Movies / TV Shows

[Kryptonic]

Saw this and started watching it today…. Thought of you Bone.

[Superbone]

lol sorry I’m a nerd…

You heard there's a new Tron movie coming out, right?

[Kryptonic]

lol sorry I’m a nerd…

You heard there's a new Tron movie coming out, right?

You betchya! Just curious how it’s continues when Sam and quoras actors aren’t looking to return.

The last soundtrack is my favorite of all time and think Trent Reznor (nine inch nails) scoring it witch a dark tone.

[AmareIsGod]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

[Kryptonic]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

I tried telling yall. lol
Really liked the second season.

[Mori Chu]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

I read and loved all the Foundation books, and I just can't get past how much the TV show bears almost zero resemblance to the book story. It's just a completely different plot and set of characters entirely. Oh well. I would not dare to tell others whether or not they should enjoy the show, but it isn't for me. I watched all of Season 1 but can't bring myself to watch Season 2.

[Superbone]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

I tried telling yall. lol
Really liked the second season.

Hey, I watched the whole thing too. Will there be a third?

ETA: Just researched and yes, already filming.

[Superbone]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

I read and loved all the Foundation books, and I just can't get past how much the TV show bears almost zero resemblance to the book story. It's just a completely different plot and set of characters entirely. Oh well. I would not dare to tell others whether or not they should enjoy the show, but it isn't for me. I watched all of Season 1 but can't bring myself to watch Season 2.

Apparently, it's good I didn't read the books. Sounds like it ruined it for you. Is it not possible to watch it as a whole different story?

[AmareIsGod]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

I tried telling yall. lol
Really liked the second season.

Hey, I watched the whole thing too. Will there be a third?

ETA: Just researched and yes, already filming.

They are hoping to do a minimum of 4 with the ultimate goal of 8 seasons.

[AmareIsGod]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

I read and loved all the Foundation books, and I just can't get past how much the TV show bears almost zero resemblance to the book story. It's just a completely different plot and set of characters entirely. Oh well. I would not dare to tell others whether or not they should enjoy the show, but it isn't for me. I watched all of Season 1 but can't bring myself to watch Season 2.

Aren't the books short stories or something from the 1950s? It's difficult to marry yourself to that dated of source material, 100%, with how much technology and science have evolved since then. I know they took a lot of liberties with the series. David Goyer does tremendous work with character building through so many of his endeavors (he's the showrunner for Foundation. I know he pushed hard to ensure they made it a series instead of a movie. Great call!).

Do you think, having no context into the short 1950s books you mention, that you probably would have enjoyed the series more?

[AmareIsGod]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

I read and loved all the Foundation books, and I just can't get past how much the TV show bears almost zero resemblance to the book story. It's just a completely different plot and set of characters entirely. Oh well. I would not dare to tell others whether or not they should enjoy the show, but it isn't for me. I watched all of Season 1 but can't bring myself to watch Season 2.

Apparently, it's good I didn't read the books. Sounds like it ruined it for you. Is it not possible to watch it as a whole different story?

I guess I'm glad I didn't read the books as well. Coming from a HUGE fan of The Expanse, I'm finding the character building amazing, the special effects to be fantastic and the acting wonderful. The Expanse had some cringe worthy acting at times, especially when James Holden was acting in the earlier seasons. Other than that, another fantastic Sci-Fi series. Glad I ran into Foundation to scratch that itch!

[Superbone]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

I read and loved all the Foundation books, and I just can't get past how much the TV show bears almost zero resemblance to the book story. It's just a completely different plot and set of characters entirely. Oh well. I would not dare to tell others whether or not they should enjoy the show, but it isn't for me. I watched all of Season 1 but can't bring myself to watch Season 2.

Apparently, it's good I didn't read the books. Sounds like it ruined it for you. Is it not possible to watch it as a whole different story?

I guess I'm glad I didn't read the books as well. Coming from a HUGE fan of The Expanse, I'm finding the character building amazing, the special effects to be fantastic and the acting wonderful. The Expanse had some cringe worthy acting at times, especially when James Holden was acting in the earlier seasons. Other than that, another fantastic Sci-Fi series. Glad I ran into Foundation to scratch that itch!

