The odds were stacked against it. In a world where reality television permeates the airwaves, and in a format so heavily contesting the popular opinions of Americans, Cosmos, was greenlit. Under the funding of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, and the brilliance of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, one of the most unlikely shows came to be, or rather, be again.

The original Cosmos was a 13 episode miniseries produced in the 1980’s by American Physicist, Carl Sagan. The show’s goal was to instill wonder and intrigue about science into the hearts of whoever would watch. The format was simple, each episode embodies a scientific or philosophical concept such as “Who Speaks for the Earth?” and explores how people have answered the concept through history, whether spiritually, scientifically or otherwise, and what modern science has given us in terms of answers. Sagan introduces the concept of a “Spaceship of the Imagination”, a spaceship he is in for the majority of each episode. The spaceship can go anywhere, be any size, and is shaped like a dandelion seed. This represented the wonder of man throughout history to explore the world around them, what lengths they would go to for knowledge, and how easily we can today by comparison. To say this show was successful would be an understatement. It has acquired 2 Emmys and a Peabody Award, 500 million unique views, and was considered "a watershed moment for science-themed television programming" by The New York Times. That is quite a bit to live up to, so how does A Spacetime Odyssey fair?

Well, if nothing else, A Spacetime Odyssey certainly followed the format of the original series. The series is comprised of 13 episodes, and each encompasses a different main scientific idea. Animation is used to show how scientists and philosophers of old explained phenomenon, or how they failed to. The idea of a Spaceship of the Imagination is carried over as well, and through beautiful CGI it is shown to travel through space, time, and dimensions to get to where it needs to be for the narrative. The effects are incredible, and are very effective at instilling that wonder Carl Sagan tried so hard to achieve up until his passing in 1996. Clearly, the creators of A Spacetime Odyssey followed the original to a T. How fitting is it then, that the new narrator would be Neil DeGrasse Tyson. In his youth Tyson submitted a resume to Carl Sagan based on his interest in astronomy and physics, spawned by A Personal Voyage. Sagan, so effected that a 17 year old would follow his work so closely, sent a personal letter back to Tyson, asking him to meet. In one episode of A Spacetime Odyssey, Tyson described it as meeting a personal hero, and he genuinely became watery eyed while doing so. In the new Cosmos, Tyson’s soothing and charismatic voice and character guide the viewer through history and spacetime to explain the world around us. He is extremely careful never to discount an idea in history that was wrong, because he wants viewers to realize that people didn’t always have all the resources we do today. This he also states could explain the development of religions.

Certainly, A Spacetime Odyssey is an incredibly well produced and thoughtful show, but in reality, it had to be. While many praised the shows narrative, beauty, wit and engagement, it can’t go unnoted which Network it was hosted on, FOX. Fox is considered the most highly conservative network on television. For a show to be produced in such elegance, heavily contrasting the ideals of right wing Christians, was a mockery to them. The Catholic League called the show “a smear campaign” against Christianity. Many Christians were upset that the show had an episode that detailed the work and persecution by the Catholic church, of Giordano Bruno. Bruno developed the idea that Earth revolved around the sun, contrary to ideas presented in the bible. For this, he was burned at the stake by the church. To even get the show to be considered by FOX, the funding and support of Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane was necessary. MacFarlane is a well known atheist and advocate of public knowledge of science, and he stated that it was a personal subject for him as he was inspired by the original Cosmos in his youth. He worked with Ann Druyan, Sagan’s widow, to promote the show.

In this way A Spacetime Odyssey had to be good. To be anything else than perfect would give opposition to the show enough power to cancel it. Additionally it had to be perfect as it was produced by individuals with strong emotional connections to Sagan and the original, and they wanted to preserve its excellence. Fortunately for us against all odds and lobbying against it during production all the way through syndication, Cosmos came to be.