Jian Yang’s Erlich impression. Big Head’s sudden ascension through the guest lecture circuit. Gavin Belson’s failed key-card swipe. Last night’s “Silicon Valley” was an episode that kept the Season 4 hot streak alive with some unsurprisingly delightful developments.
But there’s one that has them all beat.
While going through the files of their early investor Peter Gregory, Richard (Thomas Middleditch) discovers that the man who once gave Pied Piper some much-needed runway also may have left the key to building a brand new, decentralized internet.
Read More: Zach Woods Compares His ‘Silicon Valley’ Character to a ‘New England Mom,’ and Here’s Why That’s Hysterically Tragic
Jared (Zach Woods), Richard’s partner in amateur sleuthing, helps them both realize this discovery means that a new internet might be more viable than either of them thought. Richard’s newfound excitement leads to a back-and-forth of happy enthusiasm.
But there’s one that has them all beat.
While going through the files of their early investor Peter Gregory, Richard (Thomas Middleditch) discovers that the man who once gave Pied Piper some much-needed runway also may have left the key to building a brand new, decentralized internet.
Read More: Zach Woods Compares His ‘Silicon Valley’ Character to a ‘New England Mom,’ and Here’s Why That’s Hysterically Tragic
Jared (Zach Woods), Richard’s partner in amateur sleuthing, helps them both realize this discovery means that a new internet might be more viable than either of them thought. Richard’s newfound excitement leads to a back-and-forth of happy enthusiasm.
- 5/8/2017
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
A review of tonight's Silicon Valley finale coming up just as soon as I know 400 Satanists in Boston... Both Silicon Valley and Veep found themselves in interesting positions heading into tonight's finales, where their respective creative teams had taken the main character as far as s/he could go in their current position, and now had to find a way to get them out of it without it feeling like a hard and desperate push on the reset button. We'll see how Veep handles it (HBO didn't make screeners available at the time I'm writing this), but Silicon Valley solved its problem elegantly, and in a way that has me eager to see the next phase of Richard's journey. There probably could have been a version of the show where Pied Piper was the enormous success everyone assumed once they got a look at Richard's beta. Even huge companies suffer problems,...
- 6/27/2016
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Louisa Mellor Jul 11, 2016
We chatted to the creators and star of the terrific Silicon Valley about season 3, cringe comedy and making HBO's lawyers nervous...
Had Mike Judge spent less of his youth playing guitar and more playing videogames, Silicon Valley might never have existed. HBO originally approached the Office Space, Beavis & Butt-Head and King Of The Hill creator about making a comedy based around games designers. No expert in that world, Judge instead mined his own brief experience as a coder in the late eighties to create the story of Richard Hendricks, a chronically anxious genius programmer thrown into the obscene wealth and volatile politics of Silicon Valley.
For three seasons, with a fourth confirmed to arrive next year, Hendricks' story has provided Judge and co. with the scope to satirise not only modern tech giants, but also to write a recognisable workplace comedy about a pack of underdogs attempting...
We chatted to the creators and star of the terrific Silicon Valley about season 3, cringe comedy and making HBO's lawyers nervous...
Had Mike Judge spent less of his youth playing guitar and more playing videogames, Silicon Valley might never have existed. HBO originally approached the Office Space, Beavis & Butt-Head and King Of The Hill creator about making a comedy based around games designers. No expert in that world, Judge instead mined his own brief experience as a coder in the late eighties to create the story of Richard Hendricks, a chronically anxious genius programmer thrown into the obscene wealth and volatile politics of Silicon Valley.
For three seasons, with a fourth confirmed to arrive next year, Hendricks' story has provided Judge and co. with the scope to satirise not only modern tech giants, but also to write a recognisable workplace comedy about a pack of underdogs attempting...
- 6/22/2016
- Den of Geek
A review of tonight's Silicon Valley coming up just as soon as I pretend I share a room with Harriet Tubman... Well, that was a very different — and ultimately delightful — kind of Silicon Valley episode. It's not just that everything for once went nearly perfectly for Richard and Pied Piper — even Gavin's industrial espionage backfired in a huge way, costing Hooli the engineers who seemed to best understand Richard's compression algorithm(*), and possibly doing damage to Hooli HQ as a whole — but how emotional, even wistful, so much of it was. (*) The one thing this episode, and other recent ones, glossed over a bit was how Pied Piper got so far ahead of the combined Hooli/End Frame team, which had far greater resources and a half-stolen, half-reverse-engineered approximation of Richard's algorithm. The idea, as the show has discussed at times in the past, is that Richard is just that...
- 6/6/2016
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
The most recent seasons of HBO’s critically acclaimed Silicon Valley and Veep (to get a sense of why, check out Jj Perkins’ coverage of Silicon Valley season 2 and Deepayan Sengupta’s coverage of Veep season 4) are coming out on Digital HD and in conjunction, we are excited to offer one SoS reader a download code for each! The code will give the winner all 10 episodes of each season, along with deleted scenes for Veep season 4. Listen to the latest episode of SoS’s TV podcast, The Televerse, to find out how to enter. The giveaway will run from July 29th until August 2nd, with a winner announced on next week’s podcast.
