Very pleased to find out that the Science Channel (Discovery offshoot) is showing Cosmos. Watching it now, I'm struck by how different Sagan's TV presence was from, oh pretty much anyone on the air now. He's almost wholly lacking the "postmodern" irony and self-awareness that's the dominant style today. And I say that as a big fan of Mythbusters, Colbert, Bourdain, etc, as someone who pretty much lives and breathes snark. Sagan's directness and sincerity, which made him such an easy joke-target back in the day, is one of the things so compelling about Cosmos. That and the fact that it's a show driven by Sagan's desire to know things and to teach in a way that makes it seem like he's learning things along with you. In today's climate of overwhelming willed ignorance, when it all too often feels like everything around us exists to hit us upside the head with a bat until we become stupid, it's refreshing to spend an hour in a place where being smart is good. Even if it's only on a 25 year old TV show.