Nova ScienceNow
| Nova ScienceNow | |
|---|---|
| Presented by | Robert Krulwich (2005–2006) Neil deGrasse Tyson (2006–2011) David Pogue (2012) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 36 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Paula S. Apsell Samuel Fine |
| Running time | 55 minutes |
| Production company | WGBH |
| Original release | |
| Network | PBS |
| Release | January 25, 2005 (2005年01月25日) – November 14, 2012 (2012年11月14日) |
Nova ScienceNow (styled NOVΛ scienceNOW) is a spinoff of the long-running and venerable PBS science program Nova . Premiering on January 25, 2005, the series was originally hosted by Robert Krulwich, who described it as an experiment in coverage of "breaking science, science that's right out of the lab, science that sometimes bumps up against politics, art, culture".[1] At the beginning of season two, Neil deGrasse Tyson replaced Krulwich as the show's host. Tyson announced he would leave the show and was replaced by David Pogue in season 6.
The show was originally intended to return with more new episodes in 2015.[2]
Production
[edit ]Unlike the parent program Nova, Nova ScienceNow has a whimsical production style. It is not unusual for the show to explain topics as arcane as RNA interference using cartoons, or a solution to a two-thousand-year-old math problem related in song. Whereas Nova covered a single seamless subject in each hour-long episode, NOVA scienceNOW covers several related, but distinct, story segments during the course of each program. The show also features 30–60 second short segments between each story segment, taking the place and pace of commercials in an otherwise uninterrupted program flow.
The show's humor turns on cultural references aimed at viewers from a broad spectrum of age groups. These references, for example, come from movies, TV, music, history, literature, and of course, science.
Following the whimsical format, the show's animators often place jokes or sight gags into the show's background via humorous or incongruous bits of text in signs, newspapers, etc. These gags are intentionally subtle and meant to be difficult to recognize, presumably as a challenge to the viewer's observational skills.
When Tyson became host, he added a final segment in which he would add his own observations on the topic. At the end of this editorial, he always states, "And that... is the cosmic perspective."
The series has been nominated for four Emmy Awards and won a CINE Golden Eagle award.
Cast
[edit ]Host Robert Krulwich left the program at the end of the first season. He was replaced by astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium.[3] In addition to the host, several correspondents report on many of the individual stories including Peter Standring, Chad Cohen, Ziya Tong, Carla Wohl, Rebecca Skloot, and David Duncan. David Pogue is the host of the show's sixth season.
Seasons
[edit ]| Season | Episodes | Premiere | Finale | Summary | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | January 25, 2005 (2005年01月25日) | January 10, 2006 (2006年01月10日) | ||||
| 2 | 5 | October 9, 2006 (2006年10月09日) | July 24, 2007 (2007年07月24日) | ||||
| 3 | 6 | June 25, 2008 (2008年06月25日) | July 30, 2008 (2008年07月30日) | ||||
| 4 | 8 | June 30, 2009 (2009年06月30日) | September 1, 2009 (2009年09月01日) | ||||
| 5 | 6 | January 19, 2011 (2011年01月19日) | February 23, 2011 (2011年02月23日) | ||||
| 6 | 6 | October 10, 2012 (2012年10月10日) | November 14, 2012 (2012年11月14日) |
Episodes
[edit ]Season 1 (2005–06)
[edit ]
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Mirror Neurons, Hurricanes, Profile: James McLurkin, Booming Sands, Kinetic Sculptor and Conundrum" | January 25, 2005 (2005年01月25日) | 3204 |
| 2 | 2 | "Little People of Flores, T. rex, Profile: Naomi Halas, Stem Cells and Frozen Frogs" | April 19, 2005 (2005年04月19日) | 3209 |
| 3 | 3 | "Fuel cells, RNAi, Fastest Glacier and Profile: Brothers Chudnovsky" | July 26, 2005 (2005年07月26日) | 3210 |
| 4 | 4 | "Artificial Life, Lightning, Profile: Erich Jarvis, Fish Surgery, Don't Ask the Expert: Neil deGrasse Tyson and Hurricane Katrina" | October 18, 2005 (2005年10月18日) | 3214 |
| 5 | 5 | "10th Planet, Twin Prime Conjecture, Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, Pandemic Flu, Lab Meat?, Stem Cells Update, Stronger Hurricanes and Profile: Tyler Curiel" | January 10, 2006 (2006年01月10日) | 3302 |
Season 2 (2006–07)
[edit ]
