‘Family Guy’ Creator Trying His Hand At New Science Show ‘Cosmos’

Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane isn’t thought of as someone who would be a lover of science. That’s why his recent collaboration with actual rocket Scientist Neil Degrasse Tyson has raised some eyebrows.

The pair have agreed to work on a new version of a much beloved science show known as Cosmos. On its face, there may not be a show that is less like Family Guy than this particular show, which will likely include Tyson’s signature sense of humor, but none of the grossout jokes that McFarlane is famous for writing week after week.

Cosmos: A Spacetime Oddyssey is a reimagning of the 1980’s series hosted by Carl Sagan. The Science Recorder reports this particular mini-series will be kicked off with basically two premiere episodes on back-to-back nights, with the first episode to air on March 9 on Fox. The second episode will air on March 10 on the National Geographic channel.

The debut being on Fox is likely due to the involvement in the Family Guy creator. The popularity of the show, which isn’t really about a guy who loves his family at all, has made McFarlane somebody who wields quite a bit of power around the network.

The involvement of a man who is best known for voicing quite a few characters in the Family Guy universe raised even the eyebrows of the man he’s working side-by-side with in Neil Degrasse Tyson. Tyson told the Star Tribune that he was plenty skeptical when Seth first contacted him.

“I was like, is this the guy who illustrates Stewie? Is this the same guy?” said Tyson, who hosts the 13-part series premiering Sunday. For his part, when he was asked about the lack of synergy behind Cosmos while also producing shows like Dads, McFarlane said he didn’t really think about those things.

“It’s not a matter of balance in my mind. I don’t see it that way. The projects that I choose to be involved in are ones I’m enthusiastic about and ones where I’m enthusiastic about the people.”

The head of the Family Guy empire was quick to point out that he lent his production expertise, but left content to scientific experts. He did apparently come up with the idea to have Tyson present the show from a “ship of imagination.”

On Sunday night, Cosmos will immediately follow the latest episode of Family Guy and Seth says there won’t be a clashing of the audiences. “I think you’re going to see a lot of people who are fans of both genres and are very enthusiastic,” he said.