Mike Judge Pokes Fun At “Billionaire Vibe” In HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’

Mike Judge met tech billionaires before setting out to do HBO‘s comedy Silicon Valley “before the big bubble burst when everyone wanted to do animation” and discovered “there’s a sort of a billionaire vibe” and that they fall into two categories: “The Asperger-y Type and the sort of more … uber competitive.”

The dark comedy series is from King Of The Hill’s Judge, producer Scott Rudin and 3 Arts’ Michael Rotenberg and Tom Lassally. The untitled single-camera project — which HBO picked up to series in May — 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. The pilot starred T.J. Miller, Thomas Middleditch, Josh Brener, Lindsey Broad, Christopher Evan Welch, Amanda Crew, Angela Trimbur, Zach Woods and Kumail Nanjiani. The pickup came two days after the series order for another HBO half-hour pilot, Michael Lannan and Andrew Haigh’s untitled San Francisco project. The Judge show joins HBO’s praised current comedies Girls and Veep.

The series delves into the tension on the area of the tech types and the community that’s not cashing in on the scene, added exec producer Alec Berg.  “It’s kind of funny: The Bay Area is where the whole hippie movement started and they’re still lingering.” That makes some of the tech billionaires so uncomfortable they “shroud their capitalism in their ‘We’re making the world a better place’ thing,” he added.

Among those portraying tech entrepreneurs on the show was Christopher Evan Welch,  whose death last month at 48 did not affect the first season of the series but would affect the second, the two said. “Luckily, we had gotten the first five, of eight [episodes],” Judge said. The actor had been diagnosed with lung cancer three years earlier. “We haven’t processed how it will affect a second season.” Added Berg: “He was incredible, and we loved writing for him,” describing how at the end of each day they would drive home imitating Welch. “It’s a huge tragedy on a personal level. We did a lot of great scenes with him. … It’s a real shame.”

Judge said HBO is giving him more freedom than he enjoyed while doing Fox’s King Of The Hill or MTV’s Beavis and Butt-Head. “It’s not like I’m a person who’s always looking to be edgy and outrageous and explicit with things, but it’s been a great experience,” he sayd. “We have what might be one of the most complicated dick jokes ever told.” Added Berg: “And sophisticated. I hope this goes down in the annals of dick jokes as one of, if not the most sophisticated, dick jokes.”

HBO's 'Silicon Valley' sitcom: A first impression

By Chuck Barney

PASADENA -- A small group of TV critics got their first look at Mike Judge's upcoming "Silicon Valley" sitcom Wednesday night, and what they saw has the makings of another comedic hit for HBO.

"Silicon Valley" won't debut until April, but HBO took the wraps off the show's first two episodes during a screening session on the eve of the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena.

Unfortunately, the screening came with some conditions: The episodes aren't totally "locked" yet, meaning some changes still could be made, so HBO urged critics to refrain from reviewing them and giving away plot points.

Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butt-head, brings the nerdy comedy "Silicon Valley" to HBO in April.

What we can say is that the episodes drew several big, hearty laughs, which is something we've come to expect from the man who gave us "Office Space," "Beavis and Butthead" and "King of the Hill." But beyond the laughter, Judge and his collaborators also displayed a keen sense of place and a great eye for cultural detail. It appears that they did their homework.

And that's not a minor achievement. Hollywood has been enamored with the Bay Area's tech community for several years now, but for the most part, the tech folk haven't been impressed with what has ended up on screen. "Silicon Valley" just might be the first show that not only earns laughs from a wide audience, but some solid insider cred, as well.

The show is tied to the idea that "in the high-tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success." At the center of it all is an introverted computer programmer named Richard, wonderfully played by Thomas Middleditch. He lives with several other social misfits in a startup incubator loosely run by a self-satisfied, pot-smoking dot-com millionaire (T.J. Miller).

Again, we're not supposed to give away major plot details, but essentially Richard doesn't want to be a "lifer" at his huge fictional tech company and he just might have created an incredible search algorithm that could set him free. But he's so quivery and awkward and spineless that he may not have what it takes to capitalize on his success. Middleditch absolutely nails the role, and you can't help but root for him.

With its band of tech brothers, "Silicon Valley" comes with the nerdy-guy types we've all seen before. (There are the usual jokes about how they aren't exactly chick magnets.) But with some sharp writing and nuanced acting, these characters still manage to feel fresh and distinct.

We'll learn more about the makings of the show Thursday afternoon, when Judge and the cast appear at the press tour during an HBO panel session.

The first season of "Silicon Valley" will consist of eight episodes.

MIKE JUDGE TAKES A COMIC LOOK AT WORLD OF HIGH-TECH IN THE NEW HBO SERIES SILICON VALLEY, DEBUTING APRIL 6

In the high-tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success.

Mike Judge (“Office Space,” “Beavis and Butthead,” “King of the Hill”) brings his irreverent brand of humor to HBO in the new comedy series SILICON VALLEY. Partially inspired by Judge’s own experiences as a Silicon Valley engineer in the late ‘80s, the show kicks off its eight-episode season SUNDAY, APRIL 6 (10:30-11:00 p.m. ET/PT).

SILICON VALLEY features a talented ensemble of young comic actors. Cast regulars include: Thomas Middleditch (“Search Party,” “The Office”), T.J. Miller (“Mash Up,” “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”), Zach Woods (“In the Loop,” “The Office”), Kumail Nanjiani (“Franklin and Bash,” “Portlandia”), Martin Starr (“Freaks and Geeks,” “Party Down”), Josh Brener (“Glory Daze,” “The Internship”), Christopher Evan Welch (“The Master,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) and Amanda Crew (“Jobs,” “Charlie St. Cloud”). Matt Ross (“Magic City,” HBO’s “Big Love”) guest stars.

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 search algorithm, a bidding war erupts between Belson and Gregory, with Richard caught in the middle.

Mike Judge directs four of the episodes; also directing are Alec Berg (HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Tricia Brock (HBO’s “Girls”) and Maggie Carey (“The To Do List”).

The writers are Mike Judge, Alec Berg, Clay Tarver, Dan O’Keefe, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, Ron Weiner, Carson Mell, Jessica Gao and Matteo Borghese and Rob Turbovsky.

SILICON VALLEY was created by Mike Judge and John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky; executive producers, Mike Judge, Alec Berg, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky, Michael Rotenberg, Tom Lassally and Scott Rudin; producers, Jim Kleverweis and Chrisann Verges.

* The two female directors helming a distinctly nerd fest show gives me slight hope for some nudity from the likes of Amanda Crew, Angela Trimbur and Lindsey Broad.

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