For those unfamiliar with either these series, here’s what HBO has to say about them. Warning, Spoilers (for Silicon Valley Season 1 and Veep Season 3) Ahead.
Silicon Valley Season 2:
After taking the tech world by storm last season at TechCrunch Distrupt,...
For those unfamiliar with either these series, here’s what HBO has to say about them. Warning, Spoilers (for Silicon Valley Season 1 and Veep Season 3) Ahead.
Silicon Valley Season 2:
After taking the tech world by storm last season at TechCrunch Distrupt,...
- 7/29/2015
- by Kate Kulzick
- SoundOnSight
Silicon Valley took the world by storm with its first season, but the caustic, geek-centric, culture commentary show had a lot to work out to get a second season to fly, and while still better than quite a bit of the television world, it didn’t quite make it to the level of the first few episodes of the show.
The second kicks off by finally addressing the death of Christopher Evan Welch, who played Peter Gregory. While the show figured out ways to dodge his loss at the end of the first season, it was something that had to be explained for the show to continue. The show also had to take a turn away from the success of our crew of tech-geeks, lest the show lose all perspective. You can’t really rip on the culture of super start-ups and the general world of tech stars if you...
The second kicks off by finally addressing the death of Christopher Evan Welch, who played Peter Gregory. While the show figured out ways to dodge his loss at the end of the first season, it was something that had to be explained for the show to continue. The show also had to take a turn away from the success of our crew of tech-geeks, lest the show lose all perspective. You can’t really rip on the culture of super start-ups and the general world of tech stars if you...
- 7/23/2015
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
A review of the "Silicon Valley" season 2 finale — and thoughts on this season as a whole — coming up just as soon as I become a meme in the Philippines... The "Entourage" movie pretty much came and went at the box office last weekend, and with it came a lot of mockery of the no consequences ethos of the "Entourage" universe, where no one's future is ever really in jeopardy, because Kanye West will turn up at the last second with his private plane, or Vince will have held onto Turtle's tequila investment behind his back. I complained about that kind of narrative laziness and lack of stakes for most of the run of "Entourage." But I have to admit that there have been times throughout this season of "Silicon Valley" where Richard has been so close to financial ruin — sometimes, as the result of his own mistakes, sometimes due to...
- 6/15/2015
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Silicon Valley, Season 2, Episode 4, “The Lady”
Written by Carson Mell
Directed by Alec Berg
Airs Sundays at 10pm Et on HBO
Running a business is hard. Hell, being in charge of anything is hard. Decisions have to be made that affect the vague notion of a collective, and these have tangible impacts on the egos of the guys (and gal) lower on the totem pole than the decision-maker. Sometimes these bruised egos manifest themselves in worker complaints calling the leader a pussy for supposedly paying a new employee too much. At other times, this means a board member will go on a tirade about the tyranny of wide spoons and the inefficient design of Fage yogurt containers. A new investor could poach a prospective employee from the company and use the wrong logo on $30,000 dollars worth of swag for the company. Of course, none of that could matter if your...
Written by Carson Mell
Directed by Alec Berg
Airs Sundays at 10pm Et on HBO
Running a business is hard. Hell, being in charge of anything is hard. Decisions have to be made that affect the vague notion of a collective, and these have tangible impacts on the egos of the guys (and gal) lower on the totem pole than the decision-maker. Sometimes these bruised egos manifest themselves in worker complaints calling the leader a pussy for supposedly paying a new employee too much. At other times, this means a board member will go on a tirade about the tyranny of wide spoons and the inefficient design of Fage yogurt containers. A new investor could poach a prospective employee from the company and use the wrong logo on $30,000 dollars worth of swag for the company. Of course, none of that could matter if your...
- 5/5/2015
- by Jj Perkins
- SoundOnSight
Silicon Valley, Season 2, Episode 1, “Sand Hill Shuffle”
Written by Clay Tarver
Directed by Mike Judge
Silicon Valley, Season 2, Episode 2, “Runaway Devaluation”
Written by Ron Weiner
Directed by Mike Judge
Airs Sundays at 10pm Et on HBO
Let’s talk shop: The second season of a show, if it is lucky enough to get one, is its most important. Season two is where the writers, producers, and cast have a chance to build up what works and cut the fat. Silicon Valley’s first season brought the show to a place prime for second season rejiggering, with an established world and tone, cracker jack dialogue, and performances both subtle and grandiose. But the unfortunate death of Christopher Evan Welch, who played the angel investor for the show’s startup, gave Mike Judge and Co. the added challenge of having to move forward without one of its key actors and narrative tools.
