.' And now look at us."
