Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014) Complete Season 1

Neil deGrasse Tyson's Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, an often stunning update of Carl Sagan's iconic Cosmic: A Personal Voyage, makes it abundantly clear that the universe is awash in miracles and the unexpected, but perhaps not even a rocket scientist (a type often credited with inherent genius) could have predicted that the name of Seth MacFarlane would be among the Executive Producers. Even more astounding is the fact that MacFarlane evidently was instrumental in getting a bunch of important Sagan papers and notebooks to the Library of Congress, as is detailed in one of the supplements appending this appealing new Blu-ray set. As MacFarlane jokes with Sagan's widow Ann Druyan at the Library of Congress celebration, maybe this helps to make up for all the "fart jokes" he's told on television. The participation of MacFarlane of course ultimately makes little difference to the quality of deGrasse's efforts, for it's the amiable astrophysicist, the sort of guy who can demolish Jon Stewart in one fell swoop by telling him that The Daily Show's opening graphic features the Earth spinning in the wrong direction, who set the tone and tenor of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. And it's here that Sagan's long shadow finds a contemporary companion. Tyson may not have Sagan's innately poetic spirit, but he obviously has Sagan's passion for science. When the original Cosmos aired, the world was in the throes of a huge technological revolution that had seen everything from manned flights to our nearest neighbor to the burgeoning of what would soon become known as the personal computer. Despite the march of progress which has continued unabated since the Sagan show aired, and which arguably has only increased in pace and amazing developments, science is weirdly dismissed now by an increasing segment of the population, whether those be climate change questioners, those who posit links between vaccines and various dysfunctions, or even those who claim the Bible is the be-all end-all for "history" as we know it, including the age of our planet. That perhaps makes the stakes considerably higher for this "new, improved" Cosmos. The fact is Tyson may not sway any minds (or hearts) that come to this enterprise with preexisting belief systems, but for those who are still able to conjure up a sense of wonder, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey offers abundant thrills and amazements.

One decided example of technology improving and becoming more integrated with everyday life is evidenced by simply comparing the looks of the two Cosmos series, divorced from any differences in actual content. Sagan's Cosmos was a breathtakingly groundbreaking series in its day, but the "special effects" of the series, as inventive as they were for that particular era, look positively quaint to today's CGI hypnotized eyes. Tyson's version in fact references the eye itself in several opening graphics, where a spiral galaxy looks deceptively like an opening iris of an eyeball. This new Cosmos takes full advantage of the advances in CGI, thrusting Tyson into a variety of different environments as he pilots his "Ship of the Imagination" to both macro and micro locations. Perhaps oddly, there's also a decidedly more "old school" approach on hand in every episode here as well, with sometimes long animated sequences that tend to illustrate historical peoples or events. The visual presentation here is so strong and engaging that many people may initially be unaware of just how much information is also being imparted, almost subliminally at times.

Tyson both refers to and plays with the content of the original Sagan Cosmos throughout this reboot. Some of it is unmistakable, as when a brief clip of the now famous scene of Sagan blowing dandelion scenes segues into a headlong rush out into the starry expanses over our heads as Tyson "takes over" from his predecessor. But there are subtler references as well. Much as with the first episode of the original Cosmos, Tyson explores our "cosmic address" in his opening episode, though he goes off on some tangents that Sagan never addressed. Even here, though, Tyson clearly keeps Sagan's original formulations in the back of his mind. For instance, while Sagan mentions the library of Alexandria early on in his version, Tyson waits until toward the end of his version and only then brings up the lost treasury of human knowledge in a somewhat different context. The interesting thing here is those with absolutely no memory of (or experience with) Sagan's version will miss nothing at all, while those who do fondly recall the original Cosmos well get little soupçons of additional interwoven data as Tyson moves through his version.

There is a certain pretentiousness to the presentation here as Tyson "pilots" his spacecraft to explore everything from human DNA to infrared light to galaxies far removed from our own. But Tyson is such an appealing presence, in some ways a bit more accessible than the more formidably brainy Sagan, that even the series' excesses are easily forgivable. MacFarlane states in one of the supplements on this Blu-ray set that the creative crew wanted as cinematic an experience as possible, and there's certainly a more than epic sweep to this Cosmos. Tyson's firm hand on the rudder, though, goes a long way toward making everything comprehensible and perhaps even more important, engaging. Science deniers may still have their "issues" with various supposedly disputed facts, but even those curmudgeons would have a hard time not being impressed by the sheer scope and immediacy of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

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