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | "Asteroid, Island of Stability, Obesity and Profile: Karl Iagnemma" | October 3, 2006 (2006年10月03日) | 3313 |
| 7 | 2 | "1918 Flu, Mass Extinction, Papyrus and Profile: Cynthia Breazeal" | November 21, 2006 (2006年11月21日) | 3318 |
| 8 | 3 | "Aging, Space Elevator, Maya and Profile: Bonnie Bassler" | January 9, 2007 (2007年01月09日) | 3401 |
| 9 | 4 | "Sleep, CERN, Emergence and Profile: Julie Schablitsky" | July 10, 2007 (2007年07月10日) | 3410 |
| 10 | 5 | "T. Rex Blood?, Epigenetics, Kryptos and Profile: Arlie Petters" | July 24, 2007 (2007年07月24日) | 3411 |
Season 3 (2008)
[edit ]
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Dark Matter, Of Mice and Memory, Profile: Hany Farid and Wisdom of the Crowds" | June 25, 2008 (2008年06月25日) | 301 |
| 12 | 2 | "Personal DNA Testing, Art Authentication, Capturing Carbon and Profile: Pardis Sabeti" | July 2, 2008 (2008年07月02日) | 302 |
| 13 | 3 | "Saving Hubble, First Primates, Profile: Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa and Killer Microbe" | July 9, 2008 (2008年07月09日) | 303 |
| 14 | 4 | "Bird Brains, Space Storms, Profile: Yoky Matsuoka and Smart Bridges" | July 16, 2008 (2008年07月16日) | 304 |
| 15 | 5 | "Leeches, The Search for ET, Stem Cells Breakthrough and Profile: Edith Widder" | July 23, 2008 (2008年07月23日) | 305 |
| 16 | 6 | "Phoenix Mars Lander, Brain Trauma, Mammoth Mystery and Profile: Judah Folkman" | July 30, 2008 (2008年07月30日) | 306 |
Season 4 (2009)
[edit ]
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 1 | "Diamond Factory, Anthrax Investigation, Auto-Tune and Profile: Luis von Ahn" | June 30, 2009 (2009年06月30日) | 401 |
| 18 | 2 | "Hunt for Alien Earths, Art Authentication, Profile: Maydianne Andrade and Autism Genes" | July 7, 2009 (2009年07月07日) | 402 |
| 19 | 3 | "Marathon Mouse, Dinosaur Plague, Profile: Franklin Chang-Diaz and Space Storms" | July 14, 2009 (2009年07月14日) | 403 |
| 20 | 4 | "Picky Eaters, Capturing Carbon, Sea Lions and Walruses and Profile: Sangeeta Bhatia" | July 21, 2009 (2009年07月21日) | 404 |
| 21 | 5 | "Moon Smasher, Secrets in the Salt, Bird Brains and Profile: Lonnie Thompson" | July 28, 2009 (2009年07月28日) | 405 |
| 22 | 6 | "Public Genomes, Algae Fuel, Arctic Ocean Seafloor and Profile: Yoky Matsuoka" | August 18, 2009 (2009年08月18日) | 406 |
| 23 | 7 | "Saving Hubble Update, Gangster Birds, Profile: Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa and How Memory Works" | August 25, 2009 (2009年08月25日) | 407 |
| 24 | 8 | "Sleep, First Primates, Earthquakes in the Midwest and Profile: Sang-Mook Lee" | September 1, 2009 (2009年09月01日) | 408 |
Season 5 (2011)
[edit ]
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | "Can We Make It to Mars?" | January 19, 2011 (2011年01月19日) | 501 |
| 26 | 2 | "Can We Live Forever?" | January 26, 2011 (2011年01月26日) | 502 |
| 27 | 3 | "How Does the Brain Work?" | February 2, 2011 (2011年02月02日) | 503 |
| 28 | 4 | "How Smart Are Animals?" | February 9, 2011 (2011年02月09日) | 504 |
| 29 | 5 | "Where Did We Come From?" | February 16, 2011 (2011年02月16日) | 505 |
| 30 | 6 | "What's the Next Big Thing?" | February 23, 2011 (2011年02月23日) | 506 |
Season 6 (2012)
[edit ]
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Original air date | Production code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "What Makes Us Human?" | October 10, 2012 (2012年10月10日) | 601 |
| 32 | 2 | "Can Science Stop Crime?" | October 17, 2012 (2012年10月17日) | 602 |
| 33 | 3 | "How Smart Can We Get? feat. USA Memory Champion Chester Santos" | October 24, 2012 (2012年10月24日) | 603 |
| 34 | 4 | "Can I Eat That?" | October 31, 2012 (2012年10月31日) | 604 |
| 35 | 5 | "What Are Animals Thinking?" | November 7, 2012 (2012年11月07日) | 605 |
| 36 | 6 | "What Will The Future Be Like?" | November 14, 2012 (2012年11月14日) | 606 |
Reception
[edit ]NOVΛ scienceNOW has received generally positive reviews from television critics and parents of young children. New York Daily News wrote, "★★★★ Lightyears from the norm."[4]
References
[edit ]- ^ "Transcripts – NOVA scienceNOW: January 25, 2005". PBS. Retrieved August 2, 2008.
- ^ "NOVA scienceNOW Sponsorship". SGPTV. PBS. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015.
- ^ "About the Series Host". PBS . Retrieved August 1, 2008.
- ^ "Science show is light years from the norm". New York Daily News. June 25, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2019 – via PressReader.
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