Written by Clay Tarver
Directed by Mike Judge
Silicon Valley, Season 2, Episode 2, “Runaway Devaluation”
Written by Ron Weiner
Directed by Mike Judge
Airs Sundays at 10pm Et on HBO
Let’s talk shop: The second season of a show, if it is lucky enough to get one, is its most important. Season two is where the writers, producers, and cast have a chance to build up what works and cut the fat. Silicon Valley’s first season brought the show to a place prime for second season rejiggering, with an established world and tone, cracker jack dialogue, and performances both subtle and grandiose. But the unfortunate death of Christopher Evan Welch, who played the angel investor for the show’s startup, gave Mike Judge and Co. the added challenge of having to move forward without one of its key actors and narrative tools.
- 4/20/2015
- by Jj Perkins
- SoundOnSight
Before Christopher Evan Welch passed away after a three-year battle with lung cancer, he portrayed oddball techie billionaire Peter Gregory on Mike Judge’s HBO comedy Silicon Valley. Despite only appearing in a handful of episodes before his death, Welch emerged as one of the most compelling reasons to watch, drolly perfecting the idiosyncrasies of a visionary investor willing to seed Richard Hendricks’ (Thomas Middleditch) data-compression startup. Having ostensibly written around Welch’s passing for the back third of season one – attributing Peter’s absence to an overseas business expedition – Judge and his co-producers and writers realized they needed to address Gregory’s whereabouts more concretely in season two in order to move the story forward [spoilers ahead]. The result was Sunday night’s tribute to both Welch and the role he imbued so colorfully, complete with yarns about hippo invasions and a funeral scene featuring Welch (as Gregory) projected on massive...
- 4/13/2015
- by Kenny Herzog
- Vulture
This Sunday, April 12, HBO’s Silicon Valley, which was easily one of the best new shows to debut on TV last year, returns for its highly anticipated second season, and after watching the first three episodes of Season 2, I can confirm that the series is just as crude, compelling, and hilarious as it was in Season 1. One of the new characters in Silicon Valley Season 2 that helps bring those laughs is Laurie Bream, the managing partner at Raviga Capital, who takes over for Peter Gregory (played by the late, great Christopher Evan Welch). Earlier this week, I got the chance to speak with Laurie’s portrayer, Suzanne Cryer, who previewed her character’s role in Season 2, teased some very funny moments to come, and addressed the one major issue that some critics had with Silicon Valley last season: its lack of female characters. TVOvermind: Tell us a little bit about…...
- 4/10/2015
- by Chris King
- TVovermind.com
The first season of HBO's "Silicon Valley" offered abundant comic delights, culminating in perhaps the most highbrow dick joke ever told. Almost everything that made the show a treat a year ago is present for the new season, which debuts Sunday night at 10, after "Game of Thrones" and before the terrific new season of "Veep." It's a pleasure to have the whole Pied Piper team back, and there's a montage in the season premiere featuring Thomas Middleditch's Richard and T.J. Miller's Erlich Bachman(*) visiting a bunch of venture capital firms is a wonder of uncomfortable comedy and clever crudeness. (*) "Erlich Bachman" is such a pleasingly goofy collection of syllables that he becomes one of those TV characters who can only be referred to by his full name. See also Will Tippin, Raylan Givens, Finn Polmar and Jordan Catalano, among others. The one element the new season sadly lacks is Peter Gregory,...
- 4/10/2015
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
This review was based off the first three episodes of season two, which were provided to us prior to broadcast.
Peter Gregory is dead. If there’s one major takeaway to be found in Sunday’s premiere, and the following two episodes of Silicon Valley’s second season, it’s that the eccentric tech billionaire and benefactor of Pied Piper is no more. That’s bad news for Richard, Erlich, and the rest of the guys at the Hacker Hostel, and not much better news for viewers at home: Silicon Valley suffered a major loss with the untimely passing of actor Christopher Evan Welch midway through the first season. His absence weighed heavily on the final batch of episodes from last spring, and how the show would choose to move forward in its sophomore year has been a big question.
Welch was only able to film an initial five of...
Peter Gregory is dead. If there’s one major takeaway to be found in Sunday’s premiere, and the following two episodes of Silicon Valley’s second season, it’s that the eccentric tech billionaire and benefactor of Pied Piper is no more. That’s bad news for Richard, Erlich, and the rest of the guys at the Hacker Hostel, and not much better news for viewers at home: Silicon Valley suffered a major loss with the untimely passing of actor Christopher Evan Welch midway through the first season. His absence weighed heavily on the final batch of episodes from last spring, and how the show would choose to move forward in its sophomore year has been a big question.
Welch was only able to film an initial five of...
- 4/8/2015
- by Sam Woolf
- We Got This Covered
As previously announced, HBO's Silicon Valley will return for its second season on Sunday, April 12th. The cable channel has now released some additional details about the new season and the first few episodes.
