All you see is some computer nerds pressing some buttons and hacking the systems. That’s not how it works! but as I said, you can’t expect the realistic approach from movies because of their time limit of covering a story and entertaining the audience. However, if you want to see the reality of programmers and hackers, you can watch these 5 TV shows that I’m going to mention here. When you watch these shows, you’ll understand how the IT industry actually works, how the software is actually developed, and how the hackers actually hack a system.
5 Best TV Shows Based On Hacking and Coding
1. Mr. Robot
Mr. Robot is an American TV series created by Sam Esmail. It is a fictional story built around Elliot Alderson, a cyber-security expert, and hacker who suffers from social anxiety disorder and clinical depression. Elliot is recruited by an insurrectionary anarchist known as “Mr. Robot”, to join a group of hacktivists called “fsociety”. The group aims to destroy all debt records by encrypting the financial data of the largest conglomerate in the world, E Corp. Mr. Robot is one of a few TV shows that accurately portrays an elite hacker group using different devices, networks, technologies, programming and social engineering. 3 seasons have already been aired.
2. Person of Interest
Person of Interest is one of the highest-rated shows on Netflix. In a show, a very intelligent programmer named Harold Finch creates an all-seeing AI and sells it to the government for protection against terrorist attacks. The “Machine” as they call it, separates the threats into two categories: relevant to national security, and irrelevant to national security. Horrified that the government couldn’t care less about the irrelevant threats (everyday crime and murder) Harold Finch enlists John Reese (an ex-CIA agent) to save people’s lives, but with a twist. The machine has been coded to only give a social security number in order to protect the public’s privacy. Now Finch and Reese must save lives with limited information and keep the streets of NYC safe.
3. Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley story is about a startup company founded by a guy named Richard who works with 2 other total nerd programmers, all living together in an “incubator” owned by Erlich who is a total pothead. There are also other peculiar and lovely characters in the series and altogether the writing is not only hilariously fantastic and well thought of, no, but every episode also ends with a twist that comes as a totally new surprise. This show is smart, funny, and treading ground by focusing on a microcosm of society that in itself has its own hierarchy and character. Despite the high amount of Geeks on screen, each has a unique personality and dynamic that feeds into the overall story.
4. The IT Crowd
Have you thought that a TV show about programmers can be so fun too? In ‘The IT Crowd’, three hapless people, Jen, Roy, and Moss are the unsung heroes of a company and they sit in the basement and they seem to do nothing at all. But what they witness is so hilarious, so funny, so great and so clumsy. Jen is crazy about good shoes, and nice guys. Roy is always in blood and in trouble. Moss is deep into his Ward ideas and he is uttering so funny maxims and in his impeccable cockney slang. The serial is very light, very brisk, and very easy to grasp. It does show that even in the dark dungeons programmers can be still funny and still very lively.
5. Scorpion
Scorpion is an American action drama television series loosely based on the life of computer expert Walter O’Brien. In the series, O’Brien and his friends help each other to solve complex global problems and save lives. Drawing on a diverse set of skills and experience such as coding, psychology, and engineering, they are able to solve these situations. The team tackles a variety of problems, many of which are extremely complicated. While they are frequently called into service by the Department of Homeland Security, they also accept work from private individuals and organizations.
