I'm trying to figure whether they would start with the main trilogy or the prequels.

The trilogy has super frequent cast changes. They might be able to do a season per book, but even then some of the books go through way too many characters to be comfortable for a format like that. Maybe do like a three-part episode per section in the books, in a sort of mini-miniseries? That condenses the dialog-heaviness and allows for some emphasis on the "action", although it would still be very cerebral compared to most series these days.

If they start with the prequels, they'd have a more stable cast. Not to mention, the prequels have a lot more action-y scenes and are a bit more fast-paced. The main downside is that they might lose audience if they go through the prequels and then do the main trilogy; many people would find the later seasons excessively boring, I think.

So I dunno. I can see ways where it might work, but it would have to be well-executed and planned out thoroughly. I think I'm going to try to be hesitantly optimistic, haha. We'll see what happens.

Everyone really hated Will Smith and "I Robot" but I've always maintained it at least captured the spirit of the robot stories, three laws, and the problems that can arise. I ask myself, what is the spirit of the Foundation series that could be captured in a similar way? I personally come up empty handed, hopefully these people can do better!

The movie started off as a completely unrelated (to the Asimov series) script.

http://www.screenwritersutopia.com/article/d19127d8

Interestingly, the article discusses how the same scriptwriter was involved in a Foundation adaptation, (that didn't seem to go anywhere.)

It wasn't bad at all, but maybe some people are put off by certain characters in roles that are not associated with them, like Stallone in Copland.

And, worse, it keeps changing main characters. No star actors. You can't even have an ensemble cast, the protagonists constantly change as the story progresses.

To be fair, the mini-series format has recently proven to be quite successful. Examples include Fargo and True Detective.

Honestly, I'm more concerned with the scale of the Foundation universe and timeline. If it's not well written and presented, viewers will easily lose track of the where and when.

why does that matter? works for black mirror

What's even more concerning is if you look at what Goyer & Friedman have done in the past, it's almost exclusively comic book and action movie stuff (and that track record is pretty spotty).

My expectations are low, unfortunately.

Mine too. Wither, Dune....

I agree - I would love to see a film, but I can't imagine how it'd work.

I imagine they would take a sort of "Cloud Atlas" approach.

That's not a comforting thought