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Cosmos Remake Coming To Fox In 2014

Posted by timothy on from the cool-swirly-spooky-music dept.

TheSync writes "The long-awaited remake of Carl Sagan's amazing Cosmos series, Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey, will be coming to Fox television next year. It will star astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Surprisingly, Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame is an executive producer. MacFarlane was introduced to Carl Sagan's widow Ann Druyan by deGrasse Tyson, and MacFarlane helped them pitch the show to Fox executives."

34 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. Let me guess by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the Fox version the Universe is 6000 years old and the Earth is at the center of the Universe.

    1. Re:Let me guess by T.E.D. · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Think of it as a Neil deGrasse Tyson show done a bit in the style of Carl Sagan's Cosmos.

      The guy is so enthusiastic and charasmatic that he's a regular vistor on the late-night talk show circuit, and I believe currently holds the record for the most guest appearances on Colbert. He has 1.2 million followers on twitter. I think he's got what it takes to pull this off.

    2. Re:Let me guess by cyberchondriac · · Score: 2

      Maybe it's cheaper to remake than to rerun?

      That's silly. My guess?- they want to make use of today's CGI capabilities. All the cosmology based shows these days are CGI heavy, partly to aid in illustrating the concepts, I'm sure, but also to grab the attention of the young crowd and pique their interest in the field.

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    3. Re:Let me guess by Dutchy+Wutchy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Michio Kaku sounds a lot like a crackpot on the subject of aliens/UFOs, and his anti-nuclear soundbites seemed irresponsible--or at least quite misleading.

    4. Re:Let me guess by SirGarlon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The original show is far out of date. I watched a couple of episodes a few years ago. The visual effects were dated of course, but a lot of the science had gaps as well. When the original Cosmos was produced, the Hubble Space Telescope had not been launched. Exoplanets had not been discovered. The universe was known to be expanding but its rate of expansion was presumed to be decreasing, not increasing. The source of gamma-ray bursts had not been identified. We knew a lot less about black holes. I don't think dark matter was considered important. And, back then, Pluto was a planet. ;-) (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

      All that is just off the top of my head. Astrophysics has really advanced since 1980.

      --
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    5. Re:Let me guess by cyberchondriac · · Score: 5, Funny

      lol.. that would take Billions upon Billions of pixels!

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    6. Re:Let me guess by Pino+Grigio · · Score: 4, Interesting

      There's also been quite a lot of new physics and cosmology since 1980. We have Hubble. We have the CMB. We have all kinds of other interesting things...! Tyson is perfect for this. His enthusiasm is infectious (if you've listened to any of his audio books).

    7. Re:Let me guess by Warbothong · · Score: 3, Informative

      Astrophysics has really advanced since 1980.

      True, and the show also covered much more than Astrophysics. For example its claims that the brain operates using symbolic logic seem dated, since these days we would say the brain is more about statistics. It also covered evolutionary biology and microbiology, fields which have progressed tremendously in recent decades.

      I suppose that's the problem when one tries to cover such a broad subject as the Cosmos ;)

    8. Re:Let me guess by Omestes · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Kaku doesn't really strike me as credible. I'm sure he's a good scientist, but he does too many "time travel wormhole star trek is cool!" pop-sci things to really let me trust him. Tyson reminds me of Sagan, smart and doesn't feel the need to dress things up to sell to the lay audience. Kaku is like Bill Nye, science for people who hate science. Tyson is Mr. Wizard, science for people who just didn't go to school for it but find it cool just because science is cool in-itself.

      I suppose thats main difference in how people teach science; one group thinks to be interesting science must DO something. The other school think that the intrinsic "aha" of science is enough to make it interesting. I find the former group to be annoying, and more destructive than useful.

      Tyson is willing to let the science talk for itself, without dressing it up. Which makes him Sagan-y enough to reboot something as venerable as Cosmos. He's more likely to let the sheer beauty of the universe talk for itself, without forcing wormholes and time-travel down our throats.

      --
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    9. Re:Let me guess by spire3661 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think of the Persistence of Memory all the time. It was this chapter that brought the past alive for me. After i read that chapter Jefferson, Newton, Socrates, Aristotle became living men to me. I was able to peer across time through the works of these men and see them as humans. Thats what is great about Cosmos, its much more then an essay on astrophysics.

      --
      Good-bye
    10. Re:Let me guess by CosaNostra+Pizza+Inc · · Score: 2

      I'd mod you up a "funny" but I have no mod points :-(

    11. Re:Let me guess by cyberchondriac · · Score: 2

      Agenda much? I have never seen anyone on Fox promote those extremist views, at least not someone who represented the network. Young Earth creationists are, fortunately, a fringe cult, not the bulk of the conservative base. There might be a lot of half naked chicks on the show though..!

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    12. Re:Let me guess by mattack2 · · Score: 2

      It amazes me how Fox's entertainment division can put sheer crapfests like "American I-Duh-l" and "Jumping Around Like A Monkey With The Stars" on the air

      I presume you are referring to "Dancing with the Stars" with the latter. That is an ABC show, and even having Woz on it wouldn't get me to watch it. (Though I actually don't mean that to be as negative as it sounds. I definitely watch some reality shows, and hate the "all reality TV is bad" mindset.. though admittedly, FF and being able to play-faster-than-realtime-with-sound are extra helpful on some reality shows.)

