Nerd of the Week Thread #1: Carl Sagan

[publiusr]

The man's teeth and groovy brown '70s turtlenecks were an integral part of my childhood watching PBS.

I think there may have even been a scientific paper on the topology of his sweater--or was it on the filament/ gravity lens potential of Asimov's sideburns...I forget.

There are FIVE pocket protectors!

Ted Knight voice on...

Nerd of the week #2, from the League of Super-Hero rejects:

BRAIN-O! The Worlds Smartest Moron

The square of the hypotenussse is the sum of the other two....uhh...George Washington.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Well, nobody's perfect. Perhaps he was unprepared for the level of fame he achieved.

Oh, I think he enjoyed the fame. It's not like he was drafted into appearing on talk shows, getting big bucks for lectures, etc.

Oh, I don't doubt it. But he wouldn't be the first person to be unable to handle the fame he enjoyed.

 

[Timewalker]

Maybe the dated graphics, effects and fashions are what seem so cheesy after all this time. Public television circa 1980 did have a pretty vivid disco/New Wave/brown-and-orange casualwear feel and look to it.

I'm reasonably sure that Sagan's usual outfit in that documentary would never have been worn in a disco. His clothes were reasonably plain and dignified, without being stuffy.

What aspects of it do you consider cheesy?

Oh, I don't know. The narrative gets pretty flowery at times. Then there are the long, meaningful stares out into space while dramatic music rises...

It just struck me yesterday as a bit dated and over the top. Still love the series. I was riveted to it as a kid.

The "flowery language" is just how Sagan spoke. He was very passionate about these topics, very eloquent.

The critics at the time had negative things to say about the "long, meaningful stares"... but who's to know if that was the decision of Sagan or whoever directed those sequences?

I thought it was mildly amusing that Sagan's "spaceship of the imagination" had a control panel in it. Apparently his imagination couldn't actually steer.

The series' subtitle is "A Personal Voyage." The idea is that Sagan imagined a spaceship in which he could travel all of space and time, safely. It's not unreasonable that Sagan would have imagined a few controls on his ship - he was also a science fiction fan from a very young age.

Or maybe the set designer just thought it was a cool idea. Either way, I don't see it as anything worth negative criticism.

 

[SantaEddie74]

No, not in a disco....I mentioned disco mainly as a reference to what was happening in pop culture at that time. But I've seen enough photographs from both my childhood and that general time period to know that fashions like the almighty tweed jacket and turtlenecks weren't immune from places of very questionable taste. Still, Carl's attire aside public television had some pretty cheesy graphics and editing back then, even the best and greatest of programming.

If you watch almost any episode of the classic, awesome 3-2-1 Contact from the first couple of years of that show (concurrent with Cosmos) you'll see how corny even some of the best public television series look and feel by today's standards. Corny, dated music....awkward pauses and delivery of dialogue....they were and remain glorious, educational cheese.

 

[Timewalker]

No, not in a disco....I mentioned disco mainly as a reference to what was happening in pop culture at that time. But I've seen enough photographs from both my childhood and that general time period to know that fashions like the almighty tweed jacket and turtlenecks weren't immune from places of very questionable taste. Still, Carl's attire aside public television had some pretty cheesy graphics and editing back then, even the best and greatest of programming.

If you watch almost any episode of the classic, awesome 3-2-1 Contact from the first couple of years of that show (concurrent with Cosmos) you'll see how corny even some of the best public television series look and feel by today's standards. Corny, dated music....awkward pauses and delivery of dialogue....they were and remain glorious, educational cheese.

I guess part of the problem is that I rarely watch any current TV, so I'm not really familiar with what's considered "good" on nighttime TV (I watch General Hospital, which is probably not a good way to judge these things). The last time I tried to watch a completely new TV show was the first season of Revolution. It was so ridiculous when the series leads were supposedly living in a world that had been without electricity for 15 years, yet they always looked like they'd stepped out of a salon.

I've just realized another part of the problem: There seem to be quite a variety of meanings for the word "cheesy" and I have no idea which one of them you are using (yes, I am honestly confused about this).

 

[SantaEddie74]

My meaning is usually "entertainingly dated and indicative of a bygone era of entertainment, fashion, etc. Often retaining lasting value, but reflecting a different time period now considered more quaint and/or outdated."

For example, many of the sets and effects in TOS. I should have elaborated.

 

[Taylirious]

I won't create a new thread but I vote for her: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query= Hannah Fry &sm=3

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4q_K6YsjE[/yt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4q_K6YsjE

 

[Bagliun Edar]