‘Halt and Catch Fire’ premiere fails to catch any fire; who do you blame?

No matter how hard AMC seems to try right now when it comes to their original series, they cannot find a new hit show for some reason. The latest example of that? Their very solid new drama “Halt and Catch Fire.”

Despite positive reviews, the premiere episode drew just 1.2 million viewers (an even smaller crowd than the one that watched the series premiere of “Breaking Bad” back when no one knew it existed) and a 18-49 rating just over 0.3. This is down in both categories from the premiere of “Turn” earlier this year as well.

If there is a silver lining in here, it is that the show was made available online prior to the premiere, and much of AMC’s audience is well-connected and fanatical enough to watch the show in advance with limited commercial interruption. Maybe the number will increase in its second episode.

Odd as it may be to say, we feel like one of the biggest reasons why AMC is struggling right now to find a new hit comes in the realm of episode titles. We would say that “Hell on Wheels” is the last show they had with a title that really grabbed you. “Low Winter Sun” was a terrible name, and “Turn” and “Halt and Catch Fire” are not much better. Unless you are well familiar with computer commands, the latter is not going to appeal to you.

We’re not giving up on the show yet, though, despite the weak premiere rating. This is the sort of show that could find an audience over time, and AMC does have a track record (save for maybe with “Rubicon”) of at least giving a show two seasons to find an audience before putting it to pasture.

What do you think of the premiere rating? Share below.