Like a lot of people, “Rocket Boys” author and former NASA engineer Homer Hickam tuned into last night’s premiere of “Cosmos,” a reboot of Carl Sagan’s 13-part science series. Unfortunately, he wound up being disappointed. The show’s rather inauspicious beginning probably didn’t help:
Just announced: President @BarackObama will introduce the premiere episode of #cosmos tomorrow night! http://t.co/Cw6Yub1zW8
— COSMOS (@COSMOSonTV) March 8, 2014
Bleh. We definitely could’ve done without an appearance from The One:
@COSMOSonTV @NASAWatch @BarackObama Please say it isn't so. Can we not escape this fellow for a few minutes? #Tivoitafterthefirstfiveminutes
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) March 8, 2014
If only.
Things didn’t really improve for Hickam as the show went on:
Cosmos fine but Tyson's voice not as commanding as Sagan's.
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) March 10, 2014
Cosmos showed the oldest theory on how our moon was formed – by same debris as Earth. Mars-sized planetary collision theory ignored.
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) March 10, 2014
@RyInSpace @neiltyson There was something about Sagan's intonation that made Cosmos arresting. It is impossible, really, to recreate it.
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) March 10, 2014
But it wasn’t just Carl Sagan’s absence that felt wrong to Hickam. It was also the not-so-subtle politics that seeped into the show:
A little PC crept in when Tyson mentioned the old world (Europe) found the new (Americas). "For better or worse," he said.
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) March 10, 2014
Cosmos also had an anti-coal message, saying we were destroying ourselves with it. Ahem, steel,warm homes,electricity, our civilization,etc.
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) March 10, 2014
@danwthomp It could have simply not editorialized at all. 'Coal was formed by plant life over millions of years' would have sufficed.
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) March 10, 2014
Evidently it’s too much to ask for a science series to focus on, you know, science.
@HomerHickam I think you are looking pretty hard for things not to like about Cosmos…
— Glenn Berry (@GlennAlanBerry) March 10, 2014
@GlennAlanBerry Maybe so. I'll watch the next one and see.
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) March 10, 2014
***
Update:
More from Hickam:
@lheal @TwitchyTeam 'Annoyed' is accurate. I'll still watch the rest of the series.
— Homer Hickam (@HomerHickam) March 10, 2014