I've tried The Expanse a couple times but it hasn't grabbed me. Might have to give it another chance. Many seasons, right? I guess it has ended? Were they able to end it well? My all-time favorite sci-fi series is the Battlestar Galactica reboot. Will have to watch that again someday.

[AmareIsGod]

Foundation. AppleTV. Just started episode 5. Amazing series!

I read and loved all the Foundation books, and I just can't get past how much the TV show bears almost zero resemblance to the book story. It's just a completely different plot and set of characters entirely. Oh well. I would not dare to tell others whether or not they should enjoy the show, but it isn't for me. I watched all of Season 1 but can't bring myself to watch Season 2.

Apparently, it's good I didn't read the books. Sounds like it ruined it for you. Is it not possible to watch it as a whole different story?

I guess I'm glad I didn't read the books as well. Coming from a HUGE fan of The Expanse, I'm finding the character building amazing, the special effects to be fantastic and the acting wonderful. The Expanse had some cringe worthy acting at times, especially when James Holden was acting in the earlier seasons. Other than that, another fantastic Sci-Fi series. Glad I ran into Foundation to scratch that itch!

I've tried The Expanse a couple times but it hasn't grabbed me. Might have to give it another chance. Many seasons, right? I guess it has ended? Were they able to end it well? My all-time favorite sci-fi series is the Battlestar Galactica reboot. Will have to watch that again someday.

It has many seasons, and it ends well, with (mostly) closure. Believe me, my wife and I had to watch it twice. The first time around, we got about 3 episodes in and it didn't catch our interest. Then I kept hearing, years later, that it is one of the best modern Sci-Fi series and that you have to give it a little time to take off. They were right.

Here's a good summary from Perplexity:

The Expanse does significantly improve after the first few episodes, with Episode 4 ("CQB") widely considered the turning point where the show begins to captivate viewers. The initial episodes focus heavily on world-building and establishing the complex political dynamics between Earth, Mars, and the Belt, which can make the early viewing experience feel slow.

Key Turning Points

Episode 4-5: Most fans agree that if you're not hooked by the end of episode 5, the show might not be for you. The story picks up considerable momentum once the crew obtains the Rocinante spacecraft.

Episode 8: This episode delivers significant payoffs for those who paid attention to the previous episodes' setup.

Why Early Episodes Feel Slow

The deliberate pacing of early episodes serves several purposes:
- Establishing the complex political landscape
- Introducing the unique physics and technology of the world
- Setting up character dynamics and motivations

Viewing Requirements
The show demands focused attention to be fully appreciated. Many viewers report enjoying it much more on a second viewing when they could catch all the details. It's not a show that works well with distractions like checking your phone.

Production Quality Note

The early episodes were produced under SyFy's budget before Amazon took over, which affects the production value. However, the scientific accuracy and attention to detail remain consistent throughout.

If you decide to continue watching, the series develops into what many consider the best science fiction show of the past two decades, featuring impressive space battles, complex political intrigue, and strong character development.

[Superbone]

Thanks, man. I'll definitely give it another shot and that helps lay it out greatly! I will push through episode 5 this time. I don't think I got through even the first two before.

[Mori Chu]

Aren't the books short stories or something from the 1950s? It's difficult to marry yourself to that dated of source material, 100%, with how much technology and science have evolved since then. I know they took a lot of liberties with the series. David Goyer does tremendous work with character building through so many of his endeavors (he's the showrunner for Foundation. I know he pushed hard to ensure they made it a series instead of a movie. Great call!).

Do you think, having no context into the short 1950s books you mention, that you probably would have enjoyed the series more?

I believe the book trilogy, or at least the first book ("Foundation"), was originally a collection of chapters published one at a time in some science magazine over the course of a few years. I read the books as a kid and again multiple times throughout my life. Let me try to describe the books in a way that won't spoil much of anything for someone who may read them or may watch the TV show. I will still use spoiler tags out of courtesy.

Spoiler: show/hide

The first book, Foundation, has a beginning setup over the first few chapters that sets up the whole big story arc. The idea is that a group of librarians and scientists will be sent to a remote planet named Terminus to set up a compendium of all human knowledge to safeguard and protect it. This will be called the "Foundation." The scientist who founds the Foundation, Hari Seldon, has also invented a new branch of mathematics called psychohistory which he believes enables him to calculate and predict the broad course of future events. He believes he needs to create this Foundation to protect human discovery and scientific advancement because the current Galactic empire will destroy itself and set humanity back for many millenia. But by preserving human knowledge, Seldon and his Foundation can help humanity restore itself within a much shorter time, around a thousand years. (I have just spoiled the first 2 chapters of the first Foundation book, and the first episode of the TV series.)

