The most popular TV shows are often geared toward teenagers and twentysomethings, the demographic most prized by networks today. However, a growing number of shows target a specific audience and are made to appeal to engineers. These programs are some of the best fictional TV shows that engineers should watch in 2019.
Mr. Robot made its debut in May 2015 and is now gearing up for its fourth season. The storyline revolves around the main character Mr. Robot, portrayed by Christian Slater, and his cyber sidekick Eliot Alderson, played by actor Rami Malek.
Together, Mr. Robot and Alderson work together as hactivists who aim to erase all consumer debt by encrypting the files of E Corp, which in the TV show is the world’s largest conglomerate. This USA Network TV show appeals to engineers with its intense focus on computer technology and cyber maneuvering. It demonstrates how computer engineering could possibly be used for a modern Robin Hood story and for the betterment and protection of the everyday working man.
Silicon Valley is a comedy that premiered in April 2014 and is now gearing up for its sixth season, which is set to premier in 2020. Airing on HBO, the story line of this tech savvy comedy revolves around the plights of five guys who have recently launched their own startup company in Silicon Valley.
The TV show stars actors Thomas Middleditch as character Richard Hendricks and Josh Brener as Nelson “Big Head” Bighetti. It has an appeal factor for engineers with its realistic yet comedic portrayal of the struggles involved with starting and running a successful tech company in modern day Silicon Valley. The show is based loosely on the real-life experiences of creator Mike Judge (of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill fame) when he worked as a Silicon Valley engineer in the 1980s.
Westworld is a SciFi Western hybrid TV show that airs on HBO. It premiered in the Fall of 2016 and has recently been picked up for its third season. It stars actresses Evan Rachel Wood and Thandie Newton as respective characters Dolores Abernathy and Maeve Milay.
The show’s plot revolves around a theme park of the same name in which guests are welcomed by human-like androids. The show is based on the 1973 movie Westworld and its 1976 sequel Futureworld. It appeals to engineers with its focus on robot technology and the expansion of the idea that one day android robots could entirely take the place of humans in most aspects of everyday society.
Star Trek Discovery is a TV show that first premiered on CBS and CBS All Access on September 19, 2017. It was recently picked up by the network for its second season, which will air in January 2019.
The show focuses on events that occur 10 years before those that are depicted in the Star Trek original series. Specifically, it revolves around the ongoing war between the United Klingon houses and the United Federation of Planets, which includes the crew of the USS Discovery.
Starring actors Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham and Doug Jones as Sanu, the TV show appeals to engineers with its storylines that depict aeronautical technology and space science. It feeds into many engineers’ fantasies that this level of space exploration and conquest could one day be possible.
Humans is a TV show that is based on the Swedish television program Real Humans. It first aired in the late summer of 2015 and recently finished its third season. The program airs on U.K.’s Channel 4 as well as the American channel AMC.
The storylines of Humans revolves around robotics and artificial intelligence. The human-like robots in the series are called “synths.” It stars actors Manpreet Bachu as Harun Khan and Emily Berrington as the synth Niska.
It has an appeal factor for engineers because it explores how AI and robotics could one day become commonplace in everyday society. It also touches on how robots could one day become sentient and capable of human emotions.
These are but a few of the TV programs that are geared toward engineers and others who are fans of science fiction, robotics, and artificial intelligence. They are gearing up for new seasons that will air sometime in 2019. They should be on any engineer's TV must-watch list.