      BTW, semi--related, supposedly Isaac Asimov wrote an article for TV Guide in the 1970s about "Three's Company" being his favorite show. So everyone needs some "dumb entertainment".

  2. A SCIENCE GUY by AxDx · · Score: 2

    Let's just hope it doesn't feature a fat oafish stereotypical insecure male, a hot wife, and a talking animal

  3. This has made my day. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There's no more Carl Sagan, no more Bill Nye on television, nothing except Mythbusters to inspire future generations of engineers and scientific thinkers. This has made my day, there may just be hope for the future yet.

    1. Re:This has made my day. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      And then I saw that Seth MacFarlane is involved. And I lost all hope.

    2. Re:This has made my day. by sizzzzlerz · · Score: 2

      And Mythbusters has taken to either blowing shit up or shooting guns at something almost every single episode. Hardly the stuff of inspiration.

    3. Re:This has made my day. by j00r0m4nc3r · · Score: 3, Funny

      Not true. It inspires me to change the channel.

  4. Re:*sigh* by Kreigaffe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    From what I understand, if something is even tangentially related to astronomy, and it's possible to bring him in.. people will want to do that, because he's a likeable guy, he's smart and blunt but not demeaning or haughty, he's passionate but relatable, and he's smart AND cool.

    Honestly I'd much rather hear his opinion on non-science matters rather than celebrity opinions on anything that isn't acting or singing or sex tapes or whatever else got them famous.

    --
    ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
  5. We leave Saturn for the deeper regions of the by funwithBSD · · Score: 4, Funny

    cosmos and come upon Uranus...

    *giggity giggity goo*

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  6. Re:What? by funwithBSD · · Score: 2

    I was hoping for Amy Mainzer!

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  7. Re:Tyson, eh? by SirGarlon · · Score: 2

    Mike Tyson is more into medieval history than since, last I heard.

    --
    [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
  8. Re:I made an account after 10+ years just to say.. by Ogi_UnixNut · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Heh, funny. I can't stand Brian Cox. I just find his manner irritating, and as a result I don't watch any of the shows he is on.

    Just goes to show the variety in peoples tastes, eh? :)

    I've not imagined Neil DeGrasse Tyson as a host, but I am willing to give it a shot and see how it goes. Who knows, he might actually be good at it.

  9. As Carl once said... by freeze128 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "If you wish to make a science show from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

  10. Re:Worst disaster since the Tunguska Incident by ArcadeMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    With so many people spinning in their graves, you'd think free energy would be reality by now.

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  11. sorry by wbr1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Neil you killed Pluto. Fuck you.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:sorry by T.E.D. · · Score: 2

      Neil you killed Pluto

      Come on. Walking around flashing that highly eliptical orbit far outside the plane the rest of the respectible planets oribit in, acting all chaoitc like a common comet, Pluto was clearly asking for it. I mean, its sad it happened and all, but hardly suprising. Someone was bound to attack Pluto sonner or later.

  12. Seth McFarlane? by Iniamyen · · Score: 2

    Didn't Robot Chicken already do this three months ago?

    ... Don't be glib about this stuff, Dad. It's a legitimate show and they beat you to the punch.

    ... You know, Dad, You're a real jerk!

  13. Brian Cox. by denzacar · · Score: 2

    The physicist, not the actor.

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  14. Hypnotic Voice... by jzarling · · Score: 2

    Carl Sagan had a voice that could lull you into a trance -

    --
    It is better to be the hammer than the anvil.
  15. Taking bets on when this Fox show is cancelled by TheSkepticalOptimist · · Score: 2

    choices are:
    1) after first episode
    2) after third episode
    3) after 10 episodes, remaining episodes only on DVD
    4) after 22 episodes, wait a few years, then brought back for another 11 only to be cancelled again after 8 are aired
    5) after 25 years and counting.

    Also taking bets on when this show is aired:
    1) Sundays
    2) Fridays
    3) Every other Friday
    4) Randomly so nobody knows the show exists( i.e. Firefly scheduling).
    5) Sometime after baseball ends

    Well at least if Seth McFarlane is producing it, the amount of schedule fuckery Fox will do to the show will be far less than if Joss Whedon was producing it.

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  16. Re:I made an account after 10+ years just to say.. by wiredlogic · · Score: 2

    You don't have to imagine. Take a look at his hosting on Nova Science Now. That's essentially what the new program will be like.

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  17. Cosmos Can't Be Cloned by RandCraw · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Cosmos was unique. 33 years ago an astronomer / story teller with a luminous passion for the past, present, and future of science stepped into the vacuum of imagination that followed Star Trek, bewitching and enthralling a generation of scientist wanna-bes. Sagan thrilled us largely because the world revealed by Cosmos was a joyous surprise.

    But rather than inventing a new series with fresh ideas, Cosmos II is just an attempt to reanimate dead flesh. It's a frankensteinian monster pieced together from someone else's long dead body of work. Magic can't be cloned,

    Fox is not PBS. Tyson is not Sagan. Cosmos should be allowed to rest in peace.

  18. NAH! Won't work. by Stubbyfingers · · Score: 2

    Don't get me wrong. I LIKE Neil DeGrasse Tyson, but Carl Sagan was special. He was a scientist with the soul of a poet. Neil's a great scientist, but I just don't think he has the poetry.