Amph Asimov's Foundation (Apple TV series)

It's actually happening! Apple TV is creating a TV series based on Isaac Asimov's "Foundation."

It'll be out sometime in 2021. David Goyer is showrunner; Jared Harris stars as Hari Seldon.

See the teaser trailer below:



So, "Dune" coming our way, and now this. Looks spectacular.

 

Yeah, this actually looks really good. It feels like it’s got kind of a Star Wars for adults vibe.

 

Looks gorgeous. Never read the books but plan on it before this comes out.

 

Maybe change the tag to Amph so this thread is easier to find in the future?


The teaser does look good!

But I wonder how the story overall will be conveyed, and how many adjustments will be made.

The idea of "let's save the empire" was already outdated when it came out. It's very outdated now. So it'll be interesting how Apple deals with it.

 

The book series is hard to parse. Originally they were just a series of short stories that were interconnected; their groundbreaking sci-fi elements were:

1) An intergalactic setting that did not have any aliens, just humanity, and
2) Space adventures that resolved through intellectual pursuits rather than ray-guns and fists.

Further muddying the waters was that Asimov loosely connected them to other novels and stories that he wrote, and that he returned after a decades-long gap to the series, reexamining some of the concepts and making the links between his various series more explicit. The final chronological novel ends on a rather ominous note as well, putting an interesting spin on the conceptual framework of the universe.
Asimov also made a point to not go back and change the original stories despite the tone and language being very much a product of its time and different from the novels he wrote in the 80s, indicating that he was taking a 'warts and all' approach to them.

Overall, the series defies adaptation because of its more cerebral nature and shifting tone, even moreso that Dune. (I've yet to see an adaptation of Dune that acknowledges Herbert's point that Muad'Dib was a massively destructive force that called the whole concept of 'heroism' into question). After all,

Spoiler

We know that, in the end, the Foundation project ultimately fails (although it continues in the form of the original encyclopedia, at the least)... or rather, it is replaced by something else.

 

i don’t know what that is or how to do that. I tried clicking “add tag” but it gave me an error message.

 

10 yard penalty for misuse of "theory". But it looks decent and I will tune in....via pirated web site.

 

Finally something to actually watch on Apple TV. This looks pretty good.

 

The Lynch version certainly doesn't do that, but I think the sci-fi version does, IMO.

Alright. Mod, DO IT.

 

I already did it.

 

Did your studies of psychohistory show you the need to do it before it happened?

 

New trailer. Out in September

 

Interesting. I almost wanted them to start with the first short story, but I knew that they had to begin with Hari Seldon.

 

That trailer makes me wonder, will this 'Foundation' show be to the book series what 'I, Robot' was to the novel?

 

Let's hope not. I love Asimov's original trilogy. Never read any of the follow-ups. And it would make a great series if they do it right. Hopefully, they do. Goyer has said he wants to do the whole trilogy in eight seasons, eighty episodes total. So, I don't know how far this first season will go or if he's still trying to stick to that plan or not. I would love to see them do the Mule really well. I think that was my favorite part of the trilogy.

That moment when

Spoiler

everyone is eagerly awaiting Seldon to explain what to do about the Mule and then they all slowly start to realize that Seldon is talking about something totally different because he didn't foresee the Mule and it's just like, "Oh, we are screwed now."

 

I read Foundation and Earth first, then years later Prelude. I liked them both. Years went by and I finally read the first Foundation book. Terrible. So if the show is not exactly like the books I'll be fine.

 

I thought the premise of the novels was brilliant, like many of Asimov's ideas, but also like many of his stories... it was REALLY obvious who you're supposed to be rooting for and against. It was more an issue in the earlier original series than the prequels. They could probably fix that in the show without changing the plot. So far the show looks interesting.

 

I’d like to have a long pointless but heated argument over whether television or movies have been better for science fiction over the long run. Battlestar, Firefly and The Expanse should probably win it without further debate.

 

I agree. Sci-fi needs a lot of fleshing out and while there are obviously some sci-fi masterpiece films out there, the TV medium appears to be a great way to present a series based on novels or a set of novels.

I read the original foundation novels and they are solid but not perfect. Still, I’m a sucker so sci-fi so if I have to get Apple TV just for this I probably will.

 

Well...

Spoiler

The final story in the original trilogy certainly plays with the concept of who the "hero" is, doesn't it?

 

I am both excited and worried about the series. On one hand it looks good, but on other the trailer makes it look too action-y. I hope they won't water it down with pointless action scenes.

 

weirdly enough those are two I haven’t read. Did read Foundations Edge, but I’ve never seen Foundation and Earth at any of the book stores I frequent.

Admittedly I would have chosen the First Foundation instead of Gaia at the end of Edge, at least that’s what I remember thinking when I read it.

 

"Foundation and Earth" explains why Golan chose what he did. And ultimately I think he was right.

 

I'd agree with this - almost every book to TV/movie adaptation makes some changes anyways. No reason why this cant.