Philosophy
Popular science via "Cosmos" will return with a new outfit...more CGI, that is.
More than three decades after it aired, Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking, brilliant 13-part TV series Cosmos:A Personal Voyage will finally get a sequel.
Cosmos, which originally ran in 1980 and was rerun many times over the following decade, is widely regarded as one of the first, and best, TV shows to make science accessible to everyone. You can watch the show now on Hulu, but despite its brilliance it is still a show from more than 30 years ago, and you can tell — the special effects are primitive by today’s standards, but more importantly some of the content has been superseded by discoveries in the intervening years.
So, it’s high time someone made a sequel to it, and now someone is! In partnership with Sagan’s colleagues Ann Druyan (who is also his widow) and Steven Soter, Seth MacFarlane — yes, that Seth MacFarlane — is going to produce a new 13-part series to serve as a sequel and modern update to Sagan’s masterpiece.
Taking over the hosting duties will be none other than well-known astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who has served as host of NOVA ScienceNOW on PBS for the past five years, so he has plenty of experience making science accessible to the general public. It would be difficult to think of anyone who would be better able to succeed the late, great Carl Sagan.
The folks working on it will take their time and do it right — it’s not scheduled to air until sometime in 2013.
The producers of the show say the new series will tell “the story of how human beings began to comprehend the laws of nature and find our place in space and time.” They go on to boast: “It will take viewers to other worlds and travel across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest scale. The most profound scientific concepts will be presented with stunning clarity, uniting skepticism and wonder, and weaving rigorous science with the emotional and spiritual into a transcendent experience.”
That’s the good news. The bad — or at least, potentially bad — news is that, because of MacFarlane’s involvement, the series will air in prime time, and on Fox.
Now, in one way I’m all for showing it in prime time on a major network, because it’ll be that much more likely that people who routinely ignore the Discovery Channel, the Science Channel and, yes, PBS will actually see it.
I’m less thrilled, though, that it will have to compete with other, more mainstream prime-time shows — and it’ll be on Fox, which doesn’t have the greatest track record for giving shows a chance to pull their ratings up once they go down.
Now, maybe the fact that MacFarlane is involved — and Joss Whedon isn’t — will help. I certainly hope so.
- Neil Degrasse Tyson: Why The Cosmos Shouldn't Make You Feel Small
As you probably know, Carl Sagan's famous documentary series Cosmos is getting what I hope will be an impressive update/extension this year. Obviously, Sagan won't be narrating the documentary, so astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who was actually...
- A Coincidence?...maybe
"Oklahoma Fox affiliate cuts evolution from 'Cosmos' premiere" In what Oklahoma City's Fox 25 called an operator error, the station aired a local news promo over the show's content that discussed evolution. by Sudeshna Chowdhury March...
- "cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey"...airs March 9th
"Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why the new Cosmos matters so much" by Jason Shankel March 3rd, 2014 io9 This Sunday, March 9th, what is arguably the most important science show of all time returns to TV as Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts an all-new, updated...
- Neil Degrasse Tyson..."nova Sciencenow"--2nd Season
Neil deGrasse Tyson [cool jacket] Since the death of Carl Sagan, a vacuum was left when it came to popularizing science, but there are new individuals on the horizon. There is Brian Greene and now Neil deGrasse Tyson [Astrophysicist and Director of the...
- Neil Degrasse Tyson...new Representative
A few nights ago the local PBS station began to rebroadcast NOVA's four part series called Origins that attempted to explain the origins of the solar system with emphasis on Earth. Like the majority of these type of programs of popularization of...
Philosophy
"Cosmos"...it's back with a new host--Neil deGrasse Tyson
Popular science via "Cosmos" will return with a new outfit...more CGI, that is.
"Cosmos Will Get a Sequel Hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson"
by
Email Author
August 5th, 2011
Wired
by
Email Author
August 5th, 2011
Wired
More than three decades after it aired, Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking, brilliant 13-part TV series Cosmos:A Personal Voyage will finally get a sequel.
Cosmos, which originally ran in 1980 and was rerun many times over the following decade, is widely regarded as one of the first, and best, TV shows to make science accessible to everyone. You can watch the show now on Hulu, but despite its brilliance it is still a show from more than 30 years ago, and you can tell — the special effects are primitive by today’s standards, but more importantly some of the content has been superseded by discoveries in the intervening years.
So, it’s high time someone made a sequel to it, and now someone is! In partnership with Sagan’s colleagues Ann Druyan (who is also his widow) and Steven Soter, Seth MacFarlane — yes, that Seth MacFarlane — is going to produce a new 13-part series to serve as a sequel and modern update to Sagan’s masterpiece.
Taking over the hosting duties will be none other than well-known astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who has served as host of NOVA ScienceNOW on PBS for the past five years, so he has plenty of experience making science accessible to the general public. It would be difficult to think of anyone who would be better able to succeed the late, great Carl Sagan.
The folks working on it will take their time and do it right — it’s not scheduled to air until sometime in 2013.
The producers of the show say the new series will tell “the story of how human beings began to comprehend the laws of nature and find our place in space and time.” They go on to boast: “It will take viewers to other worlds and travel across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest scale. The most profound scientific concepts will be presented with stunning clarity, uniting skepticism and wonder, and weaving rigorous science with the emotional and spiritual into a transcendent experience.”
That’s the good news. The bad — or at least, potentially bad — news is that, because of MacFarlane’s involvement, the series will air in prime time, and on Fox.
Now, in one way I’m all for showing it in prime time on a major network, because it’ll be that much more likely that people who routinely ignore the Discovery Channel, the Science Channel and, yes, PBS will actually see it.
I’m less thrilled, though, that it will have to compete with other, more mainstream prime-time shows — and it’ll be on Fox, which doesn’t have the greatest track record for giving shows a chance to pull their ratings up once they go down.
Now, maybe the fact that MacFarlane is involved — and Joss Whedon isn’t — will help. I certainly hope so.
- Neil Degrasse Tyson: Why The Cosmos Shouldn't Make You Feel Small
As you probably know, Carl Sagan's famous documentary series Cosmos is getting what I hope will be an impressive update/extension this year. Obviously, Sagan won't be narrating the documentary, so astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who was actually...
- A Coincidence?...maybe
"Oklahoma Fox affiliate cuts evolution from 'Cosmos' premiere" In what Oklahoma City's Fox 25 called an operator error, the station aired a local news promo over the show's content that discussed evolution. by Sudeshna Chowdhury March...
- "cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey"...airs March 9th
"Neil deGrasse Tyson explains why the new Cosmos matters so much" by Jason Shankel March 3rd, 2014 io9 This Sunday, March 9th, what is arguably the most important science show of all time returns to TV as Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts an all-new, updated...
- Neil Degrasse Tyson..."nova Sciencenow"--2nd Season
Neil deGrasse Tyson [cool jacket] Since the death of Carl Sagan, a vacuum was left when it came to popularizing science, but there are new individuals on the horizon. There is Brian Greene and now Neil deGrasse Tyson [Astrophysicist and Director of the...
- Neil Degrasse Tyson...new Representative
A few nights ago the local PBS station began to rebroadcast NOVA's four part series called Origins that attempted to explain the origins of the solar system with emphasis on Earth. Like the majority of these type of programs of popularization of...