"Bill Nye The Science Guy" was a terrific, fun show in the 90s that taught kids about science without boring them. With some clever production values, a charismatic host and great comedic writing, it was both education and entertaining.
So, when Bill Nye got a new show on Netflix years later, you'd expect it to be just as exciting and fun, but you would be tragically wrong. Rather than capitalizing on nostalgia and making a show in the same vein as his most popular one, Bill Nye decided to create a political round-table show with various sketches. The result is a trash can fire: it provides warmth to a few desperate people, but it's a dirty, smelly safety hazard to everyone else.
Bill Nye's strength as a host was his making people laugh and feeling friendly and approachable. Here, he attempts to be a typical angry, sarcastic host you'd find on the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. It doesn't suit him, and watching Nye yell at the screen and make wisecracks may be funny at first, but it gets old very quick.
The "round-table" discussions usually consist of very stream-of- conscious, bite-sized conversations between people who probably have detailed, nuanced ideas but end up having to only scratch the surface of them, because four people are talking at once. Occasionally, a guest with a dissenting opinion will show up, and Bill and the other panelists will all gang up on them at once. There's very little about these round-tables that is educational or entertaining, they're boring and obnoxious.
The general tone of the show is, again, obnoxious. There's lots of smirking, lots of yelling, lots of lecturing, lots of condescending. The show is very combative, stand-offish, seemingly to emulate the style of entertainers like Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart. But what worked for them doesn't work for Bill, because his strength is as a comedian and an educator, not as a political commentator. The show feels like a square peg shoved into a round hole: you can wedge it in there, but it doesn't fit.
Then there are the really uncomfortable moments, like the ice cream sex scene and the "sex junk" rap. These sketches attempt to use crass humor to make a point but feel jarring and tasteless as a result.
When everyone was looking for a continuation of the original "Science Guy" series, Bill Nye decided to make his own version of the Daily Show. But nobody wanted that. It's like pointing pizza spice on custard, the flavors don't go together.
I can't tell if "Bill Nye Saves the World" is a confused show unsure of its purpose, or if they knew what they were doing and simply failed, but it doesn't work. It's a bad show and not worth your time. Skip this one and watch some of the original "Science Guy" episodes instead.
So, when Bill Nye got a new show on Netflix years later, you'd expect it to be just as exciting and fun, but you would be tragically wrong. Rather than capitalizing on nostalgia and making a show in the same vein as his most popular one, Bill Nye decided to create a political round-table show with various sketches. The result is a trash can fire: it provides warmth to a few desperate people, but it's a dirty, smelly safety hazard to everyone else.
Bill Nye's strength as a host was his making people laugh and feeling friendly and approachable. Here, he attempts to be a typical angry, sarcastic host you'd find on the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. It doesn't suit him, and watching Nye yell at the screen and make wisecracks may be funny at first, but it gets old very quick.
The "round-table" discussions usually consist of very stream-of- conscious, bite-sized conversations between people who probably have detailed, nuanced ideas but end up having to only scratch the surface of them, because four people are talking at once. Occasionally, a guest with a dissenting opinion will show up, and Bill and the other panelists will all gang up on them at once. There's very little about these round-tables that is educational or entertaining, they're boring and obnoxious.
The general tone of the show is, again, obnoxious. There's lots of smirking, lots of yelling, lots of lecturing, lots of condescending. The show is very combative, stand-offish, seemingly to emulate the style of entertainers like Steven Colbert and Jon Stewart. But what worked for them doesn't work for Bill, because his strength is as a comedian and an educator, not as a political commentator. The show feels like a square peg shoved into a round hole: you can wedge it in there, but it doesn't fit.
Then there are the really uncomfortable moments, like the ice cream sex scene and the "sex junk" rap. These sketches attempt to use crass humor to make a point but feel jarring and tasteless as a result.
When everyone was looking for a continuation of the original "Science Guy" series, Bill Nye decided to make his own version of the Daily Show. But nobody wanted that. It's like pointing pizza spice on custard, the flavors don't go together.
I can't tell if "Bill Nye Saves the World" is a confused show unsure of its purpose, or if they knew what they were doing and simply failed, but it doesn't work. It's a bad show and not worth your time. Skip this one and watch some of the original "Science Guy" episodes instead.