[caption id="attachment_81159" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Reboot of 1980s "Cosmos" Science Series Has Host in Captain Kirk-Like Seat[/caption]It is considered unlikely that the next installment of the documentary "Cosmos" called "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey" ends up making the same impact that it did 34-years ago under the screen presence and narration of US astronomer Carl Sagan. However, the television program is worthy viewing and informative.

The new host of the show is Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium in New York City. It is evident from Dr.

Tyson's narration that he inflects his voice in a pattern similar to a planetarium presentation which at times came across as overworked.

During the show, Dr. Tyson is seen seated in a chair as if to be a type of Captain Kirk with the large viewing screen before him as he guides viewers through the wonders of the universe. The show will run for 13 episodes on the Fox Network during the all-important Sunday night prime time slot.

[caption id="attachment_81158" align="alignright" width="150"] Animator Seth MacFarlane was instrumental in obtaining network funding for Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, and also serves as executive producer.[/caption]

The show marks the culmination of decades of work by the late Carl Sagan and his wife Ann Druyan to bring the show back to primetime. Episode one called "Standing Up in the Milky Way" aired Sunday night and depicted just how small a space we occupy in this vast universe.

In one scene, the show flashes back to the year 1600 when the scientist Giordano Bruno is put to death by the Catholic "Holy Inquisition" because he put forth the concept of a broad universe as opposed to an Earth-centric model. The look was a bit cheesy. It airs at the same time as "The Bible" miniseries which may prove to be stiff competition.

[caption id="attachment_81160" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Cosmos: A Personal Voyage is a thirteen-part television series written by Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan, and Steven Soter, with Sagan as presenter. It was executive-produced by Adrian Malone, produced by David Kennard, Geoffrey Haines-Stiles, and Gregory Andorfer, and directed by the producers, David Oyster, Richard Wells, Tom Weidlinger, and others. It covers a wide range of scientific subjects, including the origin of life and a perspective of our place in the universe.[/caption]

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage - Episode 4 (Carl Sagan)

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Source:
Hitchhiking in a Starry Reboot of a Journey Through the Universe
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/arts/television/neil-degrasse-tyson-hosts-cosmos-a-spacetime-odyssey.html?_r=0