The 20 best tech-themed TV shows

Though it can be hard to remember now, there was a time when networks like the History Channel actually made documentaries that shed light on the past. Engineering an Empire, for example, examined the various architectural and technological feats that undergirded such empires as the Romans, the Mayans, the British, and the Byzantines. As such, it gave audiences a rich and renewed understanding of the key role that technology has played in the growth of various civilizations whose influence continues to be felt today.

One of the more underappreciated aspects of the American Wild West is just how much technology was key to its development and the lives of those who lived there and then. The series Wild West Tech aims to correct this misperception, and it usefully demonstrates the various types of technology — including, obviously, firearms — that were used. With its mix of re-enactments and talking head historians and experts, this is the kind of show that aims to genuinely educate its audience about life in the past.

Games are, of course, a major component of many people’s daily lives, so it makes sense that they would prove the focus of several TV series. One of the best is Mythic Quest, which focuses on various people who created the title game. It’s a surprisingly heartfelt show, which adds a level of sophistication and heart to the humor. Combined with a great cast that includes the likes of Rob McElhenney, Ashly Burch, and F. Murray Abraham, it’s an addictive and must-see show. 

Given technology’s ubiquitousness in contemporary life — as well as its inscrutability — it lends itself particularly well to the thriller genre. Devs, for example, focuses on Sonoya Mizuno’s Lily Chan and her attempts to figure out who really killed her boyfriend, who was hired to work on the Devs team at the corporation at which they both work. Creator Alex Garland proves again why he is one of the best practitioners of sci-fi on the screen, as the series asks some pressing questions about the nature of technology, modern life, and human agency. 

TV series that focus on tech often ask tough and troubling questions about what it means to be human in a world in which technology has become more dominant and more intertwined with daily life and activity. The series Altered Carbon, for example, is set in a distant future in which human consciousness itself has been rendered into a form of technology, meaning it can be transferred to different bodies. Though it focuses on a mercenary who is recruited to investigate a murder, it also has an existentialist bent to its story, forcing the audience to question just what it means to be human and what it might mean in the future.

Though many documentaries that focus on tech tend to explore its benefits, others are more somber. Engineering Disasters, for example, is a spin-off of Modern Marvels that focuses on several engineering disasters that have occurred throughout history. Even though it can make for sobering viewing at times, it is nevertheless a series that serves as an ever-pertinent warning of the extent to which technology can be as much a blessing as a curse, particularly when human error is factored into the equation.

The new Apple TV+ series Prime Target focuses on Leo Woodall’s Edward Brooks, a talented mathematician whose work on prime numbers seems to pose a danger to all computer systems in the world. As a result, there are a lot of people who want him dead, and they’ll stop at nothing to bring that to pass. While the series’ premise might be a bit silly, it also does address some of the pressing questions about the nature of security technology, and how easy it often is for those with the intent and the ability to breach even the most secure systems.

Severance is one part satire, one part black comedy, and one part sci-fi, set in a world in which a corporation known as Lumon splits the memories of its employees so their work selves are essentially separate from their everyday selves. It’s a fascinating and haunting look at corporate life and labor. With its scathingly satirical bite and some terrific performances from the likes of Adam Scott and Patricia Arquette, this is one of those series that really has its finger on the pulse of so many of the things responsible for American ennui.  

The IT Crowd is one of those series that showcases the best of British comedy. As its title suggests, it focuses on the IT Department of the mysterious corporation known as Reynholm Industries, particularly the antics of said IT Department. It also features a top-notch cast, which includes the likes of Chris O’Dowd, Richard Ayoade, and Matt Berry, and it manages to hit just the right amount of ridiculous without sliding into the incomprehensible. 

On one level, Dune: Prophecy is about the feuds and power plays between the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood and the other powers in the Imperium. On another, however, it’s also about the power of technology and humanity’s relationship to it, particularly in the fraught period after the Butlerian Jihad led to the demise of thinking machines. As the first season demonstrates, the wounds left behind by that conflict are still raw, and there is quite a long way to go before humans have found a way to reconcile their differences when it comes to the acceptable use of technology.

