Fox gives green light to Seth MacFarlane's COSMOS

Fox has given a green light to Seth McFarlane's Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey. THR reports that "the 13-part docu-series is designed to be a successor to Carl Sagan's iconic 1980s PBS series, with MacFarlane teaming up with Sagan's widow, writer-producer Ann Druyanand astrophysicist Steven Soter."

This is definitely a change of pace for MacFarlane, best known for the Family Guy. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is set to host the series, which is slated to air in primetime 2013, first on Fox and then later in the night on the National Geographic Channel (who will co-produce the series).

Here is what MacFarlane had to say:

“Never more than at this moment in the modern era have we needed a profound reminder of the colossally important and exciting role that science, space exploration and the human quest for knowledge must continue to play in our development as a species."

Fox entertainment chief Kevin Reilly, went on to say:

“While admittedly on the periphery of our brand, we believe this can have the same massive cultural impact that the original series delivered, and we’re going to use all of our resources – on-air and company-wide – to help bring that to fruition.” 

This sounds like an interesting move for Fox and MacFarlane. What are your thoughts on this news?