Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
A 2014 sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos series.
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is a 2014 American science documentary television series presented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. It is a follow-up to the 1980 series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, hosted by Carl Sagan, and was developed to bring the foundation of science to network television amid a rise in science-based programming. The series was executive produced by Seth MacFarlane, whose financial investment was instrumental, and Ann Druyan, co-creator of the original series and Sagan's widow.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Science documentary
- Based On
- Cosmos: A Personal Voyage · Carl Sagan · Ann Druyan · Steven Soter
- Writer
- Ann Druyan / Steven Soter
- Presenter
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Composer
- Alan Silvestri
- Country
- United States
- Location
- Santa Fe, New Mexico / Culver City, California
- Language
- English
- Num Episodes
- 13
- Executive Producer
- Seth MacFarlane / Ann Druyan / Brannon Braga / Mitchell Cannold
- Producer
- Livia Hanich / Steven Holtzman / Jason Clark
- Editor
- John Duffy / Eric Lea / Michael O'Halloran
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The series was developed after years of struggling to find a network, with Seth MacFarlane providing crucial financial support after meeting Neil deGrasse Tyson and Ann Druyan in 2009. MacFarlane, inspired by the original Cosmos as a child, helped secure the show's greenlighting at Fox. The production team included philanthropists Daniel Rose and Joanna Semel Rose, who funded the initial segment. The series loosely follows the thirteen-episode format of the original, using elements like the 'Ship of the Imagination' and 'Cosmic Calendar', but with updated information and extensive computer-generated graphics.
Reader's Guide
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey premiered simultaneously across ten Fox networks in the United States on March 9, 2014, and concluded on June 8, 2014. It was rebroadcast internationally by local National Geographic and Fox stations. The series won several television broadcasting awards and a Peabody Award for educational content. A sequel series, Cosmos: Possible Worlds, premiered on March 9, 2020, on National Geographic. The show was critically praised and aimed to appeal to a wide audience, not just those interested in the sciences, continuing the legacy of the original series.
Did You Know?
- The series was presented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who as a high school student was inspired by Carl Sagan.
- Seth MacFarlane provided funding to donate about 800 boxes of Carl Sagan's personal notes and correspondences to the Library of Congress in June 2012.
- The series premiered simultaneously across ten 21st Century Fox networks, a first for a TV show.
- The animation for the series was created by a team hand-picked by MacFarlane, using the studio Six Point Harness in Los Angeles.
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