It’s been 18 years since Bill Nye The Science Guy went off the air, but both its legacy and its titular host remain strongly implanted in the public consciousness. Netflix is now hoping to replicate that successful experiment by giving the beloved science educator another show. The streaming talk show Bill Nye Saves The World will supposedly seek to explain scientific concepts, dispel persistent myths, and refute dangerous anti-scientific claims.
“Since the start of the Science Guy show, I’ve been on a mission to change the world by getting people everywhere excited about the fundamental ideas in science,” Nye said in a statement. “Today, I’m excited to be working with Netflix on a new show, where we’ll discuss the complex scientific issues facing us today, with episodes on vaccinations, genetically modified foods and climate change. With the right science and good writing, we’ll do our best to enlighten and entertain our audience. And, perhaps we’ll change the world a little.”
Joining Nye in his noble effort to change the world a little are a pair of writers who already have their own (albeit smaller) followings. Phil Plait—the man behind the popular Bad Astronomy blog and omnipresent science and skepticism podcast guest—is coming on as head science writer guy. On the opposite end of the comedic science show’s spectrum will be stand-up comic, podcast co-host and former Tonight Show scribe Mike Drucker taking responsibility as the head comedy writer guy. This apparently a position that was inevitable for Drucker.
Bill Nye Saves The World is expected to debut on Netflix once the Earth has traveled another roughly 548 million miles through space and orbited approximately 210 degrees around the sun (or sometime in the spring of 2017).