Apple TV's latest sci-fi series, 'Star City,' has quickly become a streaming hit, garnering strong reviews from critics and achieving high viewership numbers.

The series, a spinoff of the popular 'For All Mankind,' premiered its first two episodes on Friday, May 29, with new episodes scheduled for release every Friday until July 10.

'Star City' has already climbed to No.

4 on Apple TV's global rankings for its Top 10 TV Shows list, according to FlixPatrol.

It holds the same position in the United States and is also a top-five performer in several other territories, including the UK, Canada, and Australia.

This immediate success highlights the audience's interest in the expanding 'For All Mankind' universe.

Critical Reception for Star City

The series launched with a near-perfect score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, a rating that places it favorably alongside its parent series, 'For All Mankind,' which scored 90% for its most recent season.

Critics have praised 'Star City' for its ability to appeal to existing fans while also establishing its own identity, despite its narrative being described as a slower burn.

Katie Doll of CBR noted that the new show successfully revisits the core elements that made the original series effective, calling it a "surprising win." Doll's review highlighted that 'Star City' "returns to the fundamentals of what made For All Mankind work in the first place, but with a Soviet-centered focus." She further described the series as "dark, twisted and, dare to say, bolder than what For All Mankind has been putting out in its Mars era."

Behind the Iron Curtain

The spinoff is a creation of Ben Nedivi, Matt Wolpert, and Ronald D.

Moore.

It features a cast including Rhys Ifans ('House of the Dragon'), Anna Maxwell Martin ('Motherland'), Agnes O'Casey ('Black Doves'), Alice Englert ('Bad Behaviour'), Solly McLeod ('House of the Dragon'), Adam Nagaitis ('Chernobyl'), Ruby Ashbourne Serkis ('I, Jack Wright'), Josef Davies ('Andor'), and Priya Kansara ('Bridgerton').

Apple TV describes 'Star City' as a "propulsive, paranoid thriller" that revisits a pivotal moment in the alternate history of the space race: when the Soviet Union became the first nation to land a man on the moon.

The series offers a unique perspective by exploring the story from "behind the Iron Curtain," focusing on the lives of cosmonauts, engineers, and intelligence officers within the Soviet space program and the risks they undertook for human advancement.

Wolpert and Nedivi serve as showrunners and executive produce alongside Moore, Andrew Chambliss, Steve Oster, and Maril Davis of Tall Ship Productions.

Sony Pictures Television is the producer.

'Star City' is currently available for streaming on Apple TV.