KCET: “WIRED SCIENCE” Debuts on PBS Primetime January 3, 2007
“WIRED SCIENCE” Debuts on PBS Primetime January 3, 2007A Co-Production of KCET/Los Angeles and WIRED Magazine LOS ANGELES, CA and SAN FRANCISCO, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — December 18, 2006 — “WIRED SCIENCE,” aone-hour primetime program that translates WIRED Magazine’s award-winningjournalism
into a fast-paced television show, will debut nationally on PBSon Wednesday, January 3, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. EST. (Check local listings.) Aco-production of KCET/Los Angeles, the West Coast flagship station of PBS,and WIRED, the pre-eminent science and technology magazine, “WIRED SCIENCE”brings WIRED Magazine’s cutting edge vision, stylish design, and irreverentattitude to the screen with breakout ideas, recent discoveries, and thelatest innovations.
The pilot episode takes the viewer into the world of meteorite hunters,where space, commerce, and art intersect, travels to Yellowstone NationalPark to harvest viruses which may hold the key to a technology revolution,and dives underwater to find NEEMO, NASA’s extreme astronaut trainingfacility. Viewers will meet rocket-belt inventors, stem cell explorers, andthe developer of an electric car that goes zero-to-60 in under fourseconds. As a series, “WIRED SCIENCE” will span the globe to uncover noveldevelopments in biomedicine, space exploration, artificial intelligence,neuroscience, robotics, and military technology.
“WIRED SCIENCE” is one of three pilots under consideration for seriesdevelopment as part of PBS’s search for the next new science series. “WIREDSCIENCE” (airing January 3), along with “SCIENCE INVESTIGATORS” (airingJanuary 10) and “22ND CENTURY” (airing January 17), will be offered asfeatured sites on pbs.org/science as of January 1, 2007. Viewers will beable to watch video streams of the full programs or subscribe to freepodcasts at iTunes. Audiences nationwide will be invited to weigh in ontheir favorite. Viewer feedback, as well as additional audience-basedresearch, will help inform PBS’s decision to greenlight one pilot as thenext new science series slated to premiere with an initial 10-week run inFall 2007.
The hosts and personalities of “WIRED SCIENCE” include Brian Unger, acontributor to NPR’s “Day to Day,” frequent guest host on MSNBC’s”Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” and former correspondent for the “DailyShow”; Aomawa Shields, a graduate of MIT and author of the essay “Universe:The Sequel,” which is included in “She’s Such a Geek: Women Write AboutScience, Technology, and Other Nerdy Stuff” (Seal Press); and Ziya Tong,who hosted the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Emmy-nominatedinteractive series “Zed,” a pioneer of “open source” television. Inaddition, WIRED senior editor Adam Rogers and roving reporters, such asPulitzer Prize winner Dan Neil, will bring a fresh, youthful, and diverseperspective to the topics.
“WIRED SCIENCE” is a production of executive producer Tod Mesirow(”MythBusters,” “Monster Garage”), senior producer David Axelrod (Emmywinner for the NOVA special “Galileo’s Battle for the Heavens”), andproduction designer Grant Major (”Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong”).David Byrne, Grammy- and Oscar-winning composer (”The Last Emperor”), andco-founder of Talking Heads, produced, composed, and recorded the theme music for the show.Executive producer for KCET is Karen Hunte; executive in charge ofproduction for KCET is Mary Mazur. Executive producer for WIRED Magazine isMelanie Cornwell; Chris Anderson is WIRED’s editor in chief.
“WIRED SCIENCE” makes its online debut on January 1, 2007, atpbs.org/wiredscience where the program will be streamed and made availableas a podcast. The website connects the viewer to the show’s digitalcontent, offering interactive programming, special video archives, andweb-only content, such as “Geek Beat,” musings on how scientists are usinganimal behavior to develop next-gen robots. To find out more, and to readthe “WIRED SCIENCE” blog, visit wired.com/science.
Advance DVD copies of “WIRED SCIENCE” are available upon request. Photosand materials are available on PBS PressRoom - www.pbs.org/pressroom.
Popularity: 1% [?]
