Everyone in the American public school system knows who Bill Nye is. Chants of “Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill!” can be heard in science classes across the country.
Unfortunately, his recent attempt at another entertaining science show has fallen flat.
It’s clear from the title that “Bill Nye Saves the World” had very high hopes, but it couldn’t quite reach the bar set by his now iconic show “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” The creators of the show get an A+ for effort though; they had a star studded cast that included model Karlie Kloss, Australian comedian Nazeem Hussain, and Project Runway’s Tim Gunn.
Perhaps the show could have had more success if it had been geared towards children. “Saves the World” was rated TV-14 and chock-full of sensitive topics and more advanced witticism than the average ten-year-old can handle. It was also packed with cringe-worthy moments where they simply tried too hard to be funny. One memorable example was Rachel Bloom’s performance in ninth episode “Sexuality is a Spectrum.” Bill Nye also seemed very angry quite often, which took away a lot from his comedic charm present in the original show.
One positive of the show was its “panel of experts.” About halfway through an episode, after discussing the basics of the topic, Nye brings in three experts on the topic to discuss or debate the issue. For example, when the topic was about GMOs, Nye brought in a farmer, a professor of agriculture from NC State, and a Monsanto executive. The panel of discussions provided a more energetic discussion where a lot of views could take the forefront.
Overall, the show wasn’t nearly as great as many — including me– expected it to be. It certainly isn’t binge-worthy, but if you’re bored and looking for a good dose of science, then it will always be available.
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