• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, Yesterday

Are all of the moguls and pooh-bahs of Silicon Valley jerks?

That’s the prevailing picture of the potentates of Palo Alto as they are portrayed in “The Audacity,” a new eight-part series on AMC/AMC+ that is part comedic, but mostly dramatic.

I personally know nothing about the culture of the region or the personality profiles of the tech tycoons of Santa Clara County, California, except for what I see in the occasional TV or movie about them.

According to the stereotypes, they are a wild bunch indeed -- power-mad gazillionaires, dealmakers and self-promoters who take sadistic pleasure in screwing each other.

That stereotype is not unlike the way Hollywood power players in movies and TV shows about the entertainment business are presented too.

True or not, depictions of these groups -- both of which wield outsized cultural and economic power in the lives of all of us -- work better on TV if most of them are depicted as more evil than good.

In “The Audacity,” the self-centered neurotic at the center of the action is a man named Duncan Park (Billy Magnussen, above photo), CEO of a mighty data-mining company.

In Episode One, which the TV Blog previewed on Thursday, Mr. Park is having a massive meltdown over a deal gone awry and the frauds he committed to bring it about.

As meltdowns go, this one felt like it went on too long, owing at least in part to the episode’s one-hour length. 

But then, at the episode’s conclusion, I was hit with a plot twist that came out of nowhere that served as a payoff for watching this guy self-implode for 60 minutes.

“The Audacity” has a lot going for it, including a great script and story, a diverse cast of characters, and dazzling locations featuring corporate headquarters and private homes that are architectural wonders.

Credit for all of it goes principally to Jonathan Glatzer, creator, executive producer, writer and showrunner.

Cast members include Zach Galifianakis as a Silicon Valley pioneer who made a fortune in the spam business, Sara Goldberg as a psychotherapist, Simon Helberg (“The Big Bang Theory”) as a virtual-reality creator losing touch with reality, and Rob Corddry as an official of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

As for the title of the show, “The Audacity,” the TV Blog is not entirely sure what it is supposed to convey. 

Perhaps, very generally speaking, the title refers to the residents of the community in which the show is based, who are nothing if not audacious.

From time to time, the TV Blog has singled out AMC and AMC+ for the high quality of their scripted series. With “The Audacity,” AMC has done it again. 

“The Audacity” premieres on Sunday, April 12, at 9 p.m. Eastern on AMC and starts streaming on AMC+ the same day.