The first crewed mission to the Moon during the Space Race in the late 1960s was a global success for NASA and the United States. This drama poses the question: "What if the Space Race had never ended?" In an alternate timeline, 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 US is forced to match pace, training women and minorities who were largely excluded from the initial decades of US space exploration.
Lenny Jacobson as Wayne Cobb, Molly's pot smoking artist husband
Mark Ivanir as Mikhail Mikhailovich Vasiliev, Soviet cosmonaut
Episodes
Production
Development
According to Ronald D. Moore, the idea of the show came about during lunch with former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, when they discussed the possibility of an alternate history in which the Soviets reached the Moon before the Americans. On December 15, 2017, it was announced that Apple had given the production a one-season series order. The series was created by Ronald D. Moore. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi will jointly script and executive produce the drama. Maril Davis acted as Executive Producer. Production companies involved with the series are to include Sony Pictures Television and Tall Ship Productions. On October 5, 2018, it was announced that the series had been officially titled For All Mankind.
Casting
In August 2018, it was announced that Joel Kinnaman, Michael Dorman, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten, and Wrenn Schmidt had been cast in main roles and that Eric Ladin, Arturo Del Puerto, and Rebecca Wisocky would appear in a recurring capacity. On October 5, 2018, it was reported that Jodi Balfour had been cast in a series regular role.
Filming
Principal photography for the series commenced in August 2018 in Los Angeles, California. In March 2019, The New York Times reported that filming had concluded. The series was renewed for a second season in October 2019.
Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 73% approval rating with an average rating of 6.91/10, based on 50 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though it shoots for the moon and falls somewhere in orbit, For All Mankinds impressive vision of history has the potential for real liftoff if it leans into the things that set it apart instead of settling for more of the same." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
