Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is an American science documentary television series. The show is a follow-up to the 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which was presented by Carl Sagan on the Public Broadcasting Service and is considered a milestone for scientific documentaries. This series was developed to bring back the foundation of science to network television at the height of other scientific-based television series and films. The show is presented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who, as a young high school student, was inspired by Sagan. Among the executive producers are Seth MacFarlane, whose financial investment was instrumental in bringing the show to broadcast television, and Ann Druyan, a co-author and co-creator of the original television series and Sagan's wife. The show is produced by Brannon Braga, and Alan Silvestri composed the score.
The series loosely follows the same thirteen-episode format and storytelling approach that the original Cosmos used, including elements such as the "Ship of the Imagination" and the "Cosmic Calendar", but features information updated since the 1980 series, along with extensive computer-generated graphics and animation footage augmenting the narration.
The series premiered on March 9, 2014, simultaneously in the United States across ten 21st Century Fox networks. The remainder of the series aired on the Fox Network, with the National Geographic Channel rebroadcasting the episodes the next night with extra content. The series has been rebroadcast internationally in dozens of other countries by local National Geographic and Fox stations. The series concluded on June 8, 2014, with home media release of the entire series on June 10, 2014. Cosmos has been critically praised, winning several television broadcasting awards and a Peabody Award for educational content.
A sequel series, Cosmos: Possible Worlds, premiered on March 9, 2020, on National Geographic.
Cast and characters[]
- Neil deGrasse Tyson - himself (host)
- Carl Sagan - himself (archive footage)
- Peter Emshwiller - George Tilton
- Piotr Michael - Edmund Muskie
- Seth MacFarlane - Giordano Bruno
- John Steven Rocha - Robert Bellarmine
- Paul Telfer - Angry scholar
- Michael Chochol - Jan Oort
- Kirsten Dunst - Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
- Cary Elwes - Edmond Halley, Robert Hooke
- Richard Gere - Clair Patterson
- Jonathan Morgan Heit - John Herschel
- Martin Jarvis - Humphry Davy
- Tom Konkle - Samuel Pepys
- Marlee Matlin - Annie Jump Cannon
- Alfred Molina - Ibn al-Haytham
- Heiko Obermoller - Hermann Einstein
- Julian Ovenden - Michael Faraday
- Nadia Rochelle Pfarr - Malala Yousafzai
- Enn Reitel - Albert Einstein
- Wesley Salter - James Clerk Maxwell
- Amanda Seyfried - Marie Tharp
- Alexander Siddig - Isaac Newton
- André Sogliuzzo - Christopher Wren, Weichelberger
- Patrick Stewart - William Herschel
- Oliver Vaquer - Joseph von Fraunhofer
- Julie Wittner - Sarah Faraday
- Marc Worden - Harrison Brown
International broadcast[]
| Country | Channel(s) | Local title |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, FX, FXX, FXM, Fox Life, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 | Cosmos: A Spacetime Oddysey |
| Australia | National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People, FX, FX2 | |
| Canada | Global, Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | |
| Czech Republic | National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | |
| Denmark | National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, FX | |
| Finland | Fox, National Geographic | |
| Greece Cyprus |
National Geographic, Nat Geo HD, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Wild HD, Fox, Fox Life | |
| Hong Kong | National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People | |
| India | National Geographic, Nat Geo HD, Fox Traveller | |
| Indonesia | National Geographic | |
| Netherlands Belgium (Dutch) |
National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | |
| Norway | Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | |
| Philippines | Fox, National Geographic | |
| Poland | Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | |
| Portugal | Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People, FX, Fox Life, Fox Crime | |
| South Africa | Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo WIld | |
| Sri Lanka | National Geographic, Fox Traveller | |
| Sweden | National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | |
| United Arab Emirates | Nat Geo Abu Dhabi | |
| United Kingdom | Sky 1, Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | |
| Chile | Mega | Cosmos: Una odisea de tiempo y espacio |
| Mexico | National Geographic | |
| Spain | Fox, Fox Crime, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Viajar | |
| Belgium (French) France |
National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | Cosmos: Une odyssée à travers l'univers |
| Brazil | Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, FX, Fox Life, Fox Sports 2 | Cosmos: Uma Odisseia do Espaço-Tempo |
| Germany | Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Arte | Unser Kosmos: Die Reise geht weiter |
| Hungary | National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | Kozmosz: Történetek a világegyetemről |
| Italy | National Geographic | Cosmos: Odissea nello spazio |
| Japan | National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Fox, Fox Movies, Fox Crime, NHK BS Premium | コスモス:時空と宇宙 |
| Russia | Fox, Fox Life, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild | Космос: пространство и время |
| South Korea | National Geographic | 코스모스 |
| Turkey | Fox, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People, Fox Life, Fox Crime | Kozmos: Bir Uzay Serüveni |
| Ukraine | National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, FX | Космос: подорож у просторі та часі |