Was there ever a chance that Foundation wouldn't be dogshit? (And I say this as someone who hasn't watched it and probably won't.) I guess one of the things that I find difficult to imagine about adapting it is that the only real character in the series is Hari Seldon, and everyone else are basically cogs on a wheel. I've read the first three books in the series and the only characters I remember besides Seldon are the Mule and Han. And I only remember Han because I read Asimov long after I saw Star Wars. I remember plots and situations and lots of other things about Foundation, but characters just never seemed to matter. And in a highly character-driven format like serialized TV, I just don't see it working without threading a really tight needle. Then again, I know fuckall about screenwriting, so take that opinion with a grain of salt.
It looked really pretty. And I enjoy Lee Pace, and I enjoy Jared Harris. I would go as far as to say Jared Harris was the best thing about Mad Men and the best thing about The Expanse. But they kill him off in like Episode 2. Foundation was Gibbon fanfic. It reads like Gibbon fanfic. And yeah it was gonna be crap but I mean, at least everyone acknowledges that the source material is unadaptable so do what you want with it. They didn't do good stuff.