Posted: 12/14/2010 11:36:22 AM EDT
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Is it just me, or do a lot of these shows dumb things to just a little too much? I'd personally like to see a science show that wasn't created with your average 4th grader in mind. The Universe in particular is pretty bad for this. |
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Go here: http://mkaku.org/ for real science. Dr. Kaku never fails to blow my mind. |
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I love his show. |
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Quoted: I love his show. Downloading Season 1 of Sci-Fi Science. |
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Quoted: Quoted: I love his show. Downloading Season 1 of Sci-Fi Science. Stand by for the nerd science mind-fuck. Go in sober. Enjoy. |
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Quoted: Is it just me, or do a lot of these shows dumb things to just a little too much? I'd personally like to see a science show that wasn't created with your average 4th grader in mind. The Universe in particular is pretty bad for this. From a thread on this very topic three years ago...  Any science-nerd from my generation will never forget watching "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan as a kid. It was a great series on the science, history, present and future of Astronomy with plenty of physics, geology and bit of philosophy and fantasy blended in as well. All in all it was a landmark show. So we rented it a few weeks ago, to coincide with another excellent series being shown on The History Channel "The Universe". Interesting to compare these two series that each cover pretty much the same ground although nearly 30 years apart (has it really been that long?). Obviously "The Universe" is much more up-to-date with images, knowledge and CGI special effects. But one thing that really struck me was the difference in tone, pace and flashiness of today's series compared to "Cosmos". When we rented "Cosmos" and watched it, it was like shifting into low gear - the pace was much slower, the editing was much less rapid and it was just overall a much less "hyper" show. Not to say "The Universe" is overly hyperized at all, by today's standards it's actually very standard for the pace and editing. But in "Cosmos" there are many more slow tracking shots and many more still shots with the camera stationary rather than constantly panning like in today's shows. And the narration was calmer even while it was covering very interesting and exciting material. It seemed like "The Universe" couldn't go for 5 seconds without some fast tracking "flyby" through a galaxy or by a planet or fast animation. And the number of editing cuts was probably triple or more that of "Cosmos". After watching them both side-by-side, I was really struck at how fast-paced today's shows have become. Out of the two series, "The Universe" was visually more interesting, animated and flashy while "Cosmos", even though it's dated material, seemed a bit more 'intellectual'. I liked both but will always have a sentimental fondess for "Cosmos". My 7 year old son watched both (although tuned out for much of "Cosmos") and MUCH rather prefers "The Universe" - and he even said he had a bad dream that he had to watch "Cosmos" again.  |
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The hell wt Mr. Wizard. I remember when Richard Feynman lectures were on PBS in the late 60's.  |
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James Burke's Connections series is absolutely delightful. I find it deeply inspirational. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/james-burke-connections/ |