Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, first broadcast in 1980, is set for a remake to air on Fox in 2012 or 2013. The original 13-part series focused on the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe and has been broadcast to half a billion people. The new version is likely to revisit the same topics with information 30 years more current. Sagan, who wrote and hosted the show, passed in 1996. The new show, to be developed by Seth McFarlane (who has parodied the series on his show, Family Guy), will be hosted by American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, an award-winning scientist and author who was hugely influenced by Sagan. Tyson currently hosts PBS's Nova ScienceNOW. Stoked. Gives me a nerd-on.
I saw that news. On many slow, slow PBS Nova shows, Tyson is a big bore. No one before or since has had Carl Sagan's charisma. I started watching Sagan in local Los Angeles broadcasts coming from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory when Mariner 9 orbited Mars. The camera gravitated to him. He and I and all smart males had long hair then and were somewhere on the left. In the early 80s, Sagan shared with the Soviet Union his computer program showing that forest fires would spread worldwide after a nuclear war. I knew he wouldn't live long after that. Then he caught cancer. Relations with Russia are different now. It takes more now to get killed. Cosmos, even with Sagan, was a bore compared to the quicker PBS series it imitated, Connections, starring James Burke. Probably my favorite series of all time. Watch it if you like science. It had a couple of sequel series which were almost as good. Watch Connections I before II and III.
I like Neil. He's actually pretty entertaining and does a great job of explaining things. Have you ever listened to his radio show? http://startalkradio.net/
No, I'll try it. On TV he seems artificial. Of course, so did Carl Sagan, but with that voice he could still carry it off. A unique sound, like Karen Carpenter or John Fogerty or Janis Joplin. When you hear a couple of notes, you know who it is. Carl Sagan had a speaking style like that and Tyson doesn't. But I'll try your link.
Warning, it's a strange show. He co-hosts it with a comedian. Last year the woman was really annoying and didn't know shit about science but the guests and Tyson make it worth listening to.
NASA @NASA Join us tonight as #Cosmos premieres. We'll be sharing more about our images & missions that appear on the show. Follow along.
Got it on the DVR. Will watch it tomorrow. It's not just on Fox. It's on National Geographic channel and a couple others.
It's on all channels owned by Fox which includes NG. NatGeo channel is owned by Fox and the name is licensed. That's why you get some questionable content including lots of shows about prisons in foreign countries.
Been watching the old Cosmos on NatGeo in preperation. What an amazing, last burst of optimism for science in the face of humanity's impending failure to be awesome.
wasn't very impressed. it was mostly beginners stuff, and the semi-religious heavy-handed cartoon was groan worthy