4 ms·

This sums up my feelings about the show pretty well. Loved the books, hated the show. It gets rid of everything that was interesting about the books - the high

This sums up my feelings about the show pretty well. Loved the books, hated the show. It gets rid of everything that was interesting about the books - the high level narrative about civilization and power projection mechanisms and replaces it with generic Hollywood sci-fi tropes, with cringy romance subplots thrown in. The second episode was so bad I stopped watching.

mrleinad 5y ago
Same here. That "twist" for the second episode was too damn much to keep watching them utterly destroy everything that Asimov wrote.
KennyBlanken 5y ago
Did you consider that with such a complex story and large cast the show might take more than one and a half episodes to show you everything? The show has indeed been about power projection mechanisms, once it set up the universe and cast enough. It's one thing to watch an episode and a half and say "eh, not for me." It's another entirely to declare you know "the show" and speak authoritatively about it as a whole when you haven't seen four fifths of the material.
- malermeister 5y ago
  Those two (not sure where you're getting 1.5 from) episodes have been completely incompatible with the source material already. There's no reason to go any further, in the same way you don't need to see the derailed train come to a complete stop to know it's not gonna make it to the station.
  - KennyBlanken 5y ago
    You said you didn't even finish the second episode. If that's not what you meant, chose your words more carefully. Tortured analogies ignored: you declared the series to be absent something that has been present in spades in the latter episodes and you still don't realize how that makes you look.
    - rockemsockem 5y ago
      OP deserves credit. They accurately classified this show after less than 2 episodes. I'm resigned to watching all of season 1, despite how awful it is. The worst thing is that they already renewed this crap, so we'll have to wait even longer for a potentially good Foundation.
- boublepop 5y ago
  Your comment reminds me of a friends recommendation to watch The Arrow. “The first two seasons are really bad, but if you stick through it they become ok” It’s ok to not want to watch a show that sucks originally. We don’t need to watch it to completion in order to pass judgement on something that just didn’t hit the mark.
  - simonh 5y ago
    I love this guide to the key Buffy episodes. There's no way I could re-watch the whole show, but this looks achievable. I wish there were more guides like this. https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-an-episode-roadmap-for-beginners/ https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-an-epi... I watched the first season of Arrow but it was a bit of a slog towards the end, and never got anywhere with season 2. It showed a lot of promise it almost delivered on. Maybe I should give it another go, but a guide like this would be invaluable.
- Oddskar 5y ago
  I’ve watched five episodes. It didn’t get better.
megablast 5y ago
Did you love all the books?? Because the books he wrote in the 80s were very different to the ones in the 50s. Completely different. And awful imho.
- malermeister 5y ago
  Ah! I was referring to the original trilogy when I said "the books"
- orwin 5y ago
  The only books he wrote in the 80s i did not like are "prelude to Foundation" and "Forward the Foundation", and "Foundation and Earth" was pretty disappointing too. And having re-read the originals (and not the translation) recently, with my new outlook and all the books i've read since, i'd say that even those are written better than the two first Foundation books (that i love). I'd say the "Cave of steel" was the best written of his books from the 50s, a bit better than "Naked Sun" and "Second Foundation", or at least better paced. But his best books are either "Foundation's edge" or "Robots and Empire", at least to me.
whazor 5y ago
But I completely understand why went with the current direction. I believe they are not replacing the high level narrative, but they are slowing down for making something that resonates emotionally. When producing television, you work with actors, screenplay, and a story. I believe you cannot make good TV with replacing actors at the speed of Asimov. I also believe that Asimov books allow for romance subplots, but they were 'skipped'.
- rockemsockem 5y ago
  A slowed down narrative to fit into the greater Foundation narrative is exactly how Foundation should be adapted. Unfortunately the show's narrative is completely ridiculous. Nothing makes rationale sense. It seems that no character can even walk down a hallway without something going awfully wrong and things get resolved by never-before-mentioned magical plot elements falling in place.
- watwut 5y ago
  Heterosexual romance requires female characters, which is not exactly what Foundation would be full of.

mrleinad 5y ago

Same here. That "twist" for the second episode was too damn much to keep watching them utterly destroy everything that Asimov wrote.

KennyBlanken 5y ago

Did you consider that with such a complex story and large cast the show might take more than one and a half episodes to show you everything? The show has indeed been about power projection mechanisms, once it set up the universe and cast enough. It's one thing to watch an episode and a half and say "eh, not for me." It's another entirely to declare you know "the show" and speak authoritatively about it as a whole when you haven't seen four fifths of the material.

malermeister 5y ago
Those two (not sure where you're getting 1.5 from) episodes have been completely incompatible with the source material already. There's no reason to go any further, in the same way you don't need to see the derailed train come to a complete stop to know it's not gonna make it to the station.
- KennyBlanken 5y ago
  You said you didn't even finish the second episode. If that's not what you meant, chose your words more carefully. Tortured analogies ignored: you declared the series to be absent something that has been present in spades in the latter episodes and you still don't realize how that makes you look.
  - rockemsockem 5y ago
    OP deserves credit. They accurately classified this show after less than 2 episodes. I'm resigned to watching all of season 1, despite how awful it is. The worst thing is that they already renewed this crap, so we'll have to wait even longer for a potentially good Foundation.
boublepop 5y ago
Your comment reminds me of a friends recommendation to watch The Arrow. “The first two seasons are really bad, but if you stick through it they become ok” It’s ok to not want to watch a show that sucks originally. We don’t need to watch it to completion in order to pass judgement on something that just didn’t hit the mark.
- simonh 5y ago
  I love this guide to the key Buffy episodes. There's no way I could re-watch the whole show, but this looks achievable. I wish there were more guides like this. https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-an-episode-roadmap-for-beginners/ https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-an-epi... I watched the first season of Arrow but it was a bit of a slog towards the end, and never got anywhere with season 2. It showed a lot of promise it almost delivered on. Maybe I should give it another go, but a guide like this would be invaluable.
Oddskar 5y ago
I’ve watched five episodes. It didn’t get better.

megablast 5y ago

Did you love all the books?? Because the books he wrote in the 80s were very different to the ones in the 50s. Completely different. And awful imho.

malermeister 5y ago
Ah! I was referring to the original trilogy when I said "the books"
orwin 5y ago
The only books he wrote in the 80s i did not like are "prelude to Foundation" and "Forward the Foundation", and "Foundation and Earth" was pretty disappointing too. And having re-read the originals (and not the translation) recently, with my new outlook and all the books i've read since, i'd say that even those are written better than the two first Foundation books (that i love). I'd say the "Cave of steel" was the best written of his books from the 50s, a bit better than "Naked Sun" and "Second Foundation", or at least better paced. But his best books are either "Foundation's edge" or "Robots and Empire", at least to me.

whazor 5y ago

But I completely understand why went with the current direction. I believe they are not replacing the high level narrative, but they are slowing down for making something that resonates emotionally. When producing television, you work with actors, screenplay, and a story. I believe you cannot make good TV with replacing actors at the speed of Asimov. I also believe that Asimov books allow for romance subplots, but they were 'skipped'.

rockemsockem 5y ago
A slowed down narrative to fit into the greater Foundation narrative is exactly how Foundation should be adapted. Unfortunately the show's narrative is completely ridiculous. Nothing makes rationale sense. It seems that no character can even walk down a hallway without something going awfully wrong and things get resolved by never-before-mentioned magical plot elements falling in place.
watwut 5y ago
Heterosexual romance requires female characters, which is not exactly what Foundation would be full of.