The End Is Nye
By Melissa Camacho,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Natural disaster-focused series is informative and scary.
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The End Is Nye
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What's the Story?
Co-executive produced by Bill Nye, Seth MacFarlane, and Cosmos producer Brannon Braga, THE END IS NYE is a science-based series that presents terrifying planetary disaster scenarios and explains how it will affect life on Earth. Each episode features scientist advocate Bill Nye talking to viewers from the (fictitious) Disaster Institute, where he enters a simulator to interactively experience being in an apocalyptic natural disaster. As it unfolds, he explains the damage it's causing, the demise of people who get caught in it, and the catastrophic impact it has on the overall planet once it's over. Throughout the process, Nye highlights the negligent acts (a.k.a. "acts of cow") of politicians, government agencies, and corporations that make the already bad situation substantially worse. He also discusses why people often ignore the warning signs in front of them, or "normalcy bias," that keeps them from getting out of harm's way before it's too late. After each simulation, Nye goes to his laboratory and breaks down some of the scientific solutions that can prevent these worst-case scenarios from happening, or at least minimize their impact. From a massive solar flare causing the global disruption of communications and power, to a global hydra storm that will put major cities simultaneously under water, it underscores the importance of taking science seriously when thinking about how to avoid the end of the world.
Is It Any Good?
The six-part series mixes education and entertainment to present a harrowing reminder of why we need to rely on science to help us when faced with planetary disaster. The End Is Nye offers viewers a hair-raisingly sensational, but informative, look at the cataclysmic impact natural disasters will have on Earth if we do not look for solutions to the planet's environmental challenges. As archive video footage, actor portrayals, and CGI create chilling scenes that show what will happen if one of these horrific events occur, Bill Nye uses his trademark dry humor to calmly explain how people's lives, and eventually the world, is ending. He's also upbeat and optimistic about how science can prevent, or minimize, these events. Granted, The End Is Nye presents all of this with a biased edge, as evidenced by the way it broadly criticizes political leaders, public agencies, and corporations for refusing to be more proactive and failing to take the scientific community's recommendation's for addressing environmental concerns more seriously.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about natural disasters. How do these disasters help the Earth evolve as a planet? What can we do to be well-prepared for these events, even if we can't control the fact that they're happening?
Why does The End Is Nye feature such intense scenes of planetary destruction? Do they help convince viewers that they need to take Earth's environmental problems more seriously? Or are they so scary that it causes viewers to turn away and stop paying attention to the message?
TV Details
- Premiere date: August 25, 2022
- Cast: Bill Nye , Seth MacFarlane
- Network: Peacock
- Genre: Reality TV
- Topics: Science and Nature
- Character Strengths: Communication
- TV rating: TV-PG
- Last updated: December 1, 2022
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