Apple TV’s Foundation is an excellent replacement for Babylon 5, which has aged, but is still an excellent show. Foundation takes place across several timelines, focusing on a mathematician who predicts the fall of a galactic empire and is determined to preserve the knowledge of humankind. Apple TV is known for great sci-fi, but Foundation is Apple TV’s most ambitious sci-fi TV show yet.
The series is based on the stories by Isaac Asimov, but Foundation proves one thing about book adaptations, and that is that they are often best when capturing the spirit of the story, rather than being an exact copy. While Babylon 5 was an original story, the series was conceived as “a novel for television,” and the two shows have a lot in common.
Apple TV’s Foundation Is The Perfect Babylon 5 Replacement
Foundation and Babylon 5 focus on the slow collapse of a dominant order, while individuals try to shape what will come next. Destiny is central to both stories, as is the question of what makes a good leader and partnership, and both shows feature a complex antagonist that is easy to underestimate, with Foundation‘s The Mule and Babylon 5‘s Mr. Morden.
While Babylon 5 is a perfect sci-fi show from start to finish and was revolutionary at the time for its meticulously planned plot, its special effects look considerably dated now. Foundation offers the perfect replacement, as it is also an ambitious space opera spanning centuries and multiple worlds, and conveys many of the same themes but with updated visual effects.
Foundation Continues To Be One Of The Most Ambitious Sci-Fi Shows On TV
Foundation is defined by its ambition, as the source material was once thought to be unadaptable due to its complexity. Foundation perfectly executes the core themes and tones of the novels while emphasizing the most interesting characters. It is likely to remain one of the most ambitious sci-fi TV shows of all time for its sheer scale.
Foundation is not afraid to take risks and uses interesting narrative techniques to depict a subject. By using genetically identical clones to represent the Empire, the show provides a perfect visual reference for a long reign of authoritarian rulers. That said, while Foundation takes place on an epic scale, the show keeps returning to individual conflicts, just as Babylon 5 does.
Why Fans Of Babylon 5 Should Watch Foundation
Babylon 5 is a far-reaching story, but it keeps returning to its characters, whose conflicts often have an operatic feel, like the rivalry between Londo Mollari and G’Kar, which develops into something more nuanced and eventually heartbreaking. This slow-burning drama defines Babylon 5, and viewers used to being patient as the story unfolds may love Foundation as it uses a similar style.
Babylon 5 and Foundation’s Rotten Tomatoes Ratings | ||
Title | Rotten Tomatoes Critics Rating | Rotten Tomatoes Audience Rating |
Babylon 5 | – | 70% |
Foundation | 87% | 73% |
Both shows look into the future and explore the idea of control, with Babylon 5 presenting a “chosen one” storyline through a prophecy, and Foundation using mathematics to predict and evade catastrophe. Foundation rewrote the rules of science fiction and, at times, feels like a modern spiritual successor to Babylon 5, despite Foundation‘s source material being written earlier.
- Release Date
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September 23, 2021
- Network
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Apple TV+
- Showrunner
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David S. Goyer
- Directors
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Alex Graves, Roxann Dawson, Jennifer Phang, Mark Tonderai, Andrew Bernstein
- Writers
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Jane Espenson, Leigh Dana Jackson, Liz Phang, Eric Carrasco, David Kob, Addie Manis, Marcus Gardley, Lauren Bello, Olivia Purnell