The rest of the first book tells of various events that happen on the Foundation planet of Terminus. They face various crises that they need to navigate out of. Most of the problems are political or military, and they are often solved by great smart men, e.g. the mayor of Terminus or some scientist or some merchant or trader or whomever, coming up with a very clever solution to negotiate or talk or maneuver to defuse the situation and save the day. The book "jumps" forward in time every 50-60 pages, taking up events many decades later. So we lose all of our characters each time and develop a completely new set. The past characters are long dead and fallen into legend or history by then. The original founder of the Foundation, Hari Seldon, is long dead for most of these events, though he does make some video recordings of himself that auto-play themselves at various moments in future history.

Here's where the TV show fails me. (about to vaguely mention some Season 1 plot stuff) They don't seem to want to really commit to the "time jump" thing. They try to keep mostly the same characters around for the entirety of the story. This doesn't really make sense with the time jumping, and the time jumping is necessary for the story to progress, since it will take 1000 years for humanity and the Foundation to recover. So they come up with ridiculous reasons why characters would not die or could stay alive, like, they cryo-freeze themselves, or they reanimate as a robot, or they time travel, or they clone themselves, or whatever stupid thing. But that's not how the books go, and I don't like it.

Another thing I don't like about the TV show is, they seem to have a lot of forced diversity that I don't think lands well. The books are admittedly way too white and male. That is bad. And I support some amount of rethinking of such things when making a new adaptation of a story. But I think they overdo this in the Foundation show, and in some cases it distracts me from the story. Not the most progressive thing to say, but, there, I said it.

Also, the TV show has almost the complete opposite approach to tension and conflict resolution as Asimov's books. Asimov loves the power of the mind; he loves when a smart protagonist saves the day by being clever, by using his / her wits, by talking their way out of things, by negotiating, compromising, outmaneuvering. The TV show has a bunch of laser battles and spaceship explosions. Lasers and explosions can be cool, but that isn't what Foundation is supposed to be. I hear some people say this same criticism of the recent Star Trek efforts. Good old Trek was not usually about explosions; it was about Kirk or Spock or Picard or Data coming up with a clever plan and using smarts and engineering and teamwork to execute that plan.

So it isn't an awful show. But it really just is not Foundation. It doesn't seem to get what the original story was about, or want to try to preserve its essence or soul or themes at all. Those are my 2c.

[AmareIsGod]

Aren't the books short stories or something from the 1950s? It's difficult to marry yourself to that dated of source material, 100%, with how much technology and science have evolved since then. I know they took a lot of liberties with the series. David Goyer does tremendous work with character building through so many of his endeavors (he's the showrunner for Foundation. I know he pushed hard to ensure they made it a series instead of a movie. Great call!).

Do you think, having no context into the short 1950s books you mention, that you probably would have enjoyed the series more?

I believe the book trilogy, or at least the first book ("Foundation"), was originally a collection of chapters published one at a time in some science magazine over the course of a few years. I read the books as a kid and again multiple times throughout my life. Let me try to describe the books in a way that won't spoil much of anything for someone who may read them or may watch the TV show. I will still use spoiler tags out of courtesy.

Spoiler: show/hide

The first book, Foundation, has a beginning setup over the first few chapters that sets up the whole big story arc. The idea is that a group of librarians and scientists will be sent to a remote planet named Terminus to set up a compendium of all human knowledge to safeguard and protect it. This will be called the "Foundation." The scientist who founds the Foundation, Hari Seldon, has also invented a new branch of mathematics called psychohistory which he believes enables him to calculate and predict the broad course of future events. He believes he needs to create this Foundation to protect human discovery and scientific advancement because the current Galactic empire will destroy itself and set humanity back for many millenia. But by preserving human knowledge, Seldon and his Foundation can help humanity restore itself within a much shorter time, around a thousand years. (I have just spoiled the first 2 chapters of the first Foundation book, and the first episode of the TV series.)

