Growing up TV was very much influential as tuning into content created and consumed online today. There are quite a handful of shows and movies that have influenced the way I thought about technology and art. I loved how well technology was weaved in and around the various storylines of these shows. Thought it was pretty cool to think that some things presented back then would become a reality in the future in indeed become realities of today! Also enjoyed the mystery side for some of these shows and the critical thinking process’ these characters go thru. Not to mention some of the shows clearly had a few leading ladies which was nice to see!
TV / Streaming Series
Top series tied is probably the “X-Files” and “Mr Robot” for me. I love good investigation stories and the X-Files served up some great episodes. Although cringed when I was younger and in school, would often get teased by classmates about looking like Scully’s doppelganger! Although Star Trek: TNG is always a close favorite too. Only series that really held my attention to watch as I didn’t really get pulled into the other series within the franchise like DS9, GEN or VOY.
Mr Robot (2015-2019)
Elliot is a brilliant introverted young programmer who works as a cyber-security engineer by day and vigilante hacker by night. He also happens to be suffering from a strange condition similar to schizophrenia which he futilely tries to keep under control by regularly taking both legal and illegal drugs and visiting his therapist. When a strange feisty young woman named Darlene and a secretive middle-aged man calling himself Mr. Robot, who claims to be the mysterious leader of an underground hacking group known as F-Society, offer Elliot a chance to take his vigilantism to the next level and help them take down E-Corp, the corrupt multi-national financial company that Elliot works for and likes to call Evil Corp, Elliot finds himself at the crossroads. Mr. Robot, who has personal reasons for wanting to take down E-Corp, also reveals that he already has one ally, an even more mysterious, secretive and highly dangerous shadowy hacking group known only as Dark Army. Meanwhile, Elliot’s childhood and only friend, Angela, who blames E-Corp for the death of their parents, tries to take down E-Corp legally by joining their ranks and trying to dig up evidence of their corruption from the inside. A wild card in this scheme becomes Tyrell Wellick, an unhinged psychopathic E-Corp yuppie, originally from Scandinavia, who has a very unusual relationship with his dominant and ambitious wife Joanna. After many twists and turns, Mr. Robot’s plan is finally put in motion – with catastrophic (un)intended results. But that’s just the end of the beginning of the real story… more
Silicon Valley (2014-2019)
Follows the struggle of Richard Hendricks, a Silicon Valley engineer trying to build his own company called Pied Piper. In the high-tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success. A comedy partially inspired by Mike Judge’s own experiences as a Silicon Valley engineer in the late 1980s… more
Halt & Catch Fire (2014-2017)
Set in the 1980s, this series dramatizes the personal computing boom through the eyes of a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy whose innovations directly confront the corporate behemoths of the time. Their personal and professional partnership will be challenged by greed and ego while charting the changing culture in Texas’ Silicon Prairie…. more
Fringe (2008-2013)
An F.B.I. agent is forced to work with an institutionalized scientist and his son in order to rationalize a brewing storm of unexplained phenomena. The FBI teams up with a formerly-institutionalized scientist – who was performing experiments on the fringe of real science – and his son to investigate weird crimes that are seemingly part of a larger pattern, and may be connected with a global company called Massive Dynamic… more
The IT Crowd (2006-2013)
The comedic misadventures of Roy, Moss and their grifting supervisor Jen, a rag-tag team of IT support workers at a large corporation headed by a hotheaded yuppie. Roy and Moss, the two technicians, are socially inept geeks or, in Denholm Reynholm’s words, “standard nerds.” Despite the company’s dependence on them, they are generally ignored and considered losers. Roy’s support techniques include ignoring the phone, hoping it will stop ringing, and using reel-to-reel tape recordings of stock IT suggestions such as, “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” and “Is it definitely plugged in?”. Moss’s deep knowledge of technical topics is reflected in his extended, overdetailed suggestions, while he cannot deal with practical problems such as extinguishing fires and removing spiders. His shyness makes it difficult for him to relate to others, often leading him to cite bizarre facts, or dwell on himself and/or technology. When someone shows their ignorance about computers, he can be arrogant… more
The Lone Gunmen (2001)
The Lone Gunmen is a conspiracy fiction thriller drama series which is a spin-off from the X-Files franchise, starring several of the show’s characters. Despite positive reviews, its ratings dropped, and the show was canceled after 13 episodes. The last episode ended on a cliffhanger which was partially resolved in a ninth season episode of The X-Files entitled “Jump the Shark”. The series revolves around the trio “The Lone Gunmen”: Melvin Frohike, John Fitzgerald Byers, and Richard Langly, private investigators who run a conspiracy theory magazine. They had often helped FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files… more
Dark Angel (2000-2002)
A group of genetically-enhanced children escape from a lab project. Years later we meet Max, one of the escapees who now works for a messenger service in the post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest. Set in 2019, in a dystopian near-future Seattle, she tries to lead a normal life while eluding capture by government agents and searching for her brothers and sisters scattered in the aftermath of their escape… more
The Screen Savers (1998-2005)
Tech Gurus Leo LaPorte and Patrick Norton answers viewers questions centered on computers, new technologies, and their adaptations in the world. Each show began with a short commentary on the day’s technology-related news stories, sometimes accompanied by an online poll. This was followed by “Leo’s Boot Camp,” designed to help people who were new to computers. More calls were answered throughout the show, along with a variety of segments. These included various interviews, coverage of special events, The Twisted List, Site of the Night, and Download of the Day. As each show came to an end, questions sent in by email were answered… more
Millennium (1996-1999)
The series is created by the same director of the X-Files, Chris Carter. Millennium featured Frank Black, a freelance forensic profiler and former FBI agent with a unique ability to see the world through the eyes of serial killers and murderers, though he says that he is not psychic. Black worked for the mysterious Millennium Group, whose power and sinister agenda were explored throughout the series which investigates conspiracies, the occult, and those obsessed with the end of the millennium… more
