Foundation season 3 is a huge hit for Apple TV+ with the series continuing to draw viewers as the season progresses. Fresh episodes of the sci-fi epic hit streaming in July, and it’s one of the most popular shows available with the season finale drawing close.
Speaking of sci-fi, the Apple TV+ thriller Invasion also found a large audience last week.
Complex and thrilling Foundation still earns high ratings
Foundation tells the story of a band of exiles struggling to save humanity during and after the fall of a Galactic Empire. The Apple TV+ series adapts Isaac Asimov’s groundbreaking novels from the 1940s and 1950s. Bringing seminal novels to the screen is always challenging, but Apple is nailing it. Season 2 earned a 100% critics approval rating from the review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, while season 3 has an 89% approval rating. And a large audience is tuning in.
Movie and TV search engine JustWatch publishes a weekly ratings list of the 10 most popular series in the U.S. on streaming services, and Foundation sits at No. 7 for the week of August 25 through August 31 (see chart below). Rival service Reelgood put the series in the No. 8 slot of popular streaming series the week of August 28 through September 3.
Chart: JustWatch
Ratings estimates from companies like JustWatch and Reelgood are necessary because streaming services rarely reveal how many people tune in to their offerings.
In the latest season, The Mule — a pirate armed with devastating mind-control powers — complicates the Cleonic Dynasty’s slow-motion collapse and the efforts of Hari Seldon’s Foundation to salvage what it can of humanity.
Nine episodes of Foundation season 3 are ready to stream now. The next should appear on Friday.
From deep space to Prime Time: Invasion sweeps into Apple TV+
It makes sense that a computer maker could produce top-quality science fiction, and Apple TV+ keeps delivering in this category.
Invasion is a sci-fi thriller that reimagines the classic alien invasion story through an intimate, character-driven lens. Rather than focusing solely on battles with extraterrestrials, the series follows multiple perspectives across the globe — from a small-town sheriff in America to a family in rural England, a soldier in Afghanistan, and a scientist in Japan — as they grapple with the sudden and mysterious arrival of a hostile alien force.
It’s a strategy that works, as Invasion season 3 is off to a good start after the August 22 premiere. JustWatch put the show in the No. 8 slot of its ratings list of the 10 most popular series in the U.S. on streaming services last week (see chart above).
The first three episodes of Invasion season 3 can be watched now on Apple TV+. The next is scheduled to appear on Friday. Plus, season one and two can be bingewatched.
Watch these and more on Apple TV+
Streaming highly rated series like Foundation and Invasion, plus many others, comes with a subscription to Apple TV+. The service is $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it at a discount via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle.
And Apple’s streaming video service also includes a library of drama, comedies, musicals, children’s shows, nature documentaries, etc.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