Here's the press release:
Emmy®- And Golden Globe®-Nominated Comedy Series Silicon Valley Returns For Its Ten-episode Second Season April 12 On HBO
After taking the tech world by storm last season at TechCrunch Disrupt, Richard and rest of the Pied Piper team – Erlich, Jared, Dinesh and Gilfoyle – look ahead to a bright and profitable future. But their success may be in jeopardy, thanks to big changes at Raviga, the company created by Peter Gregory, and Nucleus, the competing compression platform launched by Hooli CEO Gavin Belson.
(more…)...
Here's the press release:
Emmy®- And Golden Globe®-Nominated Comedy Series Silicon Valley Returns For Its Ten-episode Second Season April 12 On HBO
After taking the tech world by storm last season at TechCrunch Disrupt, Richard and rest of the Pied Piper team – Erlich, Jared, Dinesh and Gilfoyle – look ahead to a bright and profitable future. But their success may be in jeopardy, thanks to big changes at Raviga, the company created by Peter Gregory, and Nucleus, the competing compression platform launched by Hooli CEO Gavin Belson.
(more…)...
- 3/25/2015
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
Stars: Thomas Middleditch, Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani, Zach Woods, T.J. Miller, Christopher Evan Welch, Matt Ross | Created by Alec Berg, Mike Judge
I’m a fan of The Big Bang Theory and I always will be, but the criticism it often gets for mocking “nerds” is something hard to defend it from, because a lot of the humour is obviously doing just that. What we need is a comedy with a little more intelligence where it’s not just about the geeks being awkward around women, but actually smartly satirises a culture that is now seen as the new “cool”. Step forward Alec Berg and Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley: The Complete First Season.
Silicon Valley is the heart of the gold rush in the technological world. Everybody dreams of having that startup company that will make them the next Facebook, Google or Twitter (but hopefully not Myspace). When...
I’m a fan of The Big Bang Theory and I always will be, but the criticism it often gets for mocking “nerds” is something hard to defend it from, because a lot of the humour is obviously doing just that. What we need is a comedy with a little more intelligence where it’s not just about the geeks being awkward around women, but actually smartly satirises a culture that is now seen as the new “cool”. Step forward Alec Berg and Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley: The Complete First Season.
Silicon Valley is the heart of the gold rush in the technological world. Everybody dreams of having that startup company that will make them the next Facebook, Google or Twitter (but hopefully not Myspace). When...
- 3/22/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
Jon Stewart as “Meet the Press” host would’ve been a terrible idea — unless he did “The Daily Show” on Sunday Jon Stewart is "a supplement, a commentator, throwing stinkbombs in from the outside,” says James Poniewozik. "To put him in that Beltway-priest, neutral-insider role would have been a joke, and not the ha-ha kind. On the other hand, if NBC were hiring Stewart to replace not just David Gregory, but the idea of 'Meet the Press' itself–to create, if not a copy, 'The Daily Show,' a seriously funny issues show with a point of view and an adversarial attitude that would roast not just the guests, but the culture of Washington–now that could have been something.” Plus: Jon Stewart is a terrible interviewer who would’ve been a terrible host, Stewart’s agent wouldn’t deny the "Meet the Press' report, and...
- 10/9/2014
- by Norman Weiss
- Hitfix
Silicon Valley: Sky Atlantic, 9pm
Before handing over $200,000 in start-up money, Peter Gregory demands to see a full business plan and a slimmed-down team.
Richard discovers that success brings with it responsibility and he's forced to trim down Pied Piper, leaving Big Head's position uncertain.
Scandal: The Secret Is Out: Sky Living, 9pm
This one-off special narrated by Joshua Malina, who plays David Rosen, gets viewers up to speed with all the main events of the drama series so far.
The programme looks back at the characters and their stories, asking questions like: 'Who is Quinn?' and 'Who Shot Fitz?'.
Veep: Sky Atlantic, 9:35pm
As the president suddenly announces his negative stance on abortion, Selina (Julia Louis-Drayfus) is forced to clarify her own stance.
Jonah sets up a political blog and becomes a guest star on a TV show, which forces Dan to go to...
Before handing over $200,000 in start-up money, Peter Gregory demands to see a full business plan and a slimmed-down team.
Richard discovers that success brings with it responsibility and he's forced to trim down Pied Piper, leaving Big Head's position uncertain.
Scandal: The Secret Is Out: Sky Living, 9pm
This one-off special narrated by Joshua Malina, who plays David Rosen, gets viewers up to speed with all the main events of the drama series so far.
The programme looks back at the characters and their stories, asking questions like: 'Who is Quinn?' and 'Who Shot Fitz?'.
Veep: Sky Atlantic, 9:35pm
As the president suddenly announces his negative stance on abortion, Selina (Julia Louis-Drayfus) is forced to clarify her own stance.
Jonah sets up a political blog and becomes a guest star on a TV show, which forces Dan to go to...
