He was the face of scientific edutainment for a generation. Half Carl Sagan, half Mr Rogers, Bill Nye and his popular 90s show Bill Nye, the Science Guy shared fascinating scientific facts infused with a dorky charm that appealed to children not just in the US, but around the world. Along with the likes of Cosmos and David Attenborough’s many nature documentaries, the series remains a cornerstone of science education.
Now, 20 years later, Nye has partnered with Netflix for a new show, Bill Nye Saves the World. Considering the popularity of the platform, and the unprecedented plague of scientific illiteracy threatening the very stability of our planet, the series was hailed as a new hope; a call for reason and understanding in light of the many social and environmental threats humankind faces.
Can Bill Nye use wit, passion, charm, and nostalgia to establish a trust for science and the scientific community for audiences old and new, as he did two decades ago?
Can he really save the world?
Produced in a talk show-inspired format, each of the 13 half-hour episodes of Bill Nye Saves the World focus on a distinctly modern issue. From vaccinations to gender fluidity, Nye isn’t afraid to get controversial, while maintaining a positive perspective. Even when discussing pseudoscience or activism against GMOs, he is careful not to insult those he is speaking against. Instead, he lets proof provide the smackdown. Unfortunately, his five correspondents – many of whom come from a comedy background – are far less dignified.
For all his skill as both educator and entertainer, Nye never feels entirely comfortable in his role. This is, in no small part, a symptom of the show’s greatest problem – tone.
Nye’s quick to state in the first episode that Bill Nye Saves the World is a show for adults. The problem is that it never feels like it.
The series is peppered with bad skits, and forced audience reactions guaranteed to make you cringe. As Nye lights a bunsen burner to a chorus of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the audience, this reviewer found himself shaking his head in disbelief. As he goes on to explain how climate change will bring about major flooding across coastal USA, some can be heard tittering as if they’ve been told to respond to anything that may be meant as a joke. It’s a horrendous decision for a show that is aiming to address serious topics in a digestible manner.
Undoubtedly, what is sure to become the most infamous of these moments is a performance by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star Rachel Bloom. During an episode discussing the gender spectrum, Bloom appears to perform My Sex Junk, an off-beat song that seems less supportive of gender fluidity than a parody of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wllc5gSc-N8
There are some interesting moments, but these too are often marred by the show’s confusion surrounding who its actual audience is. Former model Karlie Kloss travels to Venice to get a glimpse of how the city is dealing with rising water levels, and it’s truly interesting, but when Nye asks her how the system works she doesn’t have a clear answer. Similarly, a demonstration of how double blind experiments work is followed up by a panel discussion about placebo effects that struggles to stay on track.
It’s not hard to imagine that this problem could have been, at least in part, avoided if the episodes were longer. 30 minutes is not enough time to convince skeptics to change their minds about a topic, especially with all the tonal distractions the show provides.
As it is, Bill Nye Saves the World doesn’t live up to its title. In truth, it struggles to live up to even a sliver of its potential. In a time when we are in desperate need of a means to bringing a worrying majority back to the world of science, this isn’t only disappointing, it is devastating.
Bill Nye Saves the World is available on Netflix now.