In the first episode of the new Hulu miniseries “The Dropout,” a young woman studies a 1990s-era poster of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, her expression a mix of admiration and envy.
But this is not the prologue to a story of Silicon Valley greatness. The woman is Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried), and “The Dropout” is a twisty tale of wild ambition, duplicity and comeuppance.
Hulu’s series is one of at least three new shows debuting this year that take a decidedly skeptical view of the American technology industry and the hard-driving but embattled founders who purportedly make it run.
“The Dropout” joins the Showtime anthology drama “Super Pumped,” a portrait of macho arrogance and tactical ruthlessness inside Uber, and Apple TV+’s limited series “WeCrashed,” an account of the rise and fall of the office space startup WeWork. (“Super Pumped” premiered in late February; “WeCrashed” debuts March 18.)
Big Tech titans appear to be the new TV antiheroes — small-screen villains who command our attention despite their alleged misdeeds, or maybe because of them.
TV producers have recruited big-name actors. “Super Pumped” stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as former Uber chief Travis Kalanick, who resigned in 2017 amid scandals over workplace culture and privacy issues. “WeCrashed” stars Oscar-winning actors Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway as Adam and Rebekah Neumann, the couple at the center of a spectacular techworld implosion.