5 ms·

Seems Apple is owning the quality Sci-Fi TV space now, "For All Mankind”, “Foundation”, “Severance”, “Silo” to name a few. Keeps my subscription intact for now.

Apocryphon 3y ago
There’s also “Extrapolations” which is dour climate change dystopia but the world-building is quite good.
api 3y ago
For All Mankind is great, and there's a fan theory that it's a prequel for The Expanse that really almost works after FAM season 4.
baq 3y ago
And in non-scifi department, Ted Lasso and Masters of the Air are quite good indeed! I'd say they've got the best quality shows of any platform right now.
- tiltowait 3y ago
  Ted Lasso has such a tonal shift across its seasons that it's definitely going to alienate a lot of people somewhere. The first season is a comedy with some poignant moments. The second is a comedic, yet poignant, drama. I've been told the third is a poignant drama with some comedy. As you can guess, they lost me after the second season, which I only finished due to momentum. Reading this thread, it's interesting how divisive Apple's streaming lineup is. Sure, that's par for the course with any media, but opinions seem even more varied with Apple's.
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    Isn't that a sign of good content? If you're making something interesting, it's not going to be the beige thing that everyone feels "meh" (no more positive, no more negative) about.
    - lotsofpulp 3y ago
      Yes, I find that I either really like or really dislike Apple TV+ media. Which I don’t mind, because it means they are taking risks. But it’s a near 50/50 ratio, not 10% good and 90% garbage, which would make me question paying for it.
- arethuza 3y ago
  "Masters of the Air" is excellent - not sure if I can really say I am "enjoying" it as its pretty harrowing, but it's certainly compelling viewing.
willis936 3y ago
Of these I've only watched Foundation and I was unhappy with it. Salvor "violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" Hardin solves every problem with punches and guns. The overall plot is the worst kind of mystery box and it totally drops the central themes of lifecycles of empires.
- baq 3y ago
  Foundation is probably the weakest of the lot! For All Mankind is good but gets too much drama and not enough tech later on, but it's still watchable.
  - GeekyBear 3y ago
    Foundation suffers from it's origins as a series of disjointed short stories in the pulp magazines of the era that were later lightly edited into books. They are chock full of generic characters standing around discussing interesting ideas with very little action. There was no way to turn it into a television show without major rewrites. However, Invasion is my call for the weakest scifi show they've done.
    - importantbrian 3y ago
      I actually really enjoyed season 1 of Invasion and then DNF'd season 2.
      - eszed 3y ago
        Hard agree. I never bothered to look it up, because we were so disappointed, but it was like they changed writers or show-runners to people who didn't appreciate the material, but everything we liked about the first season was changed. No more slow burn mystery, with lots of character-based world-building, and protagonists out of their depth putting things together from a limited perspective (with the audience usually one step - but only one - ahead of them). The second season is action heavy, with characters reduced to tropes who seem to have had a knowledge download and all become "special". I've seldom been more disappointed in a continuation of something I loved.
te_chris 3y ago
The latest season of For All Mankind has completely lost it. Foundation is questionable, but looks great. The expanse was better.
- anotherhue 3y ago
  Martian Daycare is the new nuking the fridge.
madeofpalk 3y ago
50% of Foundation is terrible. You missed out on Invasion which is also another sci-fi show they've got. Unfortuantely it's also terrible.
johnchristopher 3y ago
For All Mankind first two season were great, it was competence porn and the alternative timeline was fresh and cool. Season 3 and 4 are just space drama. Good actors are keeping the characters alive and that doesn't help the overall story (which is totally irrelevant since the end of season 2 anyway). That's my short take, I could be more nuanced but I don't have the time for a blog post :(.
- ThrowawayTestr 3y ago
  I agree but it's still worth watching. Apparently there's supposed to be 6 seasons in total.
rado 3y ago
+ Kim Jee-woon's “Dr. Brain” is great.
nerdjon 3y ago
I think going farther than that, they are going for owning the quality "nerdy" science-ish related content. See "See" as a good example to add to that list. Silo was incredible and I started working on the books because of that show. And the show that I was looking forward too every week "lessons in chemistry". Was so good and very charmingly nerdy. Some others like Prehistoric Planet, Hello Tomorrow (which wasnt great, but it had a certain charm too it), and whatever that D&D show was I can't remember the name of.
- mercutio2 3y ago
  The books decline in quality very, very sharply. So much so that after loving the first book, I almost didn’t watch the TV series because the last book seemed like it was phoned in by a ghost writer and left a bad taste in my moth about the competence and vision of the author. But the first book was great, and so is the show!

