Great TV While High: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

In 1980 well known marijuana supporter and brilliant scientist Carl Sagan hosted a 13 episode series on PBS called Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. It quickly became a sensation and, as of 2009, was still the most viewed series on PBS. It earned an Emmy and a Peabody award.

Being a huge fan of Carl Sagan and the Cosmos series, I met news of a 2014 reboot with apprehension. Sagan leaves some exceptionally large shoes to fill in both his scientific prowess and his marvelous ability to translate complex science-jargon into something that the rest of us can understand.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

I am very pleased to report that the reboot, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey quite simply blew me away. The man chosen to step into Sagan’s role could not have been more perfectly selected. He goes by the name of Neil deGrasse Tyson and he is currently the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. Tyson makes regular appearances on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and is a brilliant astrophysicist. Beyond that, however, when he was just a teenager he had the chance to spend a day with Carl Sagan at his lab. Tyson says that day forever changed him. Not only did it cement his career choice, but he learned from Sagan the kind of man he wanted to be. A more perfect host for this reboot does not exist!

It would be a horrible disservice for me to try and relate the information of Cosmos to you, certainly considering that one of the heavyweights of astrophysics is the host.

All I can say is that if you have ever even once pondered your existence on a grand scale or spent a stoned night contemplating the stars, you will love this show.

Some of what I watched, I already knew. I consider myself a reasonably educated layman when it comes to astronomy. I will wither next to any real scientist, but I have a solid hobbyists understanding of this stuff. That stated, I felt like I was seeing it in a whole new light while some of the information was completely new.

Tyson, like Sagan, uses his translative abilities to bring some of the most refined science down to Earth. Using simple metaphors and poetic phrases, he makes the stuff of dreams palpable. Unlike Sagan, however, Tyson has the advantage of living in an age where CGI techonology can finally almost keep up with the science. Computers provide stunning visuals to accompany the words. It truly is an experience of sound, color, and light that will leave you feeling a lot smarter than Laser Pink Floyd.

Do yourself a favor. Smoke the fattest bowl you can and flip on Cosmos. I double dare you not to have about 23 epiphanies. Even cooler, this is just the pilot episode (check out the trailer below)! More episodes are on the way and you can even watch the full versions online on their website.

Check out other posts from Weedist’s Great TV While High series!