![]() The series also takes advantage of modern CGI, although at times it can look cheap and unpolished, especially when Tyson is clearly standing in front of a green screen. From a production standpoint, Cosmos is artfully crafted and makes heavy use of popular sci-fi iconography to paint its idealistic picture. Not surprisingly, humanity evolves in the last hour of the last day, with all of human civilization spanning the last few seconds. Again, this is accompanied by slick, animated sequences, plainly illustrating the major events in time. That idea is reaffirmed in the third segment, wherein Tyson compresses the cosmic lifespan of the universe into one calendar year, beginning on January 1st (representative of the Big Bang) and ending on December 31st (present day). Rather than discouraging personal beliefs, Tyson and MacFarlane (and Bruno) merely ask that viewers keep an open mind to unfathomable possibilities and turn to the vast canvas of space for proof and guidance. Giordano Bruno in CosmosNaturally, it would be easy to write off Cosmos as "anti-religion," but on the contrary, the premiere aims to reunite science and faith, and establish a common ground between the two. ![]() As a spiritual philosopher, and not a scientist, Bruno makes the argument that his god is not bound to the confines of religious dogma, so why should the universe be any different? At one point he cries out in protest, "Your god is too small!" but this ultimately gets poor Bruno burned at the stake. In MacFarlane and Tyson's version of the story, organized religion and the Catholic Church are largely antagonized, with various priests and figureheads depicted as straight villains - however, faith is not portrayed that way. Of course, in the 16th century, such claims were considered blasphemy to every church in the region, but that didn't stop Bruno from preaching his revelation. ![]() In fact, Bruno was one of the first people to posit that the sun was in fact a star and that other stars were also suns to many more planets like ours. Here, we learn that Bruno had a dream: not only was Earth not at the center of the universe (as Copernicus famously touted), but neither was the sun. This sequence is perhaps the most interesting, both in content and presentation, as it is stylistically animated in 2D, with narration by Tyson (and what sounds like MacFarlane lending additional voices). The second portion of the show takes a look back at the story of an oft overlooked 16th century Italian monk named Giordano Bruno (who lived between the more renowned Copernicus and Galileo). Starting out, Tyson doesn't delve much deeper than your average middle school astronomy textbook, but there's still a certain charm to his straightforward prose, using simple analogies to describe our massive universe. The series premiere is broken up into three basic segments and begins with Tyson boarding the "Spaceship of Imagination," as he takes us on a tour of the universe to explain each line of our "cosmic address" - starting with Earth (the first line) and working his way up through the Solar System, the Milky Way, the Local Cluster and so on. But instead of an umpteenth animated comedy, MacFarlane has set his sights on the stars with a reboot of Carl Sagan's acclaimed documentary miniseries Cosmos: A Personal Voyage - only this time it's called Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey, and it's hosted by the one and only Neil deGrasse Tyson (aka, the astrophysicist who made science cool again). Advance Review: For years now, Seth MacFarlane has been a powerhouse at FOX, and it probably comes as no surprise that the Family Guy creator has developed yet another show at the network. ![]()
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