VR.5 (1995-1997)
Sidney Bloom is a young woman who is a telephone lineworker and computer hobbyist. One day she accidentally discovers that she can enter an advanced type of virtual reality, where she can interact with other people. She has found an ability in herself to enter into the human mind by using VR – Virtual Reality 5. Her actions in the virtual world have an effect on the real world. She subsequently agrees to use her abilities to help a mysterious secret organization called the Committee. She receives her covert assignments from Frank Morgan, and later from Oliver Sampson. Sidney’s friend Duncan advises her and helps her when he can. Prior to the events of the series, Sydney was the daughter of Dr. Joseph Bloom, a computer scientist who was working on developing virtual reality. His wife Nora Bloom, a neurochemist, was also involved in the project. Sidney’s father, and her sister Samantha, died in a car accident in 1978…. more
X-Files (1993-2018)
Two FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully work in an unassigned detail of the bureau called the X-Files investigating cases dealing with unexplained paranormal phenomena. Mulder, a true believer, and Scully, a skeptic, perceive their cases from stand points of science and the paranormal… more
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
Set in the 24th century and seven to eight decades after the adventures of the original crew of the starship Enterprise, this series is the long-awaited successor to Star Trek (1966). Under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the all new Enterprise NCC 1701-D travels out to distant planets to seek out new life and to boldly go where no one has gone before… more
Movies
Probably the top 2 picks for me were “Hackers” and “The Net” in which both were very cheesy flicks for sure but each had interesting storylines. Although I thought the soundtrack for Hackers at the time was lit! LOL
The Great Hack (2019)
Netflix Documentary – Explore how a data company named Cambridge Analytica came to symbolize the dark side of social media in the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. They took your data. Then they took control. The Great Hack uncovers the dark world of data exploitation through the compelling personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data scandal… more
Ready Player One (2018)
When the creator of a virtual reality called the OASIS dies, he makes a posthumous challenge to all OASIS users to find his Easter Egg, which will give the finder his fortune and control of his world… more
Hidden Figures (2016)
The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program… more
Nerve (2016)
‘Nerve’ is about an online dare game, in which people give participants anonymous dares for money. The participants compete with each other to win the grand prize as the dares get tougher. Things get worse when the tasks get increasingly dangerous and lives are at stake… more
The Social Network (2010)
On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history… but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications… more
Antitrust (2009)
This movie is the fictional story of computer programming genius Milo Hoffman after graduating from Stanford and getting out into the competitive world of computer software. In his contemplation of where to begin his career, he is contacted by Gary Winston whose character is loosely based on Bill Gates. Winston is the CEO of a company called NURV, and they are on the brink of completing the global communication’s system, Synapse. They need Hoffman to help them meet their launch date, so after much thought and with the full support of his girlfriend Alice, he accepts the job. Tragedy soon after strikes and Milo becomes suspicious of the company he has been wrapped up in. He learns that trusting anyone could be a mistake, and that nothing is as it seems… more
Jason Bourne Series (2002-2016)
A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory… more
Takedown (2000)
Kevin Mitnick is quite possibly the best hacker in the world. Hunting for more and more information, seeking more and more cyber trophies every day, he constantly looks for bigger challenges. When he breaks into the computer of a security expert and an ex-hacker, he finds one – and much more than that… more
Matrix (1999-2020)
Thomas A. Anderson is a man living two lives. By day he is an average computer programmer and by night a hacker known as Neo. Neo has always questioned his reality, but the truth is far beyond his imagination. Neo finds himself targeted by the police when he is contacted by Morpheus, a legendary computer hacker branded a terrorist by the government. As a rebel against the machines, Neo must confront the agents: super-powerful computer programs devoted to stopping Neo and the entire human rebellion… more
Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)
This is a semi-humorous biographical film about the men who made the world of technology what it is today, their struggles during college, the founding of their companies, and the ingenious actions they took to build up the global corporate empires of Apple Computer Corporation and Microsoft Inc… more
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
In 2021, the whole world is connected by the gigantic Internet, and almost a half of the population is suffering from the Nerve Attenuation Syndrome (NAS).Johnny with an implanted memory chip in his brain was ordered to transport the overloaded information from Beijing to Newark. While Pharmakom Industries supported by Yakuza tries to capture him to get the information back, the Low-tech group led by J-Bone tries to break the missing code to download the cure of NAS which Johnny carries… more
The Net (1995)
Angela Bennett is a computer expert. This young and beautiful analyst is never far from a computer and modem. The only activity she has outside of computers is visiting her mother. A friend, whom she’s only spoken to over the net and phone, Dale Hessman, sent her a program with a weird glitch for her to de-bug. That night, he left to meet her and was killed in a plane crash. Angela discovers secret information on the disk she has received only hours before she leaves for vacation. Her life then turns into a nightmare, her records are erased from existence and she is given a new identity, one with a police record. She struggles to find out why this has happened and who has it in for her… more
Hackers (1995)
A young boy is arrested by the U.S. Secret Service for writing a computer virus and is banned from using a computer until his 18th birthday. Years later, he and his new-found friends discover a plot to unleash a dangerous computer virus, but they must use their computer skills to find the evidence while being pursued by the Secret Service and the evil computer genius behind the virus… more
Back To The Future Trilogy (1985-1990)
The franchise follows the adventures of a high school student, Marty McFly, a 17-year old high school student and an eccentric scientist, Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown, as they use a DeLorean time machine to time travel to different periods in the history of the fictional town of Hill Valley, California… more
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