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Foundation

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HungerMechanic:
Yes. I'm not going to go into a big hate rant against the show, because you can get that elsewhere. Plus, there are plenty of people enjoying the Foundation TV series, although they tend to be people who did not yet read the books.

My issue is that the fundamental premise of the books is like you say, Hari Seldon developed a macro-social-science that could see, in broad brush strokes, what would happen. But in the show, individuals seem to be pivotal. It's like "don't be on this spaceship, you're not supposed to be here in the plan," and maybe "have a baby with this egg because it needs to come out this way," "you're the only one who can go into the vault - it's meant for you," and so on.

Then, there's the violence. I mean, one of the most memorable aspects of the first crisis or so was how it was resolved without violence. It was clever and somewhat daring writing in a big galactic space opera with 'barbarian kingdoms' to resolve a matter through cleverness and non-violence. So let's throw that out because it's boring for TV. (Maybe they'll still do it, but not as cleanly as in the books.)

I get the Asimov was a very dry writer, especially in his earlier works. So any filmed adaptation was likely to have updated dialog, etc... But it's one thing to 'modernize,' and a whole nother thing to undermine the fundamental conceit of the series, which is psychohistory. If the first book was seen to be dry, then it could have been rushed through in like 4 - 5 episodes, and then you are in new situations with new and diverse characters and more planets and stuff.

Foundation series is one of the most important sci-fi works of all time. It influenced many of today's largest sci-fi properties. It needed to be treated with respect and dare I say, reverence. A slavish 1-for-1 adaption is not needed, but a deep understanding of the core themes is.

HungerMechanic:
EDIT:

I'd also ask: why adapt Foundation to TV? (We all know the reason - more subscribers for Apple TV).

From an artistic standpoint: why? We all know that the original novels had their ups and downs, their 'high points' that we all remember.

Series has already deviated from this.

I venture that it would have been worthwhile to create a modernized Foundation TV series that at least adhered structurally to the big 'revelations' and 'high points' as they proceeded in the book.

Then, new viewers could have at least seen why the books were popular and influential. The majesty of Trantor, the might of the old Galactic Empire, its subtle failings that were detected by some, Hari Seldon's interesting science, the creation of a repisitory of knowledge called the Foundation, the clever resolution to the first Seldon Crisis, the Time Vault, etc...

This could all proceed mostly as in the books. The characters and dialog could be way updated, and much of the pacing, but there are certain notes that must be played. The theme of psychohistory, a science of history, could also be played out at every level, from scenery to characters to plot structure. It's a great opportunity of a sci-fi concept to play with.

Today, if someone watched the series and then read the books, they might be very disappointed. Where are the Cleon clones? Where is all the religious stuff? It could turn new readers against the books, instead of creating a bridge from the present-day to the books.

tp4tissue:
All adaptations need wrangling, there are limits to what can be kept coherent for the television format.

A reader has unlimited time, and presumed interest to do some leg work on the imagination side, Television viewers typically do not.

I think the changes they made are appropriate.

HungerMechanic:
I know people who are watching it. With varying degrees of familiarity with the series. I would be interested to see what they think of the series by the end of the first season.

I don't want to trust my own opinion alone.

The show is introducing elements from other books in the series in order to flesh it out. It bothers me greatly that they are doing things out-of-sequence, outside of the story beats Asimov laid down. But maybe it is the best way to present the show to viewers who may be familiar / jaded with some or many of the series' basic conceits. We'll see how it wraps up at the end of the season, if all the changes were the best decision.

tp4tissue:
Hrrrrrrnnnnngngngngnghhhh...  WHYYYY   Why must they torture us like this..

This episode soooo gud''''   GDI..  damn cliffhangers..

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