HBO's Silicon Valley is.. ..pretty okay.

I have now watched the first five episode's of HBO's Silicon Valley, a show that started airing like a month ago. It was created by Mike Judge, the guy who's also behind shows like King of The Hill and Beavis &  Butthead.

Now,  when it comes the premise of the series: rarely have we seen one that is so obvious to almost everyone: Silicon Valley is a combination of two shows: The Big Bang Theory and Entourage.

By that I mean that we have the geeks working in the computer industry (The Big Bang Theory) - and then we have the premise of them trying to get rich with their 'star' product (Entourage).  

How good is this show then? Well, based on the episodes that I've seen, I haven't really made up my mind yet. There are some undeniably good things about the show and yet there are also some obvious problems that can't be overlooked.

So, first of all, there are too many characters at the moment in Silicon Valley. By that I mean that too many point of views are being presented. The guy who finances these genius geeks doesn't (or didn't) really deserve to have his own individual scenes.

The characters are also a bit shallow at this point. They aren't that interesting. I'm not necessarily rooting for anyone of these guys. This might perhaps change at some point - and I'm hoping that it will.

There's also the problem with the way things are being told. The show is supposed to be story driven, but too many times I feel like I'm watching scenes that aren't really developed or connected well enough. It feels as if I'm watching sketches.

Furthermore, I'm not exactly sure if I'm buying the storyline of them coming up with an algorithm that will make downloading stuff easier. It doesn't perhaps seem interesting enough, especially since they didn't show us them developing it.

But it's not all bad though. For example, I think it's obvious that unlike on The Big Bang Theory, the writers have done their homework when it comes to getting the geek stuff right. There's a lot of tech jargon that I suppose is accurate.

Since this is an HBO show, it doesn't pander to the lowest common denominator. Also, you don't get the feeling that the writers are trying to be smarter than they really are by writing about supposedly smart guys (The Big Bang Theory)

The lack of relationship nonsense is also a definite plus. I don't wan't this series to become like The Big Bang Theory where the guys get 'cured' when they finally meet girls. That is what ruined that particular show.

The acting is pretty solid too. There doesn't seem to be a weak link in the cast. Everyone seems to be pretty believable as a computer nerd and I'm again happy to see Martin Starr as the ultimate "stoned" guy.

Let's not also forget there have been some really funny moments. Especially in the latest episode that aired. The video conference was hilarious and I also found it really funny when the cops showed up and saw what's in the garage.

So, even though Silicon Valley doesn't seem to be a great show at the moment, I think's it worth watching and I have faith that it gets better as we get to see more episodes.