Posts Tagged Halt and Catch Fire
STEELE PICKS: BEST TELEVISION of 2015
Posted by Amy Steele in TV on December 16, 2015
I like to think I don’t watch all that much television– that I read and watch films more than I watch TV programs. And it’s true particularly with television seasons starting several times throughout the year. At times I can be watching several shows and at other times only a couple. Then there’s Netflix of course and either binge-watching or watching at-will. I also don’t get any cable channels so I couldn’t watch season two of The Knick (which I adore), the most recent season of Homeland and have yet to check out The Affair. I did manage to watch the final season of Nurse Jackie during a free preview weekend and I think it ended perfectly. Other perfect series endings included Justified and Mad Men.
[listed in alphabetical order]
Being Mary Jane [BET]
created by: Mara Brock Akil
starring: Gabrielle Union, Lisa Vidal
Call the Midwife [PBS]
created by: Heidi Thomas
starring: Helen George, Jenny Agutter, Laura Main, Judy Parfitt, Pam Ferris, Miranda Hart
Getting On [HBO]
created by: Jo Brand, Mark V. Olsen, Vicki Pepperdine
starring: Laurie Metcalf, Alex Borstein, Niecy Nash
Halt and Catch Fire [AMC]
created by: Christopher Cantwell, Christopher C. Rogers
starring: Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bishe
Jessica Jones [Netflix]
created by: Melissa Rosenberg
starring: Krysten Ritter, Rachael Taylor, Eka Darville
Justified [FX]
created by: Graham Yost
starring: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Walton Goggins, Jacob Pitts
Longmire [Netflix]
created by: Hunt Baldwin, John Coveny
starring: Robert Taylor, Katee Sackhoff, Lou Diamond Phillips
Mad Men [AMC]
created by: Matthew Weiner
starring: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, Kiernan Shipka, Aaron Staton, John Slattery, Jessica Pare
Master of None [Netflix]
created by: Aziz Ansari, Alan Yang
starring: Aziz Ansari, Noël Wells, Lena Waithe, Kelvin Yu, Eric Wareheim
Nurse Jackie [Showtime]
created by: Liz Brixius, Evan Dunsky, Linda Wallem
starring: Edie Falco, Merritt Wever, Paul Schulze, Dominic Fumusa, Anna Deavere Smith, Peter Facinelli, Ruby Jerins
Orange is the New Black [Netflix]
created by: Jenji Cohen
starring: Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks, Taryn Manning, Laura Prepon, Kate Mulgrew, Uzo Aduba, Dascha Polanco, Samira Wiley
Orphan Black [BBC America]
created by: John Fawcett, Graeme Manson, Alex Levine
starring: Tatiana Maslany, Dylan Bruce, Jordan Gavaris
Rectify [Sundance]
created by: Ray McKinnon
starring: Aden Young, Abigail Spencer, J. Smith-Cameron, Adelaide Clemens, Luke Kirby, J.D. Evermore
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt [Netflix]
created by: Robert Carlock, Tina Fey
starring: Ellie Kemper, Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess
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must watch TV: Rectify and Halt and Catch Fire
Posted by Amy Steele in TV on August 8, 2014
Rectify
Instant love on this series. The writing, direction, the acting all near-perfection. What happens when you’re exonerated from Death Row after 19 years? At 17, Daniel Holden [Aden Young] got convicted of raping and choking to death his then girlfriend. He’s since been on death row for 19 years. He survived that time through extensive reading and meditation. His sister’s been fighting for him through every legal recourse possible. His calm mother [J. Smith-Cameron] is always there for him. Holden finds that in this small town in Georgia many things have changed while many things remain the same. He returns home to the devoted mother and sister [Abigail Spencer], a stepfather, step-brother who doesn’t like or trust him and a teenaged half-brother.
It’s an ambitious show with a fantastic premise. Did Daniel commit the rape and murder that put him in prison? Apparently he was on shrooms and can’t remember anything from that night. The show keeps it ambiguous so far. Sometimes it seems impossible other times perhaps he could’ve done it. Female writers and directors added to the mix make this a spectacular, provocative show.
Halt and Catch Fire
Season one just finished but I DVR’ed the entire series. I’ve now watched four episodes. To be honest, I wanted to make sure it made it to the end. I’m a fan of Lee Pace. I adored Pushing Daisies. It’s fantastic to see him play an entirely different, darker character here. He’s Joe MacMillan a former IBM sales guy and kinda hot-shot at least in his head. It’s the 80s and a small computer company in Texas aims to build a personal computer to compete with IBM. Mackenzie Davis, in a bleach blonde pixie cut, plays genius college dropout Cameron Howe. She’s anti-establishment, rebellious and young. Then there’s the family man with lingering dreams Gordon Clark played with just the right reluctance by Scoot McNairy [Touchy Feely]. Tons of promise here. Bonus for female directors.
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About Me
covering mostly music and books. focus on alternative/indie and women in music, literature and the arts. feminist. vegan. mostly alternative, a bit bohemian. Masters in journalism from Boston University. BA from Simmons College.
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