Critical Condition: Bill Nye Saves the World

April 21, 2017 0 Comments

Bill Nye Saves the World (Netflix, from Friday)

“Can Bill Nye really save the world? Probably not by preaching to the choir, which doesn’t make his half-hour Netflix show any less noteworthy as a breezy blow struck on behalf of science, despite a few structural miscalculations. The title alone speaks volumes: Premiering more than 20 years after Bill Nye the Science Guy started on PBS, the new series is pitched primarily toward adults, casting the bow-tie-wearing Nye as an advocate and science warrior, trying to beat back the anti-scientific thought and quackery that’s prevalent, especially within the political sphere.” — CNN.

“Bill Nye Saves the World most closely resembles a late-night talk show. There are funny-ish demonstrations from the host, panel discussions with experts within a single topic, and field segments that work as more in-depth vignettes on topics like polio vaccination in India. So while Nye has dropped the ‘Science Guy’ moniker, the Netflix series is not light on interesting fact … Nye is very much still the Science Guy, but this time, there’s a welcome activist bent to this lessons. And that’s all well and good, but Bill Nye Saves the World is first and foremost an entertainment, and on that level, it’s less successful.” — Entertainment Weekly.

“Whenever Nye is off-camera, Bill Nye Saves the World slips a bit into generic territory, and the entertainment value is instantly deflated. Sure, the taped correspondent segments are cute, and the roundtables are interesting to watch, but neither ever really amounts to much more than establishing a show spinning its wheels. Rather than presenting a balanced view of different opinions, there’s a clear agenda at work on the show, and it’s rarely interested in pursuing any argument that threatens to undermine the message Nye is trying to convey.” — We Got This Covered.

“Bill Nye Saves the World looks like it’s trying to be sophisticated but failing on an overbuilt set and with writing that flops more often then it hits the bullseye … While the format is geared to adults, the content is too simple to be of interest to them. For kids who might try to watch, all the talking heads will be a bore. One wants to cheer Nye on but there’s no way this particulr venture can live up to its title.” — Pittsburg Post-Gazette.