This is posted on the AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
AMC is giving its modestly rated but critically well regarded"Halt & Catch Fire" a fourth and final season.
The show is shot in metro Atlanta but set on the West Coast in the burgeoning PC world of the 1980s.
"We are so proud of 'Halt and Catch Fire' – a true passion project – and thank the critics and fans who have embraced this unique program," said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios, in a press release.
The drama gets an 86 percent positive from Rotten Tomatoes, a solid 8.2/10 on imdb.com and and 8.6 out of 10 on tv.com. The third season has been considered the best among critics who follow it. (Metascore critics collectively gave the show an 69 for its first season but 83 for the third.)
Verne Gay of Newsday wrote: " 'Halt' finally looks like a series going someplace important, and worth viewers going there with it."
Todd VanDerWerff of Vox: "The first five episodes of that third season are as good as anything I've seen on TV this year."
The show's survival has been aided by the fact AMC owns the entire operation on top of the critical acclaim.
Its ratings were low season one and even worse season two. Viewership have dropped yet again season three. Overnights, which nowadays are only partly indicative of popularity, are in the range of 300,000 to 400,000. Even if DVR and on-demand usage is included and doubles or triples that number, any grand total has to be fairly modest. In comparison, AMC's "The Walking Dead" draws about 50 times more overnight viewers.
The season finale of "Halt & Catch Fire" airs tonight at 9 p.m.
By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally posted Tuesday, October 11, 2016
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