# Cosmos: A Waste of Spacetime **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 10, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324 "2014-03-10T03:06:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/181 "2014-03-17T02:37:52Z")
Crap! Is it really a remake? Crap! Cosmos sucked the first time, and it should be left to die! I am an amateur astronomer, but Cosmos would have turned off Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kelper! What dribble! I can’t believe anyone would ressurect this series! Well, at least it’s good for insomniacs! ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/182 "2014-03-17T02:42:54Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Well, I wonder if some stations had a fortuituous outage/misplaced commercial break …_for the entire episode_… this time around 😃 I liked when he was talking about the beginning of life on Earth, and how we don’t know how life began, but that was OK, that because science works on the frontier of knowledge and ignorance, there will be things we don’t know. And that what’s not OK is to pretend that we do know everything. I thought that was a great sentiment, and he expressed it way better than I could have. I was disappointed about the eye segment. Most of the steps along the way that they talked about are represented in real life creatures that exist today. I would have much rather seen a picture of Euglena with their eyespots and Planarian with their recessed eyespots and Cephalopods with heavily shaped eyes that still lack lenses, then the stupid animations that they showed. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/183 "2014-03-17T03:08:51Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Crap! Is it really a remake? Crap! Cosmos sucked the first time, and it should be left to die! I am an amateur astronomer, but Cosmos would have turned off Galileo, Tycho Brahe, and Kelper! What dribble! I can’t believe anyone would ressurect this series! Well, at least it’s good for insomniacs! Kelper would be turning in his grave right now. Or at least his two middle letters would be… ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/184 "2014-03-17T04:31:52Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > That was an epic meltdown. > > Speaking of which, I’m wondering how “irreducible complexity” fans will feel about tonight’s walkthrough regarding the evolution of the human eye? The evolution of the eye was more of an explosion, really. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/185 "2014-03-17T12:54:23Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Kelper would be turning in his grave right now. A watery grave, amirite? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/186 "2014-03-17T13:11:47Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > .DOH! Yes, I suppose a lump of that would be like a lump of clay. But it’s spelled “dough”🙂 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/187 "2014-03-17T13:34:43Z")
I wonder if the OP’s head assploded when NdGT said Polar Bears have white fur. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/188 "2014-03-17T13:44:42Z")
I’m very disappointed with this show. It’s disjointed. The animation is bad (and un-necessary). NDGT’s dramatic pauses and sleepy eyed theatrics are laughable. While the subject area is simply too large to address adequetly, the way the show is compiled and presented only serves to give the impression that scientific facts are mere random speculations pulled from thin air. For people who have some basic understanding of the basics of science and the universe, this show is not providing any new insight. To those who may only be discovering these concepts for the first time, well, there’s just not enough there there. Last night’s show went from domestication of wolves to earth’s 5 global ecological disasters (of which only one was discussed), to Titan and it’s nitrogen based atmosphere and some imaginary “monster of the deep”, back to earth and the “biggest secret of how life developed”, which was a 40 second animation from Carl’s original show. No real context. No transition that makes any sense. Just a string of random snippets. This should have been a great series. Instead, it’s barely watchable. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/189 "2014-03-17T14:11:07Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > A watery grave, amirite? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/190 "2014-03-17T14:20:55Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I wonder if the OP’s head assploded when NdGT said Polar Bears have white fur. Laughed out loud. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/191 "2014-03-17T15:16:39Z")
> [@ambushed](#): > > This is in response to all the posts and posters here who continue to be **stridently determined to be deliberately WRONG** about the Big Bang. > > \ > So, to all those purposefully and stridently **pro-ignorance** , I say **shove a stick of TNT up your ass and explode! :smack:** 1. Death-threads are uncool, dood. 2. Here’s a virtual nickle, pal. Go buy yourself a life. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/192 "2014-03-17T17:35:43Z")
> [@ambushed](#): > > So, to all those purposefully and stridently **pro-ignorance** , I say **shove a stick of TNT up your ass and explode! :smack:** 😕 I have no idea what you’re on aboot mate but it sounds like you might need an orange. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/193 "2014-03-17T17:40:42Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I’m very disappointed with this show. I’m trying very hard not to be but I too am finding my interest flagging . I would have much preferred a deeper look into any one of the topics they went over rather than the quick fly-by. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/194 "2014-03-18T00:33:33Z")
I don’t know what y’all are complaining about. As someone who’s only seen snippets of the original but is largely familiar with the underlying science, I’d say this series so far has been great. I like how the narrative revolves around comparing an understanding of the universe to a religious experience, and the expression of the infinite complexity behind all things. Personally, the only thing that’s been grinding my gears is Tyson’s habit of pronouncing “water” as “warter”. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/195 "2014-03-18T03:35:51Z")
Only seen the first episode so far, and as a life-long fan of the original, I’m unimpressed. IT’s pretty - nice graphics, HD is wonderful as well - but the first episode just kinda left me “meh”-ing all around the place. I actually didn’t have a huge problem with the animation, but they spent far too long on the Bruno story. I get it - blinkered pig-ignorant Church etc. etc. but Sagan did it much more masterfully. I think the show is seriously harmed by only having 42 minutes or so instead of a full hour, with far too many commercials (as said above). Does anyone know if there will be a “directors cut” of actual hour-long episodes that might fill in some of the gaps/slow things down a bit? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/196 "2014-03-18T04:43:33Z")
Why? You know all that shit already. This show isn’t intended for you, though it might inspire you to get a job at Boeing. As people keep saying, IT’S FOR THE RUBES!!! The people who never liked nor paid attention to science. The Great American Unwashed. People who might learn something from it, have their beliefs jostled a bit. We’re supposed to fight ignorance, but we can’t fight it until we and they have a common language. This show helps. ETA: Anyway, an extended cut would probably just have more crappy animation. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/197 "2014-03-18T04:55:56Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The people who never liked nor paid attention to science. **The Great American Unwashed**. You called? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/198 "2014-03-18T11:39:21Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Get over your nostalgia. Give NDT the opportunity to inspire the next generation, the same way Carl Sagan inspired ours. My fifteen year old HATES Science. He hates educational TV. He is at the age where if it doesn’t involve an XBox and shooting something, or jokes about poop, it isn’t worthwhile. He watched the first episode with the family - streaming, and was chomping at the bit for the second episode. It wasn’t out yet - so he found How the Universe Works and spent an hour yesterday watching that. Some of the things he found cool - he’s an Asian kid in a school district with lots of African American poor kids who are not the top students - there was a African American scientist! Seth McFarland - who he admires for his ability to make his favorite jokes about poop - produced it - hey, maybe there is more to life than poop…and then the subject matter caught him. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/199 "2014-03-18T12:34:47Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > He watched the first episode with the family - streaming, and was chomping at the bit for the second episode. It wasn’t out yet - so he found How the Universe Works and spent an hour yesterday watching that. This makes me so happy. I remember watching the original Cosmos with my dad a million years ago (either on VHS or during a re-airing of the show) and then needing to read _everything_ I could find about the planets. I hope your son enjoys the rest of the series! ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324/200 "2014-03-18T12:52:46Z")
I suspect the target audience is more **Dangerosa** ’s son and less those of us who already know a fair amount of science. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cosmos-a-waste-of-spacetime/683324.md?page=11)