- 7/23/2014
- Digital Spy
Before creating Silicon Valley— the new HBO comedy that Thursday morning garnered five Emmy nominations—Mike Judge says he “hadn’t had a hit in awhile.” Specifically, he was referring to a pair of high-profile 2009 projects: the ABC animated series The Goode Family and the Jason Bateman-led feature film Extract, both of which were received unenthusiastically by audiences. Despite those hiccups, flops have been the exception rather than the rule for the creator of Beavis & Butthead, King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy. So when it was announced that Silicon Valley was up for Emmys in Best Comedy,...
- 7/11/2014
- by Neil Janowitz
- EW - Inside TV
In the third episode of HBO comedy Silicon Valley, titled “Articles of Incorporation,” eccentric tech billionaire and angel investor Peter Gregory (Christopher Evan Welch) demonstrated exactly how brainy and zany he can be. Ignoring the pleas for emergency funds from two executives running a business on the verge of shutdown, he orders up and then studies every item on the Burger King menu with alien-like curiosity. But just when the stressed-out pair reach their flame-broiling point with Gregory and his seemingly disassociated contemplation, he snaps into focus and offers a cropload of comic relief: He coolly delivers a connect-the-dots speech...
- 6/19/2014
- by Dan Snierson
- EW - Inside TV
I had been wondering how the first season of "Silicon Valley" might wrap, as things had been looking mighty dour for Pied Piper in the last few episodes. As has been mentioned, long ago VHS beat out the superior Betamax technology, and Hooli seemed poised to do something similar by stealing the Pied Piper programming and making it their own. A complete failure for Pied Piper at TechCrunch wouldn't have meant the end of the show (it's already been renewed for another season), but it would have sent it spinning in a different direction, and likely a dark one. Initially it seems that's exactly where we're headed, though, as even Gilfoyle and Dinesh look to jump ship and everything Richard does to save the project seems to be moving around deck chairs on the Titanic. That what eventually transpires, though it probably has real compression experts screaming, nicely takes us...
- 6/2/2014
- by Liane Bonin Starr
- Hitfix
A quick review of the "Silicon Valley" season finale coming up just as soon as I pivot from social media to a playground for the sexually monstrous... I wrote my initial review of the show based on the first five episodes, which were unfortunately the only ones to include Christopher Evan Welch before he died. And though it doesn't feel like the Pied Piper vs. Hooli plot changed an enormous amount due to Peter Gregory's absence, the show definitely missed something without his weird energy, especially because Monica is such a non-character. (Though the tech field is overwhelmingly male, I stand by my belief that "Silicon" could stand to do much better with women, whether that's making Monica more interesting or bringing in some new people.) That said, there was still an awful lot to enjoy in the concluding three episodes, and particularly in the finale. This is a crude,...
- 6/2/2014
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
After last week’s episode, “Third Party Insourcing,” gave us our first glimpse of what Silicon Valley plays like when it’s slightly off (in what was an off-week for these recaps as well, thanks to screener issues), “Proof of Concept” had a bit more riding on it than previous entries, seeing as it’s the second last episode of the season. Unfortunately, it’s expressly because it’s the second last episode of the season that it winds up being less of a rebound opportunity, and more a handoff for whatever’s in store for next week’s final episode.
“Proof of Concept” may live or die in retrospect based on what that finale has to offer, as it’s not really clear which of the threads from tonight’s half-hour will carry over to the next. Pied Piper trying to recover from a disastrous presentation at Tech Crunch...
“Proof of Concept” may live or die in retrospect based on what that finale has to offer, as it’s not really clear which of the threads from tonight’s half-hour will carry over to the next. Pied Piper trying to recover from a disastrous presentation at Tech Crunch...
- 5/19/2014
- by Sam Woolf
- We Got This Covered
This week on "Silicon Valley" Richard and his motley Pied Piper clan edged closer to the inevitable face-off with Gavin Belson and his rip-off product Nucleus. While some of the humor was pointed, much was the usual sitcom stuff -- jealous husbands, a running out of toiler paper mishap, misinterpreted information, taking shots at the resident punching bag -- though the end result was a mostly palatable mishmash, depending on how you feel about one straight guy teasing another about being "gay" for his code. The guys pack up (or really, only Erlich packs up -- Gilfoyle takes all he needs for a business trip in a plastic supermarket bag) and head out to TechCrunch Disrupt, where Pied Piper will face off against Nucleus. The show is going to take their time building the tension here -- the episode ends before Erlich has given more than a few seconds of...
- 5/19/2014
- by Liane Bonin Starr
- Hitfix
While last week's episode of "Silicon Valley" smacked of tired sitcom tropes and predictable outcomes, this week the show manages to put the TV writing 101 textbook away and let character dictate both the humor and the direction of the plot. Crazy, right? Most importantly, Gilfoyle and Dinesh are able to do something other than lob semi-funny co-worker jokes at one another. Note to the writers' room: Kumail Nanjiani and Martin Starr are two of your greatest assets. Use them wisely. This episode was a step in the right direction, if only a step. Instead of staying stubbornly tied to their computers, Dinesh and Gilfoyle actually have a reason for their bickering: Tara. While Tara isn't much of a character, she doesn't have to be more than a walking silk bathrobe to unsettle the testosterone-centric house. Just the news that Gilfoyle has a girlfriend rocks the geek collective; the fact that Erlich,...
