Apparently the Fox network is going to make a prime time reboot of the Cosmos series hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. Cosmos was definitely among the coolest documentaries of all time, so the idea of a big budget primetime network documentary about the universe is awesome. Fox sounds like a weird place for it to end up. But they seem to be going about it the right way - Tyson is the right guy to pick for it.
I’m excited. We’ve learned so much about the universe since the original series came out, and the pictures and animations can be so much better now too. I’m hoping that being a major network broadcast can give it an epic feel that some of the smaller discovery/history channel/ngc documentaries lack.
It’ll be a while before we see it, but I thought it was cool news and would be appreciated around here. You can watch the original documentary series on Hulu.
I’m not sure that Neil deGrasse Tyson has the right charisma for this, but perhaps that’s because I so strongly identify Sagan in that position. But he’s probably Sagan’s equivalent as the most prominent astronomer/science populizer in the US today. It’s interesting that Seth McFarlane is involved in this, although I really hope that doesn’t mean that there will be cartoon dogs in the show.
Seth McFarlane’s involvement doesn’t take this into comedy territory - he’s a smart guy who likes this stuff like we do, and he has pull with the Fox network and lots of money.
If I had hit shows, a lot of sway with a network, and a ton of money, this is the sort of thing I’d try to push for too…
I was a teenager when Cosmos originally aired on PBS, and I loved it. I remember Sagan’s statements about how we were all made of “starstuff” and I remember dramatizations of Einstein’s thought experiments about the speed of light. But I saw an episode of it recently, perhaps on the web somewhere, and it’s kind of dated, both in the effects and the Vangelis score.
"…and slowly these gases cooled and gravity pulled them together. First into microscopic particles and then into larger objects. Through the passage of millions of years, this indistinct matter was formed by the natural laws of the cosmos into a single massive sphere. And the planet Earth was born.
You’re right; he seems to have the right reasons for wanting to do this. He said in an interview, “We’re obsessed with angels and vampires and whatnot, when there are many more exciting and very real and much more spectacular things to be excited about, that are right in our own planetary backyard.”
A few years back the original series was rebroadcast, but apparently the cheesy 80s effects had been updated. I didn’t notice any difference, but it all looked good to me.
Neil deGrasse Tyson has a ton of charisma. Not sure if there’s such a thing as the ‘right’ charisma, but the guy is very intelligent, very eloquent, and very passionate about the subject. I love watching him whenever he comes on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report.
Yeah, Tyson is awesome. He’s not as awesome as Sagan, but I don’t think anyone could be. You can tell he really loves what he does - he’s really amazed by knowledge and discovery and he wants nothing more than to share that with people.
I wasn’t that interested until I heard Tyson was hosting. He’s probably the closest thing we have to Sagan today in terms of talking to a wide audience in an understandable way without dumbing everything down.
Word. Anyone doubting this need look no further than his appearances on Bill Maher on HBO this season. On his first, he actually had me applauding in an empty room. Like, seriously clapping, geeking out on my couch when telling Bill off for his lack of support of the space program. I can’t think of anyone else who’s ever made me do that. And to be honest, I’m not 100% sure I even agree with his opinion, but the passion behind his argument won me over.