Launching in 2014, ‘Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’ is a documentary series that will air on Fox and the National Geographic Channel and will serve as a sequel of sorts to Carl Sagan’s influential series ‘Cosmos: A Personal Voyage’ which originally aired in the 1980s.  The new show will be hosted by the popular astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, famous for bringing a scientific eye to the world of pop culture, most recently laying into the movie ‘Gravity’.

The thirteen episode series will be produced by Seth MacFarlane… yes, that Seth MacFarlane, the man behind ‘The Family Guy’ and ‘Ted’.  (He also released an album of classic standards, so don’t pigeonhole him!)

The new trailer premiered on Saturday night during the World Series.  You can watch below:

For a longer clip, you can watch the trailer shown this summer at San Diego Comic-Con.

The original ‘Cosmos’ while widely acclaimed and very influential, is unfortunately, simply out of date at this point.  The show has been re-edited over the years to try and keep it more relevant, but after three decades, I suppose it was simply easier to start from scratch with a new series.

Here is the synopsis:

“COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY will invent new modes of scientific storytelling to reveal the grandeur of the universe and re-invent celebrated elements of the legendary original series, including the Cosmic Calendar and the Ship of the Imagination. The most profound scientific concepts will be presented with stunning clarity, uniting skepticism and wonder, and weaving rigorous science with the emotional and spiritual into a transcendent experience.”

So… this isn’t like ‘The Family Guy’.  Not even a little.

But it sounds like those involved are hoping to make science more approachable and relevant to a modern audience, who are more interested in ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ than keeping up with, say the Japanese.

They say our geek culture now dominates the world of pop.  Are we ready for this type of reality show?  Can science actually be entertaining?  We’ll see when this show premiers in the spring!

Source EW