- 5/12/2014
- by Liane Bonin Starr
- Hitfix
Last night's Silicon Valley was Christopher Evan Welch's last. Because after shooting five episodes playing the show's best and most interesting character, Welch couldn't go on, as a result of complications stemming from the cancer that would eventually kill him. Rewatching the episode for the first time since learning that Welch had died, my reaction was the same mix of sad, angry, and inspired that I originally felt and wrote about in my tribute to the actor last month.The scene, which is embedded below, was always my favorite one of Welch's character, Peter Gregory. Partly because of that super weird throat noise he makes when seeing Gavin Belson, which is exactly the type of big acting swing that I loved about his performance. And partly because of the eventual confrontation with Belson. In that moment, Welch is able to play Gregory as both totally bonkers and also obviously affected.
- 5/5/2014
- by Jesse David Fox
- Vulture
“Signaling Risk” is the best episode of Silicon Valley so far, and the show’s first great one. I realize that’s a declaration that runs the risk of sounding both hyperbolic and inconsequential: the former because “Signaling Risk” doesn’t on its surface appear to be all that different from the four episodes that preceded it, and the latter because five possible nominees for Goat status (that’s Greatest of All Time) doesn’t exactly leave you overwhelmed with choice. But this one is a subtle real game-changer: uproarious, precisely tuned, and surprisingly affecting, “Signaling Risk” does just the opposite of its title, and might well be hinting at what Silicon Valley looks like when operating at peak efficiency.
It’s almost a shame the episode ends up hiding a bit of its brilliance behind spray-paint porno, because most will spend tonight’s episode first thinking about which was...
It’s almost a shame the episode ends up hiding a bit of its brilliance behind spray-paint porno, because most will spend tonight’s episode first thinking about which was...
- 5/5/2014
- by Sam Woolf
- We Got This Covered
Remember the premiere of "Silicon Valley"? It was just April 21, so it's not as if you have to climb into the way back machine. Still, that first sharp-edged episode seems so far away after this week's episode, a faded memory of better, smarter times. It wasn't that this week's show was bad, per se. It followed traditional sitcom tropes, hit the expected marks, and fell neatly in step with any so-so sitcom you've seen on network TV. Too bad. I knew it was a bad sign when the show began with Dinesh and Gilfoyle resorting to the kind of fighting little kids do when they lack the vocabulary and maturity to manage anything else. Freaked out about Erlich driving him and Gilfoyle to a dicey neighborhood in search of a graffiti artist named Chewy, Gilfoyle resorted to silliness -- unlocking the car doors, locking Dinesh out of the car, yanking...
- 5/5/2014
- by Liane Bonin Starr
- Hitfix
Greatness comes in pairs, or so it’s often meant to seem. Whether it’s Siskel and Ebert, peanut butter and chocolate, or Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, two heads are often more memorable than one. But memory usually doesn’t speak to the actual facts: Siskel and Ebert were as contentious in real life as they were on film, peanut butter and chocolate get along perfectly fine without one another, and the two Steves needed an off-forgotten third member to found Apple. “Fiduciary Duties,” the most focused episode of Silicon Valley yet, buys into this myth that Pied Piper won’t go anywhere until Richard finds his missing half, and then swiftly takes the air out of that notion with a terrific last-minute reveal.
Presenting greatness as binary instead of singular is really about expanding market share, because with two points of reference for what success looks like, you...
Presenting greatness as binary instead of singular is really about expanding market share, because with two points of reference for what success looks like, you...
- 4/28/2014
- by Sam Woolf
- We Got This Covered
It usually takes a few episodes for a sitcom to find its rhythm. The cast is still learning one another's language, and the writers are determining who these characters really are. "Silicon Valley" came out of the gate looking pretty polished, but this episode -- the fourth -- suggests some ruts are being worn, and much too soon. Still, there was a lot to like, give or take a puke joke. When Richard meets Ron the attorney, he's an over-the-top parody of a Hollywood lawyer (despite Mike Judge's stint in Palo Alto, he's spent a lot more time in L.A. -- and it shows). He fist bumps instead of shaking hands, has his "enema guy" come to the office, and shows off his toys (and secretary) to Richard like they're hanging at the frat house. In Ron's nonstop nattering important information actually dribbles out -- Pied Piper is...
- 4/28/2014
- by Liane Bonin Starr
- Hitfix
Are you watching Silicon Valley, HBO’s pitch-perfect sendup of the tech world? (Well, pitch perfect besides its near total lack of female characters. Wait, what’s that you say? This is what Silicon Valley is actually like? Never mind!)
