PASADENA, Calif. — With weekly talk shows devoted to other TV shows becoming a cottage industry (see: “Talking Dead” on AMC, “Beyond A.D.” on NBC.com), a science-themed talk show does not seem so far-fetched.
Monday at 11 p.m. National Geographic Channel debuts “StarTalk” hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson (“Cosmos”). It’s based on Mr. Tyson’s existing podcast series of the same name.
In Monday’s premiere, Mr. Tyson, who has a doctorate in astrophysics, is joined by a co-host-of-the-week, comedian Leighann Lord, and astronomy/physics professor Charles Liu to discuss the role of “Star Trek” in culture, technology and science. Their segments chatting about the 1960s-born phenomenon are interspersed with an interview Mr. Tyson conducted earlier with “Star Trek” actor George Takei. Although Mr. Takei has become a ubiquitous presence in pop culture in recent years thanks to his popular social media feeds, Mr. Tyson’s interview managed to bring out both stories I’ve heard Mr. Takei tell before and some new material.
“The Kardashians have been going longer than the original ‘Star Trek,’” Mr. Tyson notes.
“Yes, but on ‘Star Trek’ we have the Cardassians,” Mr. Takei replies good-naturedly.
A “Bill Nye The Science Guy”-fronted, Andy Rooney-style commentary segment at the end of the episode doesn’t add much but the show’s second episode, featuring Mr. Tyson’s interview with “Interstellar” director Christopher Nolan, promises the hope of something a little more fresh with a pop culture figure who’s somewhat less overexposed. (Future guests will include sex columnist Dan Savage, ethologist Richard Dawkins, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, “All in the Family” creator Norman Lear and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.)
The show’s staging in the Hall of the Universe at New York’s American Museum of Natural History in front of an audience is a little low-concept, but the enthusiasm of Mr. Liu and Ms. Lord in Monday’s premiere keeps “Star Talk” from getting too dry.
At a January Nat Geo press conference, Mr. Tyson said his goal with the TV show is the same as with his podcast.
“It's a mixture of comedy, science, and pop culture fully blended, every single episode,” he said. “I'm the host, yet I'm the scientist, and my guests are hardly ever scientists. Our goal is to hew them from pop culture. It could be entertainment. It could be sports. We've even interviewed journalists, people who have a following, and we bring them onto ‘StarTalk,’ and then we orchestrate a conversation around them that constantly detours into science and all the ways that science has influenced that person's livelihood. And in this way, we bring science to people who didn't know they liked science or maybe thought that they didn't like science.”
Mr. Tyson said his inspiration for the podcast that led to the TV show was public radio’s “Car Talk,” which managed to be entertaining even to non-car aficionados. Similarly, his hope for “StarTalk” is that it can have an appeal beyond science geeks. And he’s not particularly interested in using the series to take on scientific misconceptions.
“I found it much more valuable … for you to learn things rather than for the show to sit there and debunk things,” he said. “One is sort of actively negative to try to have you learn. One is actively positive to have you learn. It's not a fear of being controversial. It's just I would rather take those precious moments I have with you, the viewer, and enlighten you in some way that you didn't know you could be enlightened, find a connection of science to your world, to pop culture.”
Even before “StarTalk,” Mr. Tyson saw a mainstreaming of science in American culture thanks to other popular programs, including the “CSI” shows (scientists solving crimes) and “The Big Bang Theory” (scientists cracking wise).
“When people see that science is all around you and it's something that affects you every day, not something you can walk around or dig under or step over, then you begin to think about it differently,” Mr. Tyson said. “Those are caricatures on ’The Big Bang Theory,’ nonetheless it is a window into kind of a geek culture that is responsible for so much, especially in our information technology revolution that we live. We're in an era now where I think science has been humanized in a way that is long overdue, and I'd like to think that ‘StarTalk’ is in the center of that because the guests that we cherish are the ones that are not themselves scientists.”
Keep or Cancel?
It’s that time of year when the broadcast networks film pilot episodes for prospective fall dramas that could take the place of existing series. Have your say on what should be kept or canceled by voting today in the Post-Gazette’s annual Keep or Cancel poll at http://old.post-gazette.com/tv/poll/default.asp.
This week Hallmark Channel renewed “The Good Witch” for a second season.
HBO renewed “Veep” for a fifth season and “Silicon Valley” for a third season.
Season three of Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black” doesn’t debut until June 12 but the online streaming service has already renewed the show for a fourth season to debut in 2016.
Make-A-Wish telethon
WTAE will air a Make-A-Wish interstitial telethon during commercial breaks on WTAE-TV from 6 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Make-A-Wish will primarily encourage viewers to donate air miles to help sick children’s wishes come true (75 percent of wishes kids make involve travel and account for the largest wish-granting expense).
Children featured in the spots will include Hope Oppel, 11; Francesca Dabecco, 18; Nathan Tkach, 18; Lindsey Hecker, 12; Marissa Morrison, 17, and Shane Lisman, 13.
Details at: http://greaterpawv.wish.org/ways-to-help/giving/airline-miles.
Channel surfing
PBS Kids announced “Ready Jet Go!,” a new animated series for children ages 3-8 with an emphasis on astronomy and earth science. Debuting next winter, the show follows two science-obsessed kids who befriend a neighbor from a family of aliens. … PBS will rebroadcast Ken Burns’ “The Civil War” Sept. 7-11 to mark the film’s 25th anniversary. … Hit Disney movie “Frozen” will premiere across the Disney/ABC networks ABC, ABC Family, Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD beginning in February 2016. … The next movie based on the former Hallmark Channel series “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” subtitled “From Paris With Love,” debuts at 9 p.m. June 6 on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. … Entertainment winners in the 74th annual Peabody Awards include “The Americans,” British import “Black Mirror,” “Fargo,” “The Honorable Woman,” “Inside Amy Schumer,” “Jane the Virgin,” “The Knick,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” and “Rectify.” Excerpts from the May 31 ceremony will air in a 90-minute prime-time special on cable’s Pivot on June 21. … Reruns of BBC America’s “Doctor Who” revival -- seasons two through four -- will air on Disney XD beginning May 9 at 9 p.m. … Canceled NBC drama “Revolution” will get some resolution with a four-chapter digital comic that debuts May 4, May 18, June 1 and June 15 at ComicBook.com before eventually getting posted to Facebook.com/Revolution. … Today marks the last day on air for KDKA-TV morning/noon meteorologist Dennis Bowman, who announced his plan to retire in January.
TV Q&A alert
The online link at post-gazette.com/tv that delivers TV Q&A question submissions went wonky and has failed to deliver any questions since April 1.
So if you sent in a question via the submission page between April 1 and today, please resend it via email (to rowen@post-gazette.com), including your first name and location, and put “TV Q&A” in the subject line.
Tuned In online
Today's TV Q&A column responds to questions about “Person of Interest,” “The Little Couple” and a renamed WTAE anchor. This week's Tuned In Journal includes posts on “Cucumber” and “Banana,” “Other Space,” “Orphan Black” and how Pittsburgh VOD habits compare nationally. Read online-only TV content at post-gazette.com/tv.
This week's podcast includes conversation about “Game of Thrones,” “Silicon Valley” and “Marvel’s Daredevil.” Subscribe or listen to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette podcasts at iTunes or at https://soundcloud.com/pittsburghpg.
TV writer Rob Owen: rowen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2582. Follow RobOwenTV on Twitter or Facebook for breaking TV news.
First Published: April 17, 2015, 4:00 a.m.