“Cosmos: Possible Worlds” finally has a premiere date at National Geographic. The 13-episode season will debut March 9, 2020 on the cable channel and is set to air on Fox next summer.
“National Geographic is proud to be the world’s leading destination for viewers who are passionate about science and exploration,” Courteney Monroe, president of global television networks at National Geographic, said in a statement Thursday. “Which is why we’re excited for the next chapter of the most-beloved and most-watched science show to date, ‘Cosmos,’ to return to our air. ‘Cosmos: Possible Worlds’ takes complex themes from astrophysics, astronomy and anthropology and makes them accessible and entertaining for millions of people around the world to devour.”
Fox and Nat Geo, which share the series, pulled their respective scheduled March 2019 premieres of “Cosmos: Possible Worlds” — a follow-up to 2014’s “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey”– back in February, amid an investigation into sexual misconduct accusations leveled against host Neil deGrasse Tyson.
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A few weeks later, Nat Geo ended its investigation and announced that it was moving forward with Tyson’s “StarTalk” and “Cosmos,” and that both Fox and Nat Geo were “committed to finding an air date for ‘Cosmos.'”
“The investigation is complete, and we are moving forward with both ‘StarTalk’ and ‘Cosmos,'” National Geographic Channel said in a statement. “‘StarTalk’ will return to the air with the remaining 13 episodes in April on National Geographic, and both Fox and National Geographic are committed to finding an air date for ‘Cosmos.’ There will be no further comment.”
The investigation began in November 2018, after the website Patheos published accusations by three different women: a former classmate who said Tyson sexually assaulted her in 1984 when they were both grad students; a Bucknell University professor who said Tyson sexually harassed her in 2009; and Tyson’s former assistant, who said he harassed her in 2018. In December, an anonymous woman told BuzzFeed that Tyson harassed her in 2010.
Also Read: 'Cosmos' Season 2: Fox, Nat Geo Expect Delays as Neil deGrasse Tyson Investigation Continues
In a statement posted to his Facebook account on Dec. 1, 2018, Tyson denied the sexual assault accusation and said that his behavior in 2009 and 2018 had been misinterpreted, though he apologized for any misunderstanding. Tyson also said that he welcomed the investigation. He has not commented on the fourth accusation.
Here’s the official description for “Cosmos” Season 2:
COSMOS: POSSIBLE WORLDS ventures to previously uncharted territories: starting back to the dawning of our universe, moving forward to the futuristic 2039 New York World’s Fair and then far beyond into the distant future on other worlds. Visit an open house in the first apartment ever built and climb a 10,000-year-old stairway to the stars. Return to the foreboding ‘Halls of Extinction,’ with living dioramas of the broken branches on the tree of life, and venture to the new, glorious ‘Palace of Life,’ with its soaring towers filled with vibrant marine creatures. Stand beneath its ‘Arch of Experience’ to know what it’s like to soar with the eagles or swim with the whales on their epic voyages.
Associated with the series are some of television and film’s most revered creatives across all crafts, including Emmy-nominated cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub (“Independence Day,” “Stargate”); Academy Award-winning and Emmy-nominated costume designer Ruth E. Carter (“Black Panther,” “Roots”); Emmy-winning and Academy Award-nominated composer Alan Silvestri (“The Avengers,” “Forrest Gump,” “Contact”); visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun (“Clash of the Titans,” “Blood Diamond”); and supervising animation directors Lucas Gray (“The Simpsons,” “Family Guy”), Emmy-nominated Brent Woods (“American Dad!,” “Family Guy”) and Academy Award-nominated Duke Johnson (“Anomalisa,” “Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole”).
Many celebrities compose the noteworthy corps of actors who lend their voices to COSMOS: POSSIBLE WORLDS. This season includes Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor Seth MacFarlane (“The Orville,” “Family Guy”) as President Truman; Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actor Sir Patrick Stewart (“Star Trek,” “X-Men”) as German, British-born astronomer William Herschel; Academy Award-nominated Viggo Mortensen (“The Green Book,” “The Lord of the Rings”) as Soviet plant geneticist Nikolai Vavilov; and Judd Hirsch (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Independence Day”) as Robert Oppenheimer, famously known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb.” Druyan and Sagan’s daughter, author Sasha Sagan, appears in a recurring live-action role as Sagan’s mother, Rachel Gruber Sagan.
The series is produced for National Geographic and Fox by Cosmos Studios, the company Ann Druyan co-founded in 2000, and Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door. Druyan and Brannon Braga are the series’ writers and directors. Druyan, MacFarlane, Braga and Jason Clark executive produce. Kara Vallow (“Family Guy,” “American Dad!”) are co-executive producers, and Joseph Micucci (“Patriots Day,” “Ted 2”) produces. For National Geographic, Kevin Mohs is executive producer and Geoff Daniels is EVP of global unscripted entertainment.
“Cosmos: Possible Worlds” premieres March 9, 2020 on Nat Geo.
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