The 13-episode series is being produced, surprisingly, by Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame. As far as the hosting gig goes, it’s hard to imagine who could be a better fit than Tyson, who first met Sagan as a 17-year-old applicant to Cornell University, having been personally invited by the famous scientist to "come check out the lab."

It will be interesting to see what the team has planned for the new show. The Sagan original became the most successful US public TV series of all time relying primarily on the astrophysicist’s elegant expositions of the universe, while today’s science programming largely takes its cues from sci-fi, revolving around flashy computer animation and dramatic visual effects. At the same time, Fox might not seem like the most obvious home for a high-minded astrophysics series, although the network believes that even without a huge financial return, the series "could have a cultural impact."