Apocryphon 3y ago

There’s also “Extrapolations” which is dour climate change dystopia but the world-building is quite good.

api 3y ago

For All Mankind is great, and there's a fan theory that it's a prequel for The Expanse that really almost works after FAM season 4.

baq 3y ago

And in non-scifi department, Ted Lasso and Masters of the Air are quite good indeed! I'd say they've got the best quality shows of any platform right now.

tiltowait 3y ago
Ted Lasso has such a tonal shift across its seasons that it's definitely going to alienate a lot of people somewhere. The first season is a comedy with some poignant moments. The second is a comedic, yet poignant, drama. I've been told the third is a poignant drama with some comedy. As you can guess, they lost me after the second season, which I only finished due to momentum. Reading this thread, it's interesting how divisive Apple's streaming lineup is. Sure, that's par for the course with any media, but opinions seem even more varied with Apple's.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Isn't that a sign of good content? If you're making something interesting, it's not going to be the beige thing that everyone feels "meh" (no more positive, no more negative) about.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    Yes, I find that I either really like or really dislike Apple TV+ media. Which I don’t mind, because it means they are taking risks. But it’s a near 50/50 ratio, not 10% good and 90% garbage, which would make me question paying for it.
arethuza 3y ago
"Masters of the Air" is excellent - not sure if I can really say I am "enjoying" it as its pretty harrowing, but it's certainly compelling viewing.

willis936 3y ago

Of these I've only watched Foundation and I was unhappy with it. Salvor "violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" Hardin solves every problem with punches and guns. The overall plot is the worst kind of mystery box and it totally drops the central themes of lifecycles of empires.

baq 3y ago
Foundation is probably the weakest of the lot! For All Mankind is good but gets too much drama and not enough tech later on, but it's still watchable.
- GeekyBear 3y ago
  Foundation suffers from it's origins as a series of disjointed short stories in the pulp magazines of the era that were later lightly edited into books. They are chock full of generic characters standing around discussing interesting ideas with very little action. There was no way to turn it into a television show without major rewrites. However, Invasion is my call for the weakest scifi show they've done.
  - importantbrian 3y ago
    I actually really enjoyed season 1 of Invasion and then DNF'd season 2.
    - eszed 3y ago
      Hard agree. I never bothered to look it up, because we were so disappointed, but it was like they changed writers or show-runners to people who didn't appreciate the material, but everything we liked about the first season was changed. No more slow burn mystery, with lots of character-based world-building, and protagonists out of their depth putting things together from a limited perspective (with the audience usually one step - but only one - ahead of them). The second season is action heavy, with characters reduced to tropes who seem to have had a knowledge download and all become "special". I've seldom been more disappointed in a continuation of something I loved.

te_chris 3y ago

The latest season of For All Mankind has completely lost it. Foundation is questionable, but looks great. The expanse was better.

anotherhue 3y ago
Martian Daycare is the new nuking the fridge.

madeofpalk 3y ago

50% of Foundation is terrible. You missed out on Invasion which is also another sci-fi show they've got. Unfortuantely it's also terrible.

johnchristopher 3y ago

For All Mankind first two season were great, it was competence porn and the alternative timeline was fresh and cool. Season 3 and 4 are just space drama. Good actors are keeping the characters alive and that doesn't help the overall story (which is totally irrelevant since the end of season 2 anyway). That's my short take, I could be more nuanced but I don't have the time for a blog post :(.

ThrowawayTestr 3y ago
I agree but it's still worth watching. Apparently there's supposed to be 6 seasons in total.

rado 3y ago

+ Kim Jee-woon's “Dr. Brain” is great.

nerdjon 3y ago

I think going farther than that, they are going for owning the quality "nerdy" science-ish related content. See "See" as a good example to add to that list. Silo was incredible and I started working on the books because of that show. And the show that I was looking forward too every week "lessons in chemistry". Was so good and very charmingly nerdy. Some others like Prehistoric Planet, Hello Tomorrow (which wasnt great, but it had a certain charm too it), and whatever that D&D show was I can't remember the name of.

mercutio2 3y ago
The books decline in quality very, very sharply. So much so that after loving the first book, I almost didn’t watch the TV series because the last book seemed like it was phoned in by a ghost writer and left a bad taste in my moth about the competence and vision of the author. But the first book was great, and so is the show!