Last Sunday night, fans of Mad Men said goodbye to the show for 2014 as the first half of its final season wrapped. While AMC (NASDAQ: AMCX) still has seven episodes of the Emmy-winning hit left to run in 2015, executives are likely a little worried, as they don’t have a replacement lined up. Tonight, the network will look to change that with the launch of Halt and Catch Fire, which has the makings of being the next big thing.

Proof of concept
The show’s title, “Halt and Catch Fire,” is a computer term used to define a command that, when entered on older computers, would essentially initiate a self-destruct sequence. The computer would enter into an endless race with itself and be unusable (though not actually catch on fire). In terms of the show, it’s a fitting analogy for the plot, which takes place in Texas’ Silicon Prairie during the 1980s.

Halt revolves around Joe MacMillan (Pushing Daisies’ Lee Pace), a smooth-talking executive who cons his way into a company and ends up forcing it into changing its business model. What he’s basically doing is initiating the title command and gambling that he and his team can beat the clock, so to speak. MacMillan comes from IBM and his dream is to reverse-engineer its technology in order to give more people the opportunity to utilize its advantages. The problem is IBM finds out and sets out for blood.

Perfectly “Pace”-ed
While a fictional story, audiences will like the plot even if they don’t understand all the lingo. You don’t have to know the tech world to follow the story and it’s probably better in some cases if you don’t, as if you get too bogged down you’d likely miss certain of the more broad aspects of the show. In fact, one of its best assets is the cast headlined by Pace.

One of Mad Men’s most defining strengths is its ensemble cast and just as Jon Hamm stands out as the main protagonist, so does Pace in Halt and Catch Fire. MacMillan has the cocky charm and charisma of Don Draper, which will appeal to audiences in much the same way. That’s actually something AMC’s been missing with its original drams as of late, as the leads of recent series like Hell On Wheels, Low Winter Sun and Turn run the gambit from quiet loner to completely in over their heads.

ALSO READ: Ten Companies With the Least Valuable Workers

But it’s not-so-quiet confidence that’s fueled some of AMC’s best characters, including Draper and (eventually) Walter White toward the end of Breaking Bad. In fact, some of The Walking Dead’s best moments are when lead actor Andrew Lincoln takes control of the situation and goes into alpha mode to save his friends. Fans love that “I’m the one who knocks” mentality and that’s why they watch. That’s the cornerstone of AMC’s programming that it’s been lacking. As the network motto says, “story matters here,” but it’s the characters that fuel that story and keep the viewers’ interest.

Will ‘Catch’ catch on?
AMC needs Halt and Catch Fire to succeed. Mad Men is ending, Breaking Bad is done, Hell On Wheels is toiling away on Saturdays, and Walking Dead isn’t going to stay on top forever. The network has three shows on its 2014 rookie roster: Turn, Halt and Catch Fire, and Better Call Saul. At least one needs to work and the network can’t be fully reliant on Saul just because it’s a spinoff of Bad.

Turn’s numbers are nothing special and while it’s a good show, set during America’s fight for independence, audiences of late have been reluctant to jump into “period” series, especially ones where they may not understand everyone’s accent upon the first viewing. Turn is also a drama about a spy ring, and while that is a huge drawing point, sometimes the audience doesn’t pick up on all the mystery, intrigue, and plot points the writers likely intended, which can kill momentum.

Halt is hoping to be different and catch fire like Mad Men did when it premiered in the summer of 2007. It’s entirely possible that it will, but just in case AMC has enough juice left in its established arsenal of hits to float another year without a fresh new juggernaut. Make no mistake though, that window is quickly closing and many are hoping Halt’s a hit because otherwise the risk of Better Call Saul collapsing under the pressure to succeed is just going to get worse.

 

Your cable company is scared, but you can get rich
Tthe cable industry at large is right on the edge. The smart money is betting on a collapse. Do you know how to profit? There’s $2.2 trillion out there to be had. Currently, cable grabs a big piece of it. That won’t last. And when cable falters, three companies are poised to benefit. Click here for their names. Hint: They’re not Netflix, Google, and Apple.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.