Return of Cosmos

The video above is the official promo for the new series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, which premiers on both Fox in the USA and on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday March 9. I have no idea if/when it will be shown in New Zealand (our pay-TV guide doesn't go that far in advance).

The new programme is essentially a remake of the classic 13-part 1980 Public Television series Cosmos: A Personal Journey, written by the late astronomer, Carl Sagan, his wife Ann Druyan and astrophysicist Steven Soter. The episodes were presented by Sagan. I watched the series back then and still have the companion book.

The new series is again written by Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, along with Soter. Joining them will be Seth MacFarlane. The new series will be presented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

I was a bit dubious when I first heard this was being done. I didn’t know any more about it until I watched the promo above, and when I saw that Druyan and Soter were returning to write the new series, and that it was being presented by Tyson, my doubts drifted into space. So to speak.

I think science needs more popularising to help combat creeping ignorance, and I think that Neil deGrasse Tyson is the perfect person to do it on this project. So, I’m excited about this science show like I haven’t been in years. For me, that’s a very good thing, indeed.