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Comment by curiousDog | Hacker News Reader

Can't wait. Mike judge is just straight out Genius.

He's pretty smart, but he's also a guy who knows how to get his hate on. I haven't seen the new show, but I'm concerned that it's going to be an uninformed hatchet job. Mike once worked as a developer, but he knows little or nothing about Silicon Valley and how it works (he's from Texas and has never lived in California). My fear — and I hope I am proven wrong — is that the show will be based on all the misinformed stereotypes and presumptions that outsiders have about how technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship work in the bay area.

I've been watching shows about "The South" written by ignorant Californians my whole life. I'm perfectly alright with one instance of a Texan telling a Cali story. It'll be fine and at the very least should be fresh. :)

>is that the show will be based on all the misinformed stereotypes and presumptions that outsiders have

So your fear is that it will be like every TV show about anything, ever.

Silicon Valley is not so special that it deserves or needs some particularly higher standard accuracy.

His actual fear is it that he won't be able to suspend the necessary disbelief to enjoy it. You see the same thing from anybody who has specialty knowledge and sees it misrepresented on TV. They know what they're seeing is wrong, so it breaks the illusion. A great example is my buddy's wife. She's an MD and he loved to watch House. She could never get into it because every time they skewed medical facts to fit the story, she knew.

You are correct about that, but to most people, the stereotypes about silicon valley apply to everyone in working tech, even people like me working on legacy enterprise software in MN. For the non-tech people I know, their impression of the tech industry as a whole, and thus my job, are tied to stereotypes about silicon valley.

"Lee[1] was quoted as saying, "What do I know about gay ranch hands in Wyoming?" In spite of the director's removal from the subject at hand, Brokeback Mountain showcased Lee's skills in probing the depths of the human heart."

... and I remember, as someone who grew up in that time period, in the poor-white-trash southwest, being amazed at how perfectly he nailed the aesthetic and mood of the entire movie[2].

So it can be done ...

[1] Ang Lee is a Taiwanese-born American film director, screenwriter and producer.

[2] Brokeback Mountain

A good friend saw the SXSW screening of the first two episodes and loved it. He's founded a failed company, founded a successful small company, coded for a failed company, and is currently in SF coding for a startup.

A lot of the jokes are tech-hilarious and well-informed about the tech culture here. Mike Judge's long-time residence, Austin, has plenty of tech and some startups, but of course not as much as the Bay Area.

It's a comedy so I expect it to poke fun at our culture.

It's a comedy so I expect it to poke fun at our culture.

And after living in the Bay area for six years, I realize that there is much to poke fun at.

"he's from Texas and has never lived in California"

Mike lives at least part-time in LA and attended UCSD.

https://twitter.com/MikeJudge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Judge

> he knows little or nothing about Silicon Valley

"Everything is so different here, an outsider couldn't possibly know anything."

...

Get over yourself. Quite frankly people starting to think California is some sort of promised land would be a good thing.

As part of the industry, I can see an awful lot of irrational exuberance and shallow cargo culting that would benefit from a sharp, witty, cynical eye.

You don't think some of those stereotypes and presumptions are well deserved?

>> is that the show will be based on all the misinformed stereotypes and presumptions that outsiders have about how technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship work in the bay area.

That sounds a lot like Amazon's show Betas.

He worked at Sun Microsystems. His time there inspired a lot of Office Space apparently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylnMb6niDJ0

I agree with you on the last part man, I feel like once the show - if it's popular will just deliver ignorant opinions from couch potatoes...not to mention the view on the valley

Yes, that's what gives it a chance of being funny. You sound like you'd like to show people how great it is here, but that wouldn't be funny.

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