Neil deGrasse Tyson's reboot of astrophysicist Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking documentary series, Cosmos: A Personal Journey, is finally on its way to television. Fox made the official announcement during its advertising upfront presentation at New York’s Beacon Theatre on Monday, reports The Los Angeles Times. The series has been in the works for years, and will be making its long-awaited premiere sometime in 2014.
The 13-episode series is being produced, surprisingly, by Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame. As far as the hosting gig goes, it’s hard to imagine who could be a better fit than Tyson, who first met Sagan as a 17-year-old applicant to Cornell University, having been personally invited by the famous scientist to "come check out the lab."
It will be interesting to see what the team has planned for the new show. The Sagan original became the most successful US public TV series of all time relying primarily on the astrophysicist’s elegant expositions of the universe, while today’s science programming largely takes its cues from sci-fi, revolving around flashy computer animation and dramatic visual effects. At the same time, Fox might not seem like the most obvious home for a high-minded astrophysics series, although the network believes that even without a huge financial return, the series "could have a cultural impact."
Comments
By tauntauntaun on 05.13.13 8:17pm
Sir (or Madam)! I urge you, don’t be pre-emptively down because of this! It was, in fact, Mr. MacFarlane who managed to push this project through, and Ann Druyan (Mr. Sagan’s widow and co-creator of the original Cosmos) wrote very warmly of his work and views on the project.
By Yann Garm on 05.13.13 8:27pm
By tauntauntaun on 05.13.13 8:33pm
McFarlane’s involvement is probably why the show will get three episodes before cancellation instead of one.
By superrob on 05.13.13 8:42pm
Have you watched the original Cosmos? This remake is empirically known to be (2π * E_p * T_p) better.
By ElementFire on 05.13.13 8:51pm
McFarlane’s involvement is the only reason it’s going to air on network TV at all.
Fox will show all 13 episodes. They know going in that it could be a flop in the ratings, and have already implied that they won’t pull the plug early.
By stringfold on 07.22.13 7:24pm
In the original series, Carl Sagan clearly and emphatically states that evolution really happened.
Being Fox, I’m sure they’ll give equal time to creationists.
By Semblance on 05.13.13 8:20pm
Neil won’t stand for that. He’s THE MAN!!!
By Sibelius on 05.13.13 8:27pm
I smell a shit storm, one way or the other.
By VoxMediaUser634951 on 05.13.13 8:30pm
All the better for the ratings. There is no such thing as bad publicity, and Fox doesn’t exactly cater to the creationist crowd anyway.
By stringfold on 07.22.13 7:25pm
Plutokiller
By Cap'n Furious on 05.14.13 11:14pm
Yup, you do not mess with someone who can destroy a planet.
By balstrome on 07.21.13 12:11pm
you do realize that Fox Network and Fox News are completely different right…
By julian on 05.13.13 8:30pm
And yet they share the same prefix. Interesting.
By VoxMediaUser634951 on 05.13.13 8:30pm
They share a parent company and that’s about it. The fact that Family Guy is a show on Fox should tell you something.
By julian on 05.13.13 8:35pm
The fact that the Fox Network allows Fox News to push their conservative agenda should tell you something.
By cantcurecancer on 05.13.13 9:37pm
Seth MacFarlane is as progressive as they come.
By TeutonicTenifer on 05.13.13 9:49pm
And yet they share the same prefix. Interesting.
By VoxMediaUser634951 on 05.13.13 10:23pm
it’s like you are trying to make a point. I wonder what it is.
By ironwitch on 05.14.13 3:15am
Yes, it is interesting. It’s like they’re aware they can cater to completely divergent markets and interests, all in the name of ratings.
By Dissy on 05.14.13 7:21am
hahahahaha
By p4gs on 05.14.13 8:29am
That they like ratings?
By Dissy on 05.14.13 7:20am
The Fairness Doctrine has been repealed, hasn’t it? So, if the producer/writer doesn’t include it, they won’t be forced to put it in.
By Yann Garm on 05.13.13 8:32pm
Correct they would not be forced by the government at least.
By KingKerby on 05.13.13 9:27pm
How did you manage to think Fox and Fox News are the same thing?
By Volound on 06.06.13 2:50pm