NGCI embarks on Odyssey

National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) will air Fox’s forthcoming 13-part science documentary series Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey in 170 countries.

Fox greenlit Cosmos almost two years ago now, with Family Guy and American Dad creator Seth MacFarlane executive producing.

The series is a successor to the Emmy- and Peabody-winning Cosmos: A Personal Voyage which became the most watched public service broadcast series of all time when it aired on PBS in 1980. The new version will air in the US in spring 2014 with premieres in 48 different languages on NGCI networks shortly afterwards.

Ann Druyan, who with her late husband Carl Sagan co-wrote the original Cosmos series, is writing and executive producing the new show alongside MacFarlane. Astronomer Steven Soter, who was also involved with the original, is on board again.

The series will be hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and produced by Cosmos Studios, which was co-founded by Druyan in 2000, and MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door Productions.