The Official, Long Awaited, TV Shows Thread

After this clip was being posted around the other day having become hilariously topical

I've been watching the original series, hard to find but damn its good

Unrelentingly hilarious office comedy in the way that Space Force completely failed to be.

 

Actually, the sequel/prequel books are the ones I immediately felt being actually adaptable on screen. Whereas reading the original three books, I had a ghastly feeling of an old school BBC teleplay - scruffy costumes, wooden sets, washed out colors, endless dialogue. Being published in the 50s they really feel like it.

I very much hope the show to succeed but I feel quite conflicted about what the story might be. This article is exactly what I think about it:
https://lithub.com/will-the-foundation-series-finally-do-justice-to-the-novels-of-isaac-asimov/
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In the posthumously published memoir I. Asimov, the author wrote that “I have always estimated that any but the most trivial connection with Hollywood, however profitable it might seem at the moment, would end in disaster, and I have stayed away from the place. I have never regretted it either.”

 

I think that one way or another we are probably saying the same thing. The core trilogies (Foundation / Dune) are harder to do justice to in an on-screen adaptation, if you're of a "hard-core" mindset. Whereas the prequels/sequels written later might be easier to adapt without losing that initial impact that the book series had (same goes for LOTR I guess).

Reality is that no matter how much Asimov / Herbert / Tolkien may be lionised, the printed word is giving way to more visual media. This might suck for book fans, but unless you want stories like these to go the way of vinyl - niche, elitist, and basically irrelevant to the broadest audience - then there needs to be a way to work with the new way of doing things.

It would be interesting to see what those authors would do with a commission to script a high-budget, multi-season TV series. GoT has a bad rep for the way it ended (rightly so), but for the first season or two it was faithful to and very patient with the story arc of the author and relatively high budget and production values. The real problems (IMO) started when they ran out of books because JRRM couldn't be bothered to finish them, or the bits where he decided that some noodling about irrelevance was important.

 

I'm almost done with both seasons of Ted Lasso and I can't believe how good it is. Best show I've seen this year I think, just a happy comedy.

 

Tried Brand New Cherry Flavor on Netflix but I'm struggling to get into it. Just not sure the storyline and script is very good.

Really enjoying Squid Game. It gets pretty crazy with the games. The backgrounds of some of the characters and how it plays into the games and the situation is well written, without becoming too much of the story and the games itself. It's well balanced. Not for the squeamish.

 

Asimov only

The first season was great especially in the beginning, but somehow the second season felt really forced in the first two episodes - haven't continued from that...

 

Never heard of Squid Game, but that looks interesting. I'm going to have to check that out if I have some time.

Regards,
SB

 

Sure, as long as it does not mean doing it the I,Robot - way. I.e. complete crap.

It shouldn't have to require exploding planets and massive pyrotechnics either. Nowadays creating astonishing visuals is easier than ever, but gasoline explosions are 80s stuff.

On the movies thread I expressed concern about certain gender change - but then I saw this one still image and realized "holy crap, she actually looks right". There were practically no women at all in the books (sign of the publishing times of the books...), this might actually turn out pretty good after all.

 

It must be more than 35 years since I read Foundation so, truthfully, I don't remember a single thing about the books. A vague recollection about 'The Mule' but nothing else. I read the series back when I was reading a 2 or 3 books a week (something I managed pretty much throughout my teenage years!) and things I haven't read since tend to merge into one or be completely forgotten. It would be interesting to watch a show based on a major SF work which I wasn't in a position to be overly-critical about. However, Apple+ is a nope for me as I already spend more than enough money on cable/other streaming services, so looks as though I'll be missing this one.

Hopefully it will eventually arrive over a medium which I can watch!

 

I actually remember I Robot and Caves of Steel or something like that. One was the sequel to the other.

I guess I Robot was off the table since it's been made into a movie.

Also Foundation is suppose to take place over centuries or at least decades so it's an epic a la Game of Thrones.

 

Not exactly sequel, but I Robot was a collection of short stories that established Asimov's robot lore. Caves of Steel is an sf-detective story that is placed in the same universe close to one millennium later.

Actually tens of thousands of years - Asimov linked the Foundation universe to the robot stories universe in his last works.

I also read them and everything else in the late 80s (haven't re-read since then). I was blessed with somewhat special memory, I remember amazingly well most of the stuff I read and studied back then - I wish I could still learn things like that but now I'm pretty standard middle aged geezer.

 

The first couple of Foundation episodes seem to be around, anyone watch them?

 

I just finished "Invincible" and I can't wait for the second season. I know it will be released sometime in 2022, but my heart is on fire!
Does anyone know a site where you can pay to read this comic series? I'd like to find the original plot and character roster to be more cultured about it.

 

First one done.
Well....
They certainly took liberties. I don't want to go there now, this is what we got and that's it.
Biggest dislike is the overdone drama - they don't feel like people in living universe, they feel like actors.

 

Thanks, I'll put it off for a bit then. I just figured out that Ted Lasso's second season has 12 episodes so now I'm stuck waiting in the middle of a binge, damn it.

Doom Patrol season 3 first 3 episodes are around too, LOTS of stuff!

 

Seems the reviews are positive but not raves yet.

That's assuming reviewers have only seen the first two episodes, not the first 4 or more.

But they seem to say visually very well done. Apple TV + is suppose to have the best 4K Dolby Vision picture quality, with the highest bitrates.

 

Yes, technically the Foundation is as beautiful as expected. Lots of badly illuminated rooms though, I wonder at what point during the 20 millenia into future they figure LED lighting is useless bullshit.

As it happens, just after watching the first episode, Man of Steel was airing on TV. I somehow never watched it before. Watched in disbelief the totally disproportionate carnage and pomposity of the last half an hour, wondering why the DC movies feel so soulless. And see ye, as the credits start to roll: David S Goyer. I didn't make the connection from the Foundation first look teaser but maybe there is one factor for Foundation feeling a bit overdone.

 

Okay, so skip this post if you don't think the Foundation should be compared to the books.

Spoiler: Rant

The Vault. Salvor Hardin is now some kind of ranger that is the only one able to approach it and discover something. :Facepalm:

Hyper jumps are nothing like the Asimov hyper jumps that should just happen in an instant, featured everywhere in his literature. Now there are some sort of cocoons and hibernation involved - and f"n spacers! The second I saw the first one I thought "oh no, don't say that is a spacer". But they just had to go there.

The religion stuff... Uh.

Cloned trinity-emperor. Okay whatever, no biggie really except probably will receive way too much screen time without real purpose other than displays of ruthlessness. Demerzel being just a nanny is hopefully a diversion for later development. God I hope so at least.

Seldon is too self-aware and pompous to be the wise and kind grandpa in wheelchair presented by the vault holograms. The trial was the only recognizable event from first book, everything else was pretty much just familiar names. Well the prime radiant was as expected, and Trantor of course is what it is.

I didn't hate it. I just hope it manages to get a bit more genuine emotion in it. A bit of afraid of what we get with mentalics. Mule was already mentioned...

 

Netflix have bought the rights to the Roald Dahl books...

 

Big Fan of Ted Lasso here … and it’s still absolutely great this season imho.

Sex Education also got a new season and I have absolutely loved that as well.

Also watched the new Final Space, good stuff too.

Oh and progressively less good stuff, Q Force was actually quite enjoyable (gets a lot of hate apparently) and Lucifer is something that just isn’t that great of a show but somehow I keep watching it. Not sure why though and this season was a pretty big stretch where I often thought ok now you’re really out of ideas.