I had no interest in watching this but, after seeing Ronan the Accuser in GotG, my wife wanted to check it out and we were both sucked in to watching the entire season.

I see it as a Mad-Men-Light. It appears that they were trying to repeat the Mad Men magic with a series based in the big new flashy business of the 80's: personal computers. They even cast their own Don Draper, with Ronan as the handsome, well tailored, man with a mysterious past who is there to take his company to the top.

The problem is, with a decade as flashy as the 80's (it's set in 1983), it's a pretty drab series. Some of that problem lies in the fact that 2/3rds of the starring cast are an engineer and a programmer. They try to beef up the programming aspect by making her a punk/new wave/outcast, but it doesn't help much. All of the flash depends on Ronan, and he's pretty demure for an 80's corporate killer. You've got your sex and intrigue, but it's nothing on Mad Men levels (again, you're dealing with engineers and programmers.... no offense).

And while I'm sure Ronan is an attractive guy, I don't think he's on the same level as Don Draper. And the women are cute, but nothing like a Joan. A lot of boring people doing very interesting stuff and interacting with one mysterious and manic depressive guy.

Setting it in Dallas is a nice touch though. Some realistic accents make for a nice change in a tech drama. A few anachronisms here and there. My wife pointed out that people weren't saying "app" in 1983. And with the personal computer history, everyone knows what's coming in 1984.

We'll watch if they give it a second season. But it's not up there with Mad Men or Sons of Anarchy (for me anyway).

The omni-sexual characteristic bugged me....it's the second show this year I've seen try pull that, and it didn't feel natural in this case. Neither did Gordon's come-and-go insanity.

But, those are the nits I found to pick. On the whole, I enjoy it quite a bit. I love the opening credits.

Also, Robert, the term "killer app" was used in 1980, in an article for BYTE magazine to describe the phenomena behind an Apple spreadhseet app.

Okay, I hadn't heard it used except in historical context later in that decade.

All of the crazy sex stuff... my wife called some of it, we got caught off guard by one thing or two... I understand they have to have ridiculous liaisons to make it interesting.

Toby Huss stole the show for us. I'm hoping they work him back in somehow if they have a second season.

I'm really glad that Toby Huss didn't stay the domineering idiot boss they seemed to be setting up. I love his relationship with Cameron.

He went from being a third wheel to one of the most interesting characters.

My kids can't stop laughing at your avatar, FYI.

H&CF has been picked up for a second season.

Lower ratings than other series on AMC that were not renewed, but the critics were favorable enough and they think it has a fairly dedicated fan base.

I think that having a star who's the villain in the #1 movie of the year might have something to do with it.

From the press release:

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01011001 01000001 01011001 00100001 00100001

I've been a fan of Lee Pace since Wonderfalls. Pushing Daisies was perhaps THE most tragic casualty of the last Writers' Strike.

Anyone watching Season 2?

They've moved from hardware to software.

I am enjoying this season a lot. I really have started to like the characters more. Should be interesting the rest of the way.

The characters are growing, that makes a difference.

Nice to have Toby Huss back. Hoping that he gets his stuff together before he gets suicidal on us.

I was worried about the same thing. Previews at least seem to have some hope that doesn't happen.