The rest of the first book tells of various events that happen on the Foundation planet of Terminus. They face various crises that they need to navigate out of. Most of the problems are political or military, and they are often solved by great smart men, e.g. the mayor of Terminus or some scientist or some merchant or trader or whomever, coming up with a very clever solution to negotiate or talk or maneuver to defuse the situation and save the day. The book "jumps" forward in time every 50-60 pages, taking up events many decades later. So we lose all of our characters each time and develop a completely new set. The past characters are long dead and fallen into legend or history by then. The original founder of the Foundation, Hari Seldon, is long dead for most of these events, though he does make some video recordings of himself that auto-play themselves at various moments in future history.

Here's where the TV show fails me. (about to vaguely mention some Season 1 plot stuff) They don't seem to want to really commit to the "time jump" thing. They try to keep mostly the same characters around for the entirety of the story. This doesn't really make sense with the time jumping, and the time jumping is necessary for the story to progress, since it will take 1000 years for humanity and the Foundation to recover. So they come up with ridiculous reasons why characters would not die or could stay alive, like, they cryo-freeze themselves, or they reanimate as a robot, or they time travel, or they clone themselves, or whatever stupid thing. But that's not how the books go, and I don't like it.

Another thing I don't like about the TV show is, they seem to have a lot of forced diversity that I don't think lands well. The books are admittedly way too white and male. That is bad. And I support some amount of rethinking of such things when making a new adaptation of a story. But I think they overdo this in the Foundation show, and in some cases it distracts me from the story. Not the most progressive thing to say, but, there, I said it.

Also, the TV show has almost the complete opposite approach to tension and conflict resolution as Asimov's books. Asimov loves the power of the mind; he loves when a smart protagonist saves the day by being clever, by using his / her wits, by talking their way out of things, by negotiating, compromising, outmaneuvering. The TV show has a bunch of laser battles and spaceship explosions. Lasers and explosions can be cool, but that isn't what Foundation is supposed to be. I hear some people say this same criticism of the recent Star Trek efforts. Good old Trek was not usually about explosions; it was about Kirk or Spock or Picard or Data coming up with a clever plan and using smarts and engineering and teamwork to execute that plan.

So it isn't an awful show. But it really just is not Foundation. It doesn't seem to get what the original story was about, or want to try to preserve its essence or soul or themes at all. Those are my 2c.

I'll check out the spoilers when we wrap up the 2 seasons (which, based on how we binge, won't be long). Fair to say though that you have a lot more context and knowledge of the source material so you likely have made some great observations in the spoiler section that I will surely revisit soon!

[Superbone]

Aren't the books short stories or something from the 1950s? It's difficult to marry yourself to that dated of source material, 100%, with how much technology and science have evolved since then. I know they took a lot of liberties with the series. David Goyer does tremendous work with character building through so many of his endeavors (he's the showrunner for Foundation. I know he pushed hard to ensure they made it a series instead of a movie. Great call!).

Do you think, having no context into the short 1950s books you mention, that you probably would have enjoyed the series more?

I believe the book trilogy, or at least the first book ("Foundation"), was originally a collection of chapters published one at a time in some science magazine over the course of a few years. I read the books as a kid and again multiple times throughout my life. Let me try to describe the books in a way that won't spoil much of anything for someone who may read them or may watch the TV show. I will still use spoiler tags out of courtesy.

Spoiler: show/hide

The first book, Foundation, has a beginning setup over the first few chapters that sets up the whole big story arc. The idea is that a group of librarians and scientists will be sent to a remote planet named Terminus to set up a compendium of all human knowledge to safeguard and protect it. This will be called the "Foundation." The scientist who founds the Foundation, Hari Seldon, has also invented a new branch of mathematics called psychohistory which he believes enables him to calculate and predict the broad course of future events. He believes he needs to create this Foundation to protect human discovery and scientific advancement because the current Galactic empire will destroy itself and set humanity back for many millenia. But by preserving human knowledge, Seldon and his Foundation can help humanity restore itself within a much shorter time, around a thousand years. (I have just spoiled the first 2 chapters of the first Foundation book, and the first episode of the TV series.)

