HBO’s new show “Silicon Valley,” is at the end of its first season and has found a strong fan base.  I was skeptical and unconvinced when I saw the first episode called “Minimum Viable Product.” It had lots of of hype and did paint a very flattering  picture of this “cradle of innovation” and startup culture. The show appeared a tad cliched in terms of the characters. You see they had a token desi (South Asian) in that startup team. You gotta have a desi, right? So, there is Dinesh played by Kumail Nanjiani. And then they had a not-s-nice character, who likes to get everyone riled up. Meet plays Erlich Bachman played by TJ Miler, who  needs a special mention for adding that interestingness angle to the show.

By the time the  fourth episode “Fiduciary Duties” rolled by I was mildly hooked and by their seventh episode “Proof of Concept,” I was hooked to the show. And by their final episode I was exhibiting those classic withdrawal symptoms. When will the  new season start? What will happen to Piped Piper, the fictional startup in the show? Will they cross the chasm and make it to the other side? Will they be able to build, test and ship their produce successfully? Or, will they drown in a bug-infested digital wasteland?

Mike Judge the creator of this series takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to the startup culture and the cut-throat competition that exists behind the scenes in Silicon Valley.  I believe “skewers” was the word Wired used in their article about Judge and “Silicon Valley.” Judge is a former software developer and the creator “Office Space” that has a cult following among developers and geeks.    Judge definitely has a good feel for the startup and geek culture that permeates Silicon Valley and does a brilliant job of capturing that ambiance in his new show.

And yes, the show has a second season coming up.