Seeing Stars Late At Night

Well here's what I call smart television: Neil DeGrasse Tyson is bringing his Star Talk radio/podcast show to TV.

On Wednesday, the National Geographic channel announced that Tyson would be hosting the network's first ever late-night talk show, Variety reported. It will be loosely based on Tyson's popular podcast, Star Talk, and feature the cosmologist in the starring role. Few other details have so far been announced, but if it is anything like the podcast, you can expect a slew of comics, celebrities and fellow scientists to join Tyson to discuss "astronomy, physics and everything else about life in the universe." 

"Cosmos allowed us to share the awesome power of the universe with a global audience in ways that we never thought possible," Tyson reportedly said. "To be able to continue to spread wonder and excitement through Star Talk, which is a true passion project for me, is beyond exciting." 

Star Talk will also mark NatGeo's continuing expansion into such original programming (they're also planning an upcoming comedy from the creators of HBO's Silicon Valley). And as an educational channel that actually still has educational programming (unlike some other guys) hopefully they'll make this expansion carefully and deliver something good.

"We continue to bolster our programming with series and event specials that are brand definitional, andStar Talk is the perfect opportunity to offer our audience an edgy, late-night alternative with the credibility and authenticity that are the hallmarks of our network," National Geographic Channels CEO Courteney Monroe reportedly said.

I enjoy watching The Nerdist on BBC America, and SyFy's The Wil Wheaton Project is also a good time, so I know there's room out there in the vast cable spectrum for smart late-night hosts and talk shows. Hell, Craig Ferguson was brilliant on The Late Late Show.

Looking forward to watching this, as the Star Talk podcasts I've listened to have been pretty good. Neil is a natural and here's hoping it's even better.