Cosmos returning to TV -thanks to Family Guy?

[23skidoo]

Seth MacFarlane just gained a bunch of respect. Fox has announced that he will be producing a followup to Carl Sagan's classic 1980 science series Cosmos for the National Geographic Channel. The original producers of Sagan's series - including his widow - are involved.

Sounds way cool and maybe we'll see a new DVD edition of the original show, too. (Likely not a Blu-ray, though, because it was partially produced on videotape.)

http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethe...no-really.html

So why is this in the SF/F section? Because Cosmos was one of the first shows of its type to cross the line between documentary and SF. I first learned about it via an article in Starlog magazine that ran when the show first aired, because the show utilized (for the time) state of the art special effects, as well as SF-like sequences (in particular a simulated space voyage) to allow Sagan to tell his story. It'll be interesting to see of Cosmos 2.0 follows the same path, though if MacFarlane is a fan - and we've seen him give props to Doctor Who and Star Wars on Family Guy - I think we're in for a treat.

Alex

[Temis the Vorta]

I already watch a ton of Cosmos type shows - The Universe, Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, Naked Science, the list goes on - but I'll definitely check this one out, too, even if a show that's palatable to a broadcast audience probably is just going to skim the surface of what the other series have already tackled in more depth.

[Samurai8472]

Will it be edited for Rednecks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI9ImScQGAo

[Klaus]

sweet!

[milo bloom]

There's times when watching McFarlane's stuff that you see glimpses of a deeper personality than fart jokes and homicidal toddlers.

I'm glad he's using the street cred he's built up to do something like this.

[JiNX-01]

Oh, that sounds awesome!

[ChristopherPike]

One of my Dad's favourite science shows. I still have his off-air recordings on tape he did of some repeat showing back in the early 80's. He used to quote something Carl Sagan apparently says in opening. "If you want to understand the universe, first you have to bake an apple pie." Clearly talking my Dad's language there!

A great one, if you ever get chance to see it, from the 2000's, was "Journey to the Edge of the Universe". Channel 4 here in Britain, but an international co-production given the absolutely stunning CG effects. Discovery Channel maybe? Sean Pertwee narrated it for us and it's basically one long journey from the camera's perspective. The Solar System, onto neighbouring star systems based on currently accurate info, imaginary warp or FTL jumps past other galaxies, all the way back to the big bang. It's a fantastic first person ride that's stayed with me. It crops up on More 4 and no matter how many times I see it, it's just so easy to get caught up in it.

[Allyn Gibson]

ChristopherPike wrote:

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One of my Dad's favourite science shows. I still have his off-air recordings on tape he did of some repeat showing back in the early 80's. He used to quote something Carl Sagan apparently says in opening. "If you want to understand the universe, first you have to bake an apple pie." Clearly talking my Dad's language there!

Close. "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

Set to music.

[Temis the Vorta]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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Close. "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

Set to music.

Phew! That makes a lot more sense than the idea of understanding the universe via apple pie!

I was worred for ole Carl there for a sec...

[shivkala]

I'm glad to hear it'll be hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. From the interviews I've seen of him and from following him on Twitter, he definitely has a way of presenting scientific information in a straightforward, interesting way.

[Nowhere Man]

Samurai8472 wrote:

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Will it be edited for Rednecks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI9ImScQGAo

JesusaurusI love that one.

[Myasishchev]

I really like Sagan's screen presence and good-naturedness, and Cosmos is inventive and can be fun, but I never liked these kind of shows. They're just too thin, like someone filmed a Wikipedia article.

[23skidoo]

For those interested in reading other comments about this, a separate thread is underway in TV & Media:

http://trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=146053

Alex

[RTOlson]

After I saw the announcement, I noticed that the original series is currently on Hulu. I've heard so much about the series, I will check it out and look forward to the MacFarlane version (although I'm also willing to make "Fox News vs. science" jokes).