In an alternate timeline, in 1969 a Soviet cosmonaut, Alexei Leonov, becomes the first human to land on the Moon. This outcome devastates morale at NASA, but also catalyzes an American effort to catch up. With the Soviet Union emphasizing diversity by including a woman in subsequent landings, the United States is forced to match pace, training women and minorities who were largely excluded from the initial decades of U.S. space exploration.
TV show's Ratings
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" A new gold rush begins."
| Country | |
| Runtime | 48 min – 1 hr 16 min |
| Premiere: World | February 19, 2021 |
| Premiere: USA | October 15, 2019 |
| Channel | Apple TV+ (United States) |
| Digital: World | November 1, 2019 |
| Parental Advisory | Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking, Profanity, ... |
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| Production Companies | |
Description
In an alternative version of 1969, the Soviet Union beats the United States to the Moon, and the space race continues on for decades with still grander challenges and goals.Сast and Crew
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- The premiere of “For All Mankind” landed on November 1, 2019 on Apple TV+ as one of the service’s early flagship titles, so discussion of the show was closely tied to early perceptions of the platform itself.
- The series has rolled out season-by-season on Apple TV+: Season 1 (2019), Season 2 (2021), Season 3 (2022), Season 4 (2023); that cadence kept audience attention returning at each new launch and sustained long-tail conversation between seasons.
- Early audience and critical reaction often pointed to a deliberate pace and character-focused drama as more prominent than “big” sci-fi spectacle, while later seasons were more frequently praised for escalating stakes and larger alternate-history inflection points.
- Viewer reception strengthened over time through word of mouth: it developed a reputation as a show that may not spike instantly at premiere but grows as more seasons accumulate and new viewers come in via recommendations.
- Reviews and online discussion consistently noted that the show encourages renewed interest in real-world NASA history and the Space Race, sending viewers to documentaries, biographies, and historical explainers to compare facts with the series’ alternate assumptions.
- Because it streams episodically, audience engagement centered on week-to-week conversation, theory-building about timeline divergences, and predictions about political and technological ripple effects—helping keep it visible between episodes.
- Its broader impact includes reinforcing “alternate history” as a viable prestige-TV mode where science fiction is driven by political and social drama rather than only technology-forward spectacle.
- The show was frequently cited as evidence that Apple TV+ could compete in the prestige drama space; that, in turn, influenced how audiences judged the platform’s overall value beyond library size.
- Season premieres repeatedly acted as catalysts for debate about cultural change and equality within an alternate-history framework, with viewers arguing over where the series feels historically plausible versus intentionally accelerated for drama.
- A notable audience “aftereffect” is its commonly shared viewing advice: many fans frame it as a series that “opens up” over time, shaping expectations and helping newcomers stick with the slower early stretch.
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Friends comments and ratings
It is unlikely that you will find an alternative story about the space race here. Rather, an alternative history in the genre of "feminist surrealism", with a constant emphasis on the fact that women become ship captains, flight control center commanders, lesbian ship commanders, etc.
The second season is still just as good as the first. A little more relationship, but still space and science. And all this against the backdrop of the unfolding Cold War. Which is nice, without any special cranberries (although I laughed at the funeral borscht). Still the best AI in a long time
Correct alternative history. Somewhat slow at first (but with a miraculous landing on the moon in the first episode), with each episode picking up pace and maintaining tension. We are waiting for the second season.
Many people ask the question "What if?", so this is a good example of the artistic vision of "what if?" in the space race everything was different and went according to a different scenario.
This is an alternate NASA history in which America lost the space race. Stories of people who connected their lives with NASA. The daily hard work of engineers, mission managers, astronauts and how this work affects their personal lives.
An alternative history of the space race, which did not stop at the end of the last century but continued further, sounds like a very interesting concept, and the first episode only confirms this!
The first half of the season was interesting. A little drawn out, but thoroughly – better than the recent "Mars", where the most interesting things were left behind the scenes. And then there is the feminism of a healthy person – it is discussed, and not just stuffed into the viewer until they choke.
I kind of understand that the first season was built better. But there’s such an ending that I can’t remain indifferent. Great series.
I don’t know why I found it boring the first time I watched it. The dramaturgy is well constructed. Some moments are infuriating, but so many characters with real dramatic arcs are a win. And space. Space makes everything better)))
The first season, in hindsight, is one of the best things about alternate history. The second one let us down in this sense, they tried to do the same as the first one, but several dramas played out of nowhere ruined the atmosphere.
I really like the theme of the series – I love viola. history, and space. Race is an interesting topic. The topics of feminism and homosexuality are appropriate here, but I would like more time to be devoted to space, and not to all sorts of social topics.
Interesting alternative reality. I liked the second season even more, about how the competition would take place in outer space.
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