Cosmos Reboot on Fox and National Geographic Channel

Posted on February 3, 2014 at 8:00 am

Carl Sagan’s stunning “Cosmos” series is being updated for a return to television, hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson. It will premiere on Fox March 9 and be rebroadcast on the National Geographic Channel. Bill Moyers writes:

deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist with a gift of explaining complicated ideas simply, says the newCosmos will continue Sagan’s “epic exploration of our place in the universe,” and examine new discoveries of the past four decades.

“We have other stories to tell beyond the ones that went on back then … At the time of the original series, there were no known planets outside of those orbiting the sun. Right now, we’re rising through 1,000 planets happily orbiting stars that are not the sun. So that’s not simply new science. It’s new vistas of thought and imagination,” deGrasse Tyson told Bill Moyers in an interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBTd9–9VMI

In the meantime, take a look at the original series and the extraordinary online archive of Sagan materials at the Library of Congress.

This is Why I’m Rooting for the Seahawks

Posted on February 2, 2014 at 6:00 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=776fI6NZLFA

The first legally deaf NFL player surprises his two biggest fans. P.S. Did you know that the football huddle was invented by the deaf players at Gallaudet University so that the opposing team would not see their hand signals?

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Sports Television

Exclusive Clips: The Gabby Douglas Story

Posted on January 30, 2014 at 1:23 pm

Olympic champion Gabby Douglas plays herself in a new Lifetime movie called “The Gabby Douglas Story” premiering Friday, February 1 at 8 Eastern. The superb cast includes Regina King, S. Epatha Merkerson, Imani Hakim, and Sydney Mikayla.

A prodigy from a very young age, Gabby Douglas originally made her mark on the world of competitive gymnastics at age eight. She won numerous state championship titles in her age group throughout her early competitive career. While her star was fast rising in the arena, Gabby and her family faced economic challenges at home and she made the difficult decision to leave her mother Natalie, three siblings and grandmother in Virginia Beach and move to Des Moines, Iowa, to train with renowned coach Liang Chow to pursue her dream of Olympic glory. Buoyed by her early success, dedication and unyielding love from her family, Gabby made it onto the 2012 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team, with whom she faced intense competition in the London Games. Her sacrifice and perseverance were triumphantly rewarded with Team Competition and Individual All-round gold medals, placing Gabby and her teammates – known as “The Fierce Five” — among the world’s all-time greats in gymnastics.

I am delighted to be able to share some exclusive clips from what looks like a terrific film about an extraordinary athlete.

Janelle Monae on Sesame Street and the Power of Yet

Posted on January 20, 2014 at 6:58 pm

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Music Television

And NBC’s Next Live Musical Performance Will Be….Peter Pan!

Posted on January 19, 2014 at 3:27 pm

NBC pledged to follow up it’s live production of “The Sound of Music” with another family musical and they’ve announced what the next one will be — another classic that originally starred Mary Martin, “Peter Pan.”

There have been many versions of James M. Barrie’s classic story since he first wrote it as a play and novel in the early 20th century. It was a revolution in the theater back then — not just the flying but the audience participation as everyone had to clap to bring Tinkerbell back to life. Mary Martin starred on Broadway in the 1954 musical with songs by Mark “Moose” Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne, and most of the lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Martin and her co-star Cyril Richard (who played both Mr. Darling and Captain Hook) performed the musical on television in 1955, setting a viewership record. Martin did two more versions on television and later productions starred Sandy Duncan and Cathy Rigby, who played Peter on Broadway and on the road from 1990 until 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s3VfxCYqXs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sye2NanCYHI

Who should put on the tights and flying harness for this new production?