Similar to Minority Report, Person of Interest takes place in a world where technology seems to have enabled governments to detect terrorism before it happens. Given this central premise, the series obviously engaged with and asked a number of tough questions regarding the increasing influence of technology in the detection of crime. It’s one of those series that uses the conventions and excitement of the thriller genre to keep viewers engaged while encouraging them to think more deeply about the rapidly changing world around them.

Few inventions have reshaped the world quite as much as the personal computer. Halt & Catch Fire, the series from AMC, gives the viewer insight into the 1980s and 1990s when personal computers became household items, and the advent of the internet changed everything. While much of the series’ energy comes from its various protagonists, it was also remarkable for the extent to which it explored the roots of the thoroughly computerized modern world in all of its frustrating and, at times, terrifying complexity.

Silicon Valley is, without a doubt, one of the most important tech hubs in the world, and this is precisely what makes it such golden territory for satire. Silicon Valley, for example, is a hilarious take on the various foibles and the tech giants, particularly since the main character, Richard Hendricks, has to do everything in his power to keep his own startup tech company out of the hands of those who want to take it. 

While many of the best shows about technology tend to be dramas, many documentary series also deserve a mention. How It’s Made, for example, offers viewers fascinating insights into how numerous products are made and produced. It ran for over 400 episodes, and as a result, viewers were able to learn the ins and outs of manufacturing for a truly staggering number of products. Even though the show concluded several years ago, it continues to be a popular and important part of the Science Channel’s lineup.

Westworld might have been canceled before it could reach its full potential, but during its four-season run, it managed to establish itself as one of the best series on HBO. Focusing as it does on a park populated by robots known as Hosts, the series raises a whole set of fascinating questions regarding the nature of sentience, personhood, and humanity itself. It doesn’t always have the most comprehensible or understandable plot, but there’s something uniquely pleasurable about a show that demands so much from its audience. 

The 2020s have been a particularly rich period for the docudrama, one of the most notable of which is WeCrashed.  The story largely revolves around Jared Leto’s Adam Neumann and Anne Hathaway’s Rebekah Neumann, who founded the company WeWork. Like many other series of this type, it shines a rather unflattering light on the inner workings of Silicon Valley, where even the most obviously fraudulent folks can still use the magic of tech investment to achieve success, no matter how fleeting (and illusory) it might end up being.

It’s not every series that could make a story about a nun setting out to destroy an artificial intelligence entity known as Mrs. Davis into compelling TV, but Mrs. Davis  certainly accomplishes this notable feat. This is partly due to the character work put in by Betty Gilpin, who plays Sister Simone. It’s a show that is sometimes quite silly and very much in love with its own cleverness, but it also manages to be both thought-provoking and increasingly timely, particularly since AI has become a more ingrained part of American life.

The series Modern Marvels is something of a marvel itself, having been on the air for over three decades. As its title suggests, it focuses on numerous objects and products that are, as the title suggests, marvels that have been enabled by the technological advancements associated with modernity. In an era in which so much programming has been taken over by reality TV, Modern Marvels retains its essential purpose of educating the general public about the power and potential of technology to make lives better. 

Rami Malek gives one of his most indelible performances in Mr. Robot. He plays Elliot Anderson, a hacker who ends up becoming part of an anarchist organization thanks to the mysterious figure known as Mr. Robot. Like many other series that focus on the role of technology and capitalism in the modern world, this series can be a bit bleak at times. Nevertheless, it’s worth watching for both Malek’s performance and how it captures the uncertain and unsettling zeitgeist in which so many now live. 

Few series have been as effective at demonstrating the perils of technology as Black Mirror. Throughout its several seasons, it’s explored issues ranging from artificial intelligence to dating apps, surveillance to data privacy. Sharply written and often deeply pessimistic, it’s the kind of series that worms its way into the viewer’s mind and stays there. Perhaps even more disturbingly, it has also proven remarkably prescient in terms of the real world, presaging some of the pressing issues that society faces with technology and its increasing dominance in the modern world.