When asked to become the new host for the continuation of the 1980 science documentary from the late Carl Sagan, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson didn’t immediately jump at the opportunity. Yet here he is, in the show’s third season with Cosmos: Possible Worlds.
“I was initially reluctant because I don’t like doing things that I know other people can do. I could list a dozen people who could host Cosmos, so I didn’t really need to do it. I would rather do things that no one can do. In fact, if we all expressed our talents in that way, imagine what kind of world that would be,” Tyson explained in a phone interview with IGN.
“But then I thought about it,” Tyson continued, “and I met Carl when I was 17 and he had this influence on me. He’s been a mentor, not in a 1-on-1 way, but a mentor by example and I thought, you know, there are things I could bring to the screen that others couldn’t, and maybe my hosting would represent a unique opportunity or make a unique statement.”
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Neil deGrasse Tyson on Cosmos’ Resurgence
The idea to continue the work of Carl Sagan with Cosmos was not previously planned but became a necessary continuation in the eyes of Ann Druyan, producer and writer on the show and wife of Sagan, as the current state of the world continues to shift over time.
“She [Druyan] realized there were other challenges that civilization was facing, that differed from what we faced in 1980,” Tyson said. “In 1980 it was still the Cold War. The world was still held hostage by conflicts of political ideologies, and the cosmic perspective – something that Cosmos delivers magnificently – was something that as any astrophysicist knows, can completely change your outlook on the world. So, Ann felt the time had come.”
Tyson explained the decision for Druyan also came from the rise of anti-science and climate change denials around the year 2010.
The second season – or continuation as it’s more so described – of Cosmos premiered in 2014, titled Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, with the third installment, Cosmos: Possible Worlds premiering it’s first two episodes on March 9, 2020, and with subsequent episodes being released in pairs every Monday starting at 8:00 pm EDT / 7:00 pm CDT / 5:00pm PDT on National Geographic Channel.
Tyson explained the creative team considered many more stories than those that actually made it to air, but the ones that do – including the 13 episodes of the most recent season – had the best balance of science, human interest, visual effects, and compelling mission statements.
“By the time you’ve seen it and felt it and experienced it, you’re just going to rise up from the couch and say, ‘I want to change the world because I need to,'” Tyson said.
Carl Sagan’s Continued Influence
The connection to the original Cosmos documentary and influence from Sagan is apparent in the new seasons, all the way down to small details like a dandelion seed in the opening of the show to the Ship of the Imagination that fans will recognized received an upgrade, which are directly linked to the 1980 documentary.
“The look and feel and mission statement is the DNA of Cosmos. It’s not just science – if it were, it would just be another documentary. But you never felt that watching any episode of Cosmos. It’s a different contract between what’s on the screen and you, the viewer, as a consumer of that content. And that contract is, you will be enlightened by the science, but that’s not your takeaway,” Tyson said.
“Your takeaway is you’re going to learn why that science matters to you, to your family, to your fellow humans, to Earth. You’re going to find out why that matters, and you’re going to feel empowered to do something about it. That’s the DNA of Cosmos.”
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The Future of Cosmos
In terms of another season, Tyson said he spoke with Druyan and she’s already been thinking of a fourth season – yet Tyson said he doesn’t need to host himself.
“I think each Cosmos should really have a next person hosted, who’s from a next-generation, so you keep it moving – like a torch that is passed. She’s [Druyan] the engine for the stories that are being told, and if she’s 70 years old and has the energy to generate a whole other set of stories, more power to her.”
“The world in 5 years may have a whole other set of challenges that will come front and center with Cosmos, that we don’t even foresee today,” Tyson elaborated. “Or we can get an update on whatever role Cosmos played in getting people to become better shepherds of civilization compared to how we once were so our descendants would be proud of us for what we have put into motion, rather than embarrassed of us by what we have done.”
The third season of Cosmos is executive produced, written and directed by creator Ann Druyan, with Seth MacFarlane, Brannon Braga, and Jason Clark also serving as executive producers. The creative team includes acclaimed costume designer Ruth E. Carter, cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub, and iconic composer Alan Silvestri. Voiceover artists include well known actors such as Sir Patrick Stewart, Seth MacFarlane, Viggo Mortensen, and Judd Hirsch.
Along with Cosmos: Possible Worlds premiering on National Geographic weekly, the complete season will air on Fox this summer. For more science news, read about how MIT engineers created a method to deflect Earth-threatening asteroids, NASA’s new mission to understand the Sun’s radiation affects in space, and what this real-life Venom-type symbiote goop might be.
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Jessie Wade is Homepage Editor at IGN and the science gal. Follow her on Twitter @jessieannwade and talk with her about astronomy, dinosaurs, and life.
Source: IGN.com Neil deGrasse Tyson Talks Cosmos Series and How it Honors Carl Sagan