The best part of the show was the last bit when Neil told the story about Ithaca, the snowstorm, the book inscription and a day spent with Carl Sagan, which stoked his inspiration to pursue science.
It was otherwise a fairly boring episode, but I’m with what Ranger said, above. The pace of the show was nothing like Disco Channel shows. (check) It had the same pacing as the old Cosmos.(check) So that’s two positives, in spite of the show not being that compelling.
Neil deGrasse Tyson needs to find his own compelling voice. Carl Sagan used to exclaim “astonishing!” all the time, with such science fervor, that you couldn’t help but get personally involved in what he was saying. Dr. Tyson WILL get there. It’ll just take a few episodes.
He made it very clear from the beginning that his only involvement was to make sure it got made (with an appropriate budget) and that it aired during prime time on Fox.
Sometimes I think people don’t give Seth MacFarlane enough credit.
It was your somewhat universal-sounding proclamation that the show has no more chances. Clearly you just meant for you, in which case, yes, you’re certainly entitled to your own opinion. Many of us are excited to see where it goes.
Sir. I told you to wait for the rest of the series before having such a definitively negetive opinion. Huge difference between a call for patiance and a call to stfu.
I suspected it might be. I’d have thought that was daft if I’d seen that too, then. I think as a kid I’d find it patronizing.
I should probably note that I don’t have much patience for anything that gets in the way of the information. I happily read A Brief History of Time but gave up on The Universe in a Nutshell because of all the stupid info boxes that meant I had to keep flipping backwards and forwards between pages.
You know, thinking about it, I wonder if Sagan was lambasted by the self-described scientific-atheist dogmatists when he said things like “we are a way for the universe to know itself,” which sure seems like he’s imbuing the universe with a deeper meaning than such folks are typically comfortable. And I always got this sense from Sagan, that he was not afraid to find a level of spiritual awe and mystery with the realities that science and cosmology present. He was active mostly before my time, so I don’t have a great frame of reference, other than to know he was widely popular in culture as scientists go.
‘Spirit’ comes from the Latin word ‘to breathe’. What we breathe is air, which is certainly matter, however thin. Despite usage to the contrary, there is no necessary implication in the word ‘spiritual’ that we are talking of anything other than matter (including the matter of which the brain is made), or anything outside the realm of science. On occasion, I will feel free to use the word. Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or of acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.
I loved it. I’m speaking from the perspective of someone who watched it with an 8 year old boy. NDT did great. The pacing was great. Slow enough to build and allow things to sink in. But it didn’t get too slow. The spaceship contrivance I could take or leave. I liked the orchestral music.
I also liked the animated section. I thought it was a nice, artistic touch and certainly no more cheesy than second rate actors re-enacting history. And kids will like it. And with animation you can add creative elements that just wouldn’t work in live action. For example, the part where Bruno lifts the curtain of the “old” universe to soar (metaphorically) into the vast cosmos. That was flippin’ awesome and I don’t think it could have been done that magically without animation. The animation could have been edited down a little. I would have cut some of the dialogue in the animated sequence.
Definitely need to get on top of reading some Sagan.