Critics may have wondered if the computer business is exciting enough to sustain a weekly television audience.But AMC said the popularity and potential of "Halt and Catch Fire," its drama about the personal computer industry on the 1980s, warranted a second season.

In its 10-episode first season the show, created by writers Chris Cantwell and Chris Rogers with showrunner Jonathan Lisco, focused on a small group of ambitious characters trying to design, build and sell a world-beating portable PC. "Halt"...