If you are, you’ll be pleased to note that Pied Piper — the fledgling startup at the center of the series — just got its own spiffy website. Hell, even if you don’t already watch the show, give this page a whirl; if incredible strings of technological gobbledygook (“Pied Piper is a multi-platform technology based on a proprietary universal compression...
If you are, you’ll be pleased to note that Pied Piper — the fledgling startup at the center of the series — just got its own spiffy website. Hell, even if you don’t already watch the show, give this page a whirl; if incredible strings of technological gobbledygook (“Pied Piper is a multi-platform technology based on a proprietary universal compression...
- 4/22/2014
- by Hillary Busis
- EW.com - PopWatch
The many annoyances of starting a business, any business, are well-fertilized comic turf, and "Silicon Valley" has managed to take broad swipes at quite a few in a short window of time. This week, Richard discovers the name is the thing, and while the business name he wants -- Pied Piper -- inspires near universal revulsion (Jared makes the point that the fairy tale "is about a predatory flautist who murders children in a cave"), he's willing to fight for it. I'm not sure if this week is more about Richard showing he has the guts to go far or simply proof that he has that asshole quality Erlich so values, but it was pretty funny nonetheless. As we know, Richard wasn't able to cash Peter's $200,000 check last week because he hasn't filed the name Pied Piper as a business yet, and Jared has even worse news -- Pied Piper...
- 4/21/2014
- by Liane Bonin Starr
- Hitfix
The pilot for Silicon Valley ended on a warm and optimistic note that saw the would-be upstarts of Pied Piper Incorporated (well, they’re not incorporated just yet) promising to take Richard’s rocket ship as far as they could fly it together. The freedom Richard afforded himself by accepting Peter Gregory’s investment instead of Gavin Belson’s cash out put him in the pilot seat of that rocket ship, and “The Cap Table” is all about Richard learning to lead when there’s not enough room in that ship for everyone. It’s also a half-hour heavily focused on boners and assholes, so it’s very funny episode of Silicon Valley, in addition to one that shores up our impression of the characters, and the show going forward.
“The Cap Table” is a smartly constructed second outing for the series, as it not only provides a showcase for all the supporting cast,...
“The Cap Table” is a smartly constructed second outing for the series, as it not only provides a showcase for all the supporting cast,...
- 4/14/2014
- by Sam Woolf
- We Got This Covered
While "Silicon Valley" has been pilloried for whiffing the ball when it comes to current techie misbehavior in Palo Alto, I suspect that was never really a hard target for co-creator Mike Judge and company. A lot has been made of the fact Judge worked in Silicon Valley 25 years ago, but, other than using the setting as a backdrop for a few inside jokes, the show pretty clearly has a broader aim. There's certainly a laser-sharp parody of Silicon Valley to be made, but this isn't it -- and, I think, doesn't want to be anyway. If anything, "Silicon Valley" could be a useful primer for any fledgling entrepreneur, whether he or she has created the latest app or a new take on the household sponge. This week's lessons? Don't expect everyone to play nice when you're handing out points that could someday be worth millions or nothing at all.
- 4/14/2014
- by Liane Bonin Starr
- Hitfix
Mike Judge has been more successful on the small screen than on the big one. Compare the huge success of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill to the cult status of Office Space and outright obscurity of Idiocracy and Extract and you’ll see what I mean. Sure, he flopped on TV with his last show, The Goode Family, but in light of how enjoyable the first episode of Silicon Valley is, that misstep can be forgotten.
The problem with Judge as a screenwriter for movies is that he seems entirely unable to write a third act. With TV, he doesn’t have to. There isn’t the expectation of making the story fit into a conventional three act movie structure. He is free to focus on his strengths, which are memorable characters and an absolutely brilliant sense of social satire.
Both of those strengths are already present in spades in Silicon Valley,...
The problem with Judge as a screenwriter for movies is that he seems entirely unable to write a third act. With TV, he doesn’t have to. There isn’t the expectation of making the story fit into a conventional three act movie structure. He is free to focus on his strengths, which are memorable characters and an absolutely brilliant sense of social satire.
Both of those strengths are already present in spades in Silicon Valley,...
- 4/7/2014
- by Jeremy Clymer
- We Got This Covered
Let no one say Mike Judge doesn't have it in for The Man. As in "Office Space," the new HBO series "Silicon Valley" follows the trials of a group of under-appreciated ham-and-eggers hoping to break free of the bottom rung. Unlike "Office Space," the plan here is to do it honestly. Initially it looks like programmer Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch) has big dreams but little to back them up. By day he works as a grunt for a thoroughly ridiculous (and Google-riffic) megacompany called Hooli. Some of the best jokes in the pilot come at Hooli's expense, and while a lot of the humor is tech company-specific, anyone who has worked for a massive corporate entity will feel a queasy sense of recognition. When Richard takes the cushy, company-run bus into work (a real-life perk for Google employees), riders must suffer through an annoyingly slick video plug for the company from ego-bloated founder Gavin Belson.