The rest of the first book tells of various events that happen on the Foundation planet of Terminus. They face various crises that they need to navigate out of. Most of the problems are political or military, and they are often solved by great smart men, e.g. the mayor of Terminus or some scientist or some merchant or trader or whomever, coming up with a very clever solution to negotiate or talk or maneuver to defuse the situation and save the day. The book "jumps" forward in time every 50-60 pages, taking up events many decades later. So we lose all of our characters each time and develop a completely new set. The past characters are long dead and fallen into legend or history by then. The original founder of the Foundation, Hari Seldon, is long dead for most of these events, though he does make some video recordings of himself that auto-play themselves at various moments in future history.

Here's where the TV show fails me. (about to vaguely mention some Season 1 plot stuff) They don't seem to want to really commit to the "time jump" thing. They try to keep mostly the same characters around for the entirety of the story. This doesn't really make sense with the time jumping, and the time jumping is necessary for the story to progress, since it will take 1000 years for humanity and the Foundation to recover. So they come up with ridiculous reasons why characters would not die or could stay alive, like, they cryo-freeze themselves, or they reanimate as a robot, or they time travel, or they clone themselves, or whatever stupid thing. But that's not how the books go, and I don't like it.

Another thing I don't like about the TV show is, they seem to have a lot of forced diversity that I don't think lands well. The books are admittedly way too white and male. That is bad. And I support some amount of rethinking of such things when making a new adaptation of a story. But I think they overdo this in the Foundation show, and in some cases it distracts me from the story. Not the most progressive thing to say, but, there, I said it.

Also, the TV show has almost the complete opposite approach to tension and conflict resolution as Asimov's books. Asimov loves the power of the mind; he loves when a smart protagonist saves the day by being clever, by using his / her wits, by talking their way out of things, by negotiating, compromising, outmaneuvering. The TV show has a bunch of laser battles and spaceship explosions. Lasers and explosions can be cool, but that isn't what Foundation is supposed to be. I hear some people say this same criticism of the recent Star Trek efforts. Good old Trek was not usually about explosions; it was about Kirk or Spock or Picard or Data coming up with a clever plan and using smarts and engineering and teamwork to execute that plan.

So it isn't an awful show. But it really just is not Foundation. It doesn't seem to get what the original story was about, or want to try to preserve its essence or soul or themes at all. Those are my 2c.

I'll check out the spoilers when we wrap up the 2 seasons (which, based on how we binge, won't be long). Fair to say though that you have a lot more context and knowledge of the source material so you likely have made some great observations in the spoiler section that I will surely revisit soon!

I just read through it. I don’t think it spoils anything in season 2. Interesting read, Marty.

[Kryptonic]

Yea I can see where having knowledge of the books could taint your joy for the show.

The new Dune show is “meh” imho. I want it to be good but just feels flat and knowing that these events are set 10k years before Paul attrades, then who gives a crap about these guys? Knowing what we know about the dune movies ruins everything about these shows. They should have done something that enriches the movies in the current time. More than enough they could dig into.

Maybe it’s me and the ptsd I still have from Star Wars trying to prequel stuff. Rarely do prequels work.

[AmareIsGod]

Aren't the books short stories or something from the 1950s? It's difficult to marry yourself to that dated of source material, 100%, with how much technology and science have evolved since then. I know they took a lot of liberties with the series. David Goyer does tremendous work with character building through so many of his endeavors (he's the showrunner for Foundation. I know he pushed hard to ensure they made it a series instead of a movie. Great call!).

Do you think, having no context into the short 1950s books you mention, that you probably would have enjoyed the series more?

I believe the book trilogy, or at least the first book ("Foundation"), was originally a collection of chapters published one at a time in some science magazine over the course of a few years. I read the books as a kid and again multiple times throughout my life. Let me try to describe the books in a way that won't spoil much of anything for someone who may read them or may watch the TV show. I will still use spoiler tags out of courtesy.

Spoiler: show/hide

The first book, Foundation, has a beginning setup over the first few chapters that sets up the whole big story arc. The idea is that a group of librarians and scientists will be sent to a remote planet named Terminus to set up a compendium of all human knowledge to safeguard and protect it. This will be called the "Foundation." The scientist who founds the Foundation, Hari Seldon, has also invented a new branch of mathematics called psychohistory which he believes enables him to calculate and predict the broad course of future events. He believes he needs to create this Foundation to protect human discovery and scientific advancement because the current Galactic empire will destroy itself and set humanity back for many millenia. But by preserving human knowledge, Seldon and his Foundation can help humanity restore itself within a much shorter time, around a thousand years. (I have just spoiled the first 2 chapters of the first Foundation book, and the first episode of the TV series.)

