The HBO Show: Silicon Valley

There's a new show coming to HBO called Silicon Valley. It is created by Mike Judge. You may remember Mike from such popular comedy greats as Beavis & Butthead, King of the Hill, Office Space, or Idiocracy.

If you are interested, the first episode is available for free in its entirety on youtube.

I was pretty excited for this show. I watched it. And.......................it......was...................okay. I guess.

The show could go any direction at this point. I will have to see the entire season (or at least a couple more episodes) before offering complete judgment. But the first episode left me feeling pretty underwhelmed. The main reason for this? Betas.

Betas is one of Amazon Prime Instant Videos' original series that premiered last year/earlier this year. And it's more or less the exact same thing. I liked it! But watching SV on the heels of Bs seems pretty redundant.

Both feature a small group of nerds trying to break in big on the app scene. You've got the awkward skinny white dude, the token indian, the "omg totally random" stoner dude, etc. There is a glimmer of hope in SV when one of the characters makes note of how every group on campus has 5 people, each fitting a specific stereotype. Hopefully it's self awareness and the writing on the show can overcome the obvious cliché's of making a show like this.

You'll see some familiar faces in the cast, which can be considered promising. You've probably seen Kumail Nanjiani in Portlandia. You will recognize TJ Miller, but won't exactly remember what you've seen him in. And Martin Starr who you probably won't recognize but was in the show Party Down. Seriously, do yourself a favor and watch Party Down. You've also got that one manager from The Office and that one guy that is like a nerdier Hugh Grant.

So anyways, there are some solid players and this could be good. But it's not yet. Check out the pilot on youtube and let us know what you think. HBO shows are usually gold and Mike Judge has created some family favorites in the past. Here's hoping that this one can live up to the legacies.