- 4/7/2014
- by Liane Bonin Starr
- Hitfix
The Silicon Valley presented in the terrific new HBO comedy of the same name (it debuts Sunday night at 10) is a kind of Wild West for nerds: a lawless territory where they can be among their own kind rather than struggle to fit into a more structured world that doesn't understand them, and a place where they can seek massive fortune along the way. That vision of the Valley also fits HBO itself in a way, since it's long been a place where creative types with idiosyncratic personalities and specific, uncompromising creative visions could go to find success in a safer, more wide-open environment. It's where David Chase could go when he was on the verge of quitting the TV business altogether and tell the story of a wiseguy in therapy. It's where David Milch could go to be given the absolute freedom to succeed so beautifully with "Deadwood" (and...
- 4/4/2014
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
The characters in Mike Judge’s new HBO comedy “Silicon Valley” may have little idea how to get their tech startup off the ground and running, but they certainly have what it takes to be at the center of a smart, laugh-out-loud series that could emerge as one of the strongest shows of 2014.Thomas Middleditch stars as the lanky, softvoiced Richard, a classic Silicon Valley nerd with brains aplenty and little in the way of business smarts or hard-assed assertiveness. This proves a problem when, in the tightly structured pilot, he realizes a music compression algorithm he’s created could be the foundation for a multi-billion dollar company. Before he knows it he’s got two billionaires trying to outbid him -- one is his boss at the hilariously named Hooli, throwing figures Richard’s way in the $10 million range, and the other is a venture capitalist, Peter Gregory (Christopher Evan Welch...
- 3/26/2014
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
Mike Judge, of Office Space, Beavis & Butthead, King of The Hill fame, has a new gig over at HBO by the name of Silicon Valley. The show deals with a group of…oh just read the synopsis.
Richard (Middleditch) is an introverted computer programmer living in the Hacker Hostel start-up incubator along with his best friend, Big Head (Brener), pompous Gilfoyle (Starr) and dry-witted Dinesh (Nanjiani). These social misfits live under the watch of Erlich (Miller), a self-satisfied dotcom millionaire who lets them stay in his house for free – as long as he gets a ten percent stake in their projects.
After a failed pitch to billionaire venture capitalist Peter Gregory (Welch), Richard seems destined to remain at his job at the tech company Hooli, founded by the megalomaniacal Gavin Belson (Ross). When Monica (Crew), Gregory’s head of operations, and Jared (Woods), a Hooli executive, realize the value of the site’s compression algorithm,...
Richard (Middleditch) is an introverted computer programmer living in the Hacker Hostel start-up incubator along with his best friend, Big Head (Brener), pompous Gilfoyle (Starr) and dry-witted Dinesh (Nanjiani). These social misfits live under the watch of Erlich (Miller), a self-satisfied dotcom millionaire who lets them stay in his house for free – as long as he gets a ten percent stake in their projects.
After a failed pitch to billionaire venture capitalist Peter Gregory (Welch), Richard seems destined to remain at his job at the tech company Hooli, founded by the megalomaniacal Gavin Belson (Ross). When Monica (Crew), Gregory’s head of operations, and Jared (Woods), a Hooli executive, realize the value of the site’s compression algorithm,...
- 2/9/2014
- by Kevin Fraser
- City of Films
HBO has unveiled the first trailer for its upcoming "Silicon Valley" TV series, which is from Mike Judge, the man behind "Beavis and Butthead," "Office Space" and "Idiocracy." Check out the trailer below and watch the show on April 6th. Plot: Richard (Thomas Middleditch) is an introverted computer programmer living in the Hacker Hostel start-up incubator along with his best friend, Big Head (Josh Brener), pompous Gilfoyle (Starr) and dry-witted Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani). These social misfits live under the watch of Erlich (Tj Miller), a self-satisfied internet millionaire who lets them stay in his house for free . as long as he gets a ten percent stake in their projects. After a failed pitch to billionaire venture capitalist Peter Gregory (Christopher Welch), Richard seems destined to remain at his job at the tech company Hooli, founded by the megalomaniacal Gavin Belson (Matt Ross). When Monica (Amanda Crew), Gregory's head of operations,...
- 2/9/2014
- WorstPreviews.com
Exclusive: Christopher Evan Welch, Amanda Crew, Angela Trimbur, Zach Woods and Kumail Nanjiani are set to co-star in Silicon Valley, HBO’s single-camera dark comedy pilot from the King Of The Hill trio of Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky and producer Scott Rudin. The five join previously cast T.J. Miller, Thomas Middleditch, Josh Brener and Lindsey Broad. Silicon Valley is set in the high tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, where the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success. Welch will play Peter Gregory, an eccentric tech billionaire who is the most successful entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. Crew will play Monica, head of operations for Gregory who is his human touch. Smart and highly competent, by Silicon Valley standards she is downright beautiful. Trimbur will play Langdon, an unemployed publicist with a mountain of debt who has given up any hope of...
- 2/9/2013
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
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