DOCUMENTARY OF THE WEEK – American Experience’s Silicon Valley: Just when you thought this brilliant series could not top itself, it does. This documentary explores the founding moment that turned a valley carpeted with orange groves into the nerve center of the global technology boom. It looks at the ‘treacherous eight’ and their leader — the father of Silicon Valley, Robert Noyce. Tired of the abuse they endured at Shockley’s Semiconductors Lab, they did something unprecedented in their era: They left and founded their own company, reinventing themselves and entrepreneurship in the process. The film looks at how the early venture capitalists helped them form Fairchild Semiconductors, the most cutting edge innovator in the development of the microchip. But their lasting legacy would be the corporate culture of openness, collegiality and innovation which sprouted in the many companies that came after them. The documentary would finally give Noyce — who has largely been overshadowed by his eager fan Steve Jobs — the recognition he deserves as a leader and pioneer, who at the height of his career, decided to simply start over and found Intel. You can watch the film on Youtube here (runtime: 1:26:22)