The rest of the first book tells of various events that happen on the Foundation planet of Terminus. They face various crises that they need to navigate out of. Most of the problems are political or military, and they are often solved by great smart men, e.g. the mayor of Terminus or some scientist or some merchant or trader or whomever, coming up with a very clever solution to negotiate or talk or maneuver to defuse the situation and save the day. The book "jumps" forward in time every 50-60 pages, taking up events many decades later. So we lose all of our characters each time and develop a completely new set. The past characters are long dead and fallen into legend or history by then. The original founder of the Foundation, Hari Seldon, is long dead for most of these events, though he does make some video recordings of himself that auto-play themselves at various moments in future history.

Here's where the TV show fails me. (about to vaguely mention some Season 1 plot stuff) They don't seem to want to really commit to the "time jump" thing. They try to keep mostly the same characters around for the entirety of the story. This doesn't really make sense with the time jumping, and the time jumping is necessary for the story to progress, since it will take 1000 years for humanity and the Foundation to recover. So they come up with ridiculous reasons why characters would not die or could stay alive, like, they cryo-freeze themselves, or they reanimate as a robot, or they time travel, or they clone themselves, or whatever stupid thing. But that's not how the books go, and I don't like it.

Another thing I don't like about the TV show is, they seem to have a lot of forced diversity that I don't think lands well. The books are admittedly way too white and male. That is bad. And I support some amount of rethinking of such things when making a new adaptation of a story. But I think they overdo this in the Foundation show, and in some cases it distracts me from the story. Not the most progressive thing to say, but, there, I said it.

Also, the TV show has almost the complete opposite approach to tension and conflict resolution as Asimov's books. Asimov loves the power of the mind; he loves when a smart protagonist saves the day by being clever, by using his / her wits, by talking their way out of things, by negotiating, compromising, outmaneuvering. The TV show has a bunch of laser battles and spaceship explosions. Lasers and explosions can be cool, but that isn't what Foundation is supposed to be. I hear some people say this same criticism of the recent Star Trek efforts. Good old Trek was not usually about explosions; it was about Kirk or Spock or Picard or Data coming up with a clever plan and using smarts and engineering and teamwork to execute that plan.

So it isn't an awful show. But it really just is not Foundation. It doesn't seem to get what the original story was about, or want to try to preserve its essence or soul or themes at all. Those are my 2c.

I'll check out the spoilers when we wrap up the 2 seasons (which, based on how we binge, won't be long). Fair to say though that you have a lot more context and knowledge of the source material so you likely have made some great observations in the spoiler section that I will surely revisit soon!

I just read through it. I don’t think it spoils anything in season 2. Interesting read, Marty.

Now that you let me know it doesn't spoil anything, I gave it a peek.

Related to:

Asimov loves the power of the mind; he loves when a smart protagonist saves the day by being clever, by using his / her wits, by talking their way out of things, by negotiating, compromising, outmaneuvering.

Not sure if it's only because we're on episode 5 of the first season, but it's been a lot of cleverness, wits, etc. that I've seen. Not much in the way of epic space fights and space explosions. Honestly, there's been a lot of dialogue and character building which is probably why I've loved it. It is leagues better than the seemingly loved all over IMDB Silo, although very different types of Sci-fi.

[Superbone]

Aren't the books short stories or something from the 1950s? It's difficult to marry yourself to that dated of source material, 100%, with how much technology and science have evolved since then. I know they took a lot of liberties with the series. David Goyer does tremendous work with character building through so many of his endeavors (he's the showrunner for Foundation. I know he pushed hard to ensure they made it a series instead of a movie. Great call!).

Do you think, having no context into the short 1950s books you mention, that you probably would have enjoyed the series more?

I believe the book trilogy, or at least the first book ("Foundation"), was originally a collection of chapters published one at a time in some science magazine over the course of a few years. I read the books as a kid and again multiple times throughout my life. Let me try to describe the books in a way that won't spoil much of anything for someone who may read them or may watch the TV show. I will still use spoiler tags out of courtesy.

