SOURCE: "Carl Sagan's Guided Tour of the Universe," in American Film, Vol. 5, June, 1980, pp. 22-7.

In the following essay, Cook examines Sagan's popular presentation of science and astronomy on the television program Cosmos.

This fall, when PBS launches Cosmos, its most ambitious series to date, the total effect may be a little like a thirteen-week funding appeal. But there will be no ringing telephones or heartfelt solicitations. The new show is far slicker than that. In fact, it may just be the slickest production of its kind ever undertaken on either side of the Atlantic. And why not? The driving force behind Cosmos, the man who will smile at you week after week during this guided tour of the universe, is none other than Carl Sagan, television's top pitchman for science.

Sagan, no less than Carroll O'Connor or Mary Tyler Moore, is a television phenomenon. Still boyish, though...