http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/13/43283 ... ox-in-2014

Yes, please.

This has nothing to do with the soccer team.

How much of this will be Tyson's, and how much Sagan's? If it is mostly Tyson's work, should he ditch the title Cosmos?

And why is it his cosmos? Isn't it our cosmos?

Bf just got a copy of the orignal's box set. We watched the first episode. I think updating the series with all the new information and images we have gained since then is a worthwhile thing.

I hope they keep the Vangelis theme music.

Maybe they can do a remake with Tyson's episodes.

I owe Neil deGrasse Tyson a huge apology. Nobody can replace Carl Sagan, and it may be that Sagan's documentary will still be better than this. But Tyson is a worthy successor to Carl Sagan, and the last few minutes of this opening program were extremely moving.

I like Tyson quite a bit. He's engaging, passionate about this stuff-- he's like a teacher who's class you really look forward to. He makes it all interesting and fun.

If there is one thing that this first episode gets "wrong"---and this "mistake" is really just a way of condensing material to make it easier to understand---is that you get the impression that the asteroids in the "asteroid belt" are clustered together like that group that Han Solo was dodging in and out of at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. That's hardly the case at all. Anybody remember this? http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/solarsystem/ (I know it's mentioned on another thread)

I don't want to emphasis this too much because I think Tyson is doing a great job, but the one physicist I've seen on documentaries today who reminds me the most of Carl Sagan is Brian Cox. (No, I don't mean the actor who was Jason Bourne's boss and the original Hannibal Lector.)

I'd watch Brian Cox's Cosmos. Especially if someone said "Shenanigans".
"

The first ep is online:

http://www.fox.com/watch/183733315515

It was beautiful and moving. It featured a few things I particularly like (like Giordano Bruno and the Tegmark/Greene Multiverse stuff) and it was extremely engaging. Like Rick said, Tyson is just really, really engaging and he's able to convey his passion for science.

You are correct. The asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt. That was pretty lame-ass.

And it doesn't condense material to make it easier to understand in any way.

What did you think of the episode?

I think it was great. Sagan's shoes are pretty big, but Tyson looks like he fits in them very well. I actually liked the story he told at the end where he describes meeting Carl Sagan in person when he was a teenager. For that reason alone, I think he was deserving of this gig.

BTW, was it my imagination, or was the version of Cosmos they showed on NatGeo in standard definition, while the one I saw on Fox was in HD?

And I'll bet one of the reasons why Fox got the broadcast rights (aside from paying Carl Sagan's widow a lot of money) is that some of the other science channels on cable will show crap like "Ghosthunters" or "Ancient Aliens" that would have driven Carl Sagan nuts if he were alive to see them.

Does your cable provider have the HD version of NatGeo? If not, that's why you got the SD version.



The reason Fox got the broadcast rights is in the credits.

"Executive Producer - Seth McFarlane"

He asked Druyan if she would okay a sequel, she did, he pitched it to Fox, they bought it.

Tyson's story about meeting Sagan was very touching.

It was. I literally got a tear in my eye, even though I had already heard that story before.

It was a very moving experience for me, personally. I remember as a kid, I would watch some PBS science shows with my Dad. Cosmos was one. James Burke's Connections and The Day the Universe Changed were some others. Now, I'm watching the new Cosmos with my daughter, and she's having the same reaction to it as I did to the original (even though I watched it with Dad a few years after it originally premiered). She was very taken with the story of Bruno's punishment and execution, and the "Cosmic Calendar" probably explained to her our place in the universal timeline better than anything she's ever had in science class at school.

But...but baseless speculation is so much more interesting!

Me too.