Spoiler: show/hide

The first book, Foundation, has a beginning setup over the first few chapters that sets up the whole big story arc. The idea is that a group of librarians and scientists will be sent to a remote planet named Terminus to set up a compendium of all human knowledge to safeguard and protect it. This will be called the "Foundation." The scientist who founds the Foundation, Hari Seldon, has also invented a new branch of mathematics called psychohistory which he believes enables him to calculate and predict the broad course of future events. He believes he needs to create this Foundation to protect human discovery and scientific advancement because the current Galactic empire will destroy itself and set humanity back for many millenia. But by preserving human knowledge, Seldon and his Foundation can help humanity restore itself within a much shorter time, around a thousand years. (I have just spoiled the first 2 chapters of the first Foundation book, and the first episode of the TV series.)

The rest of the first book tells of various events that happen on the Foundation planet of Terminus. They face various crises that they need to navigate out of. Most of the problems are political or military, and they are often solved by great smart men, e.g. the mayor of Terminus or some scientist or some merchant or trader or whomever, coming up with a very clever solution to negotiate or talk or maneuver to defuse the situation and save the day. The book "jumps" forward in time every 50-60 pages, taking up events many decades later. So we lose all of our characters each time and develop a completely new set. The past characters are long dead and fallen into legend or history by then. The original founder of the Foundation, Hari Seldon, is long dead for most of these events, though he does make some video recordings of himself that auto-play themselves at various moments in future history.

Here's where the TV show fails me. (about to vaguely mention some Season 1 plot stuff) They don't seem to want to really commit to the "time jump" thing. They try to keep mostly the same characters around for the entirety of the story. This doesn't really make sense with the time jumping, and the time jumping is necessary for the story to progress, since it will take 1000 years for humanity and the Foundation to recover. So they come up with ridiculous reasons why characters would not die or could stay alive, like, they cryo-freeze themselves, or they reanimate as a robot, or they time travel, or they clone themselves, or whatever stupid thing. But that's not how the books go, and I don't like it.

Another thing I don't like about the TV show is, they seem to have a lot of forced diversity that I don't think lands well. The books are admittedly way too white and male. That is bad. And I support some amount of rethinking of such things when making a new adaptation of a story. But I think they overdo this in the Foundation show, and in some cases it distracts me from the story. Not the most progressive thing to say, but, there, I said it.

Also, the TV show has almost the complete opposite approach to tension and conflict resolution as Asimov's books. Asimov loves the power of the mind; he loves when a smart protagonist saves the day by being clever, by using his / her wits, by talking their way out of things, by negotiating, compromising, outmaneuvering. The TV show has a bunch of laser battles and spaceship explosions. Lasers and explosions can be cool, but that isn't what Foundation is supposed to be. I hear some people say this same criticism of the recent Star Trek efforts. Good old Trek was not usually about explosions; it was about Kirk or Spock or Picard or Data coming up with a clever plan and using smarts and engineering and teamwork to execute that plan.

So it isn't an awful show. But it really just is not Foundation. It doesn't seem to get what the original story was about, or want to try to preserve its essence or soul or themes at all. Those are my 2c.

I'll check out the spoilers when we wrap up the 2 seasons (which, based on how we binge, won't be long). Fair to say though that you have a lot more context and knowledge of the source material so you likely have made some great observations in the spoiler section that I will surely revisit soon!

I just read through it. I don’t think it spoils anything in season 2. Interesting read, Marty.

Now that you let me know it doesn't spoil anything, I gave it a peek.

Related to:

Asimov loves the power of the mind; he loves when a smart protagonist saves the day by being clever, by using his / her wits, by talking their way out of things, by negotiating, compromising, outmaneuvering.

Not sure if it's only because we're on episode 5 of the first season, but it's been a lot of cleverness, wits, etc. that I've seen. Not much in the way of epic space fights and space explosions. Honestly, there's been a lot of dialogue and character building which is probably why I've loved it. It is leagues better than the seemingly loved all over IMDB Silo, although very different types of Sci-fi.

Silo has been putting me to sleep. Probably doesn't help that I watch it at the end of the day though. I'll go back to it after giving The Expanse another try. Watching S1E1 right now.