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SETH MACFARLANE TO LAUNCH "COSMOS: A SPACE-TIME ODYSSEY" IN 2013 ON FOX

New 13-Part Docu-Series Pays Homage to Carl Sagan's Award-Winning Scientific Masterpiece

National Geographic Channel to Air Same-Night Encores

More than three decades after the debut of "Cosmos," Carl Sagan's stunning and iconic exploration of the universe as revealed by science, FOX sets off on a voyage for the stars with COSMOS: A SPACE-TIME ODYSSEY. Seth MacFarlane (FAMILY GUY, AMERICAN DAD) has teamed up with Sagan's original creative collaborators - writer/producer Ann Druyan and astrophysicist Steven Soter - to conceive a 13-part "docu-series" that will serve as a successor to the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning original series.

Hosted by renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, COSMOS: A SPACE-TIME ODYSSEY will blast off on the FOX schedule in 2013.

"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," said MacFarlane. "We should be vigorously exploring the solar system by now, and who better to inspire us to get there than Ann Druyan, Steven Soter, Neil deGrasse Tyson and, of course, Carl Sagan."

"Carl believed that science belongs to all of us," said Druyan, Sagan's widow. "He wanted to convey the thrill of its cosmic perspective to the widest possible audience. I wish I could tell Carl what Seth's leadership on this new COSMOS has made possible. Besides, I know how much they would have liked each other."

"This is a golden opportunity to introduce COSMOS to a new generation," said Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company. "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."

Produced in conjunction with National Geographic Channel, COSMOS: A SPACE-TIME ODYSSEY is the story of how human beings began to comprehend the laws of nature and find our place in space and time. By exploring never-before-told stories of the heroic quest for knowledge, the series will take viewers to other worlds and travel across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest scale. The most profound scientific concepts will be presented with stunning clarity, uniting skepticism and wonder, and weaving rigorous science with the emotional and spiritual into a transcendent experience. National Geographic Channel will air a same-night encore of the episodes following their broadcast on FOX.

Carl Sagan's original series "Cosmos" was first broadcast in 1980 and remains the most globally successful American public television series of all time. Seen by an estimated 700 million viewers, "Cosmos" has remained popular in all media throughout the world.

COSMOS: A SPACE-TIME ODYSSEY will be produced by Cosmos Studios, the Ithaca, NY, based company Druyan co-founded in 2000. Ann Druyan, Seth MacFarlane and Cosmos Studios president Mitchell Cannold will executive-produce the series. Allan Butler will serve as executive producer for National Geographic Channel.