Will 'Halt and Catch Fire' be the next 'Mad Men?'

For a few years, viewers have recognized AMC for three things: Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead. Now that Breaking Bad is gone (may it rest in peace) AMC has paved the way for two new period dramas, named TURN and Halt and Take Fire. Of these two, Halt and Take Fire will be the next great AMC drama. It's not that TURN isn't an impressive show in its own right. As a drama about the "first American spy ring," it certainly brings a certain amount of Revolutionary War charm to AMC. And, of course, it has just the right amount of British-inflected whispering and hiding in plain sight. But after the trailer for Halt and Catch Fire was released Sunday night, there's no question which series will be the next stylish period drama.

Halt and Catch Fire centers on the Silicon Prairie in 1980's Texas, right after IBM "won" the computer battle with the IBM PC. Like Mad Men, Halt and Catch Fire centers on a fictional office in a real historical setting, although this firm is looking to reverse-engineer IBM's PC. The band of engineers is led by The Hobbit's Lee Pace, whose intense brown eyes-dark eyebrows combo is only augmented by feathered '80s hair. Leading the show itself are two newbie showrunners and one of the original producers of Breaking Bad , promising fresh writing with some classic AMC drama. Even though a show about competitive tech pioneers might not seem revolutionary, Halt and Catch Fire also centers on Cameron Howe, a girl computer prodigy with punk pixie hair. A talented woman in the 1980's tech industry? Yes please.

Beyond the gender possibilities, Halt and Catch Fire seems like a thrilling, cerebral look at corporate espionage and shoulder pads. We're excited to see the premiere of what might become a nerdy '80s Mad Men.

Image: AMC