Mike Judge On The End Of Silicon Valley

As silicon valley draws to a close, The Master Parodist behind the hit show reflects upon what big tech has wrought

- Mark Wilson

Writer, director, and producer Mike Judge has a talent for bringing an almost anthropological understanding to his subjects, from the vacuous teenage boys of Beavis and Butt-Head to the disaffected cubicle dwellers of Office Space to the proud Texans in King of the Hill. With Silicon Valley, now in its sixth and final season on HBO, he has turned his gaze to twentysomething startup engineers navigating the world-building narcissism of Big Tech. A former engineer himself, Judge somehow finds the real players of Silicon Valley—despite it all—rather decent.

Season 5 of Silicon Valley ended on an optimistic note, with the show’s protagonists walking into this huge, amazing new office for their suddenly successful company. After years of letting viewers watch the team flail, why did you decide to conclude the season this way? I was in a coffee shop recently, and [the barista] recognized my name on my credit card and asked what I’m going to do now that Silicon Valley is done. I said, “No, there’s another season.” I guess because last season was so positive, he thought that was the end of the run. We had gotten a little fatigued with always beating these characters up. They’re fun to watch, and you care about them when they’re like the Bad News Bears. But as we were getting toward the end of the run, we thought, Let’s just see what it’s like to take them to the next level.