Shawshank Redemption, March of the Penguins, Visa Commercials. These projects all have one thing in common, the smooth sultry voice of Morgan Freeman. I know I’m not the only one that could sit for hours listening to him read cooking recipes, or even numbers out of the phone book. I would love to have an audio book narrated by him to tuck me into bed at night.
Ok that got a little awkward. I have an obsession with Morgan Freeman, but you have to admit the man is awesome. His newest project, “Through the Wormhole” is equally just as awesome and absolutely worth your time.
I first heard of “Wormhole” when I saw an interview with Freeman on the Daily Show in which he was publicizing his new show premiering of the Science Channel
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Morgan Freeman | ||||
| ||||
Before this interview I had never heard of the Science Channel and I thought it was curious that a multiple Oscar nominated and winning actor would spend his time executive producing and narrating a program for a knock off of the Discovery Channel. I understand that the recession is hitting Hollywood hard, but most actors are at least relying on Network TV. I was intrigued enough that I set it on my DVR, and watched the first episode several weeks later.
I was incredibly surprised! The first episode I watched was the science behind black holes, and their implications in our modern understanding of the universe. It was awesome! The show did a great job of taking fairly complex science and making it very entertaining for a popular audience. I have taken a few Cosmology classes, but the show was able to explain certain elements that I was still excused about. I’d much rather watch a couple hours of entertaining TV than sit in a 400-person lecture hall!
The best part about “Wormhole” is how the program sets up its experts as big action heroes. With Freeman narrating a showdown between Stephen Hawking and Leonard Suskin. I felt like it was the great underdog story that I had been craving. Hawking, regarded as the foremost expert field, established a theory regarding black holes and “Hawking radiation” nearly 30 years ago. Leonard Suskin was raised in the South Bronx working as a plumber. Suskin spent the last 30 years researching Hawking radiation, and recently disproved the theory and implementing his own. Win for the little guy!
“Through the Wormhole” is an excellent way into many complex theories of our Universe. While looking for clips to use for this post, I found myself spending a couple hours just perusing the Science Channel’s website. I love the Discovery and History Channels, but I feel like their programming has been less compelling lately, and I believe that “Through the Wormhole” and the Science Channel may be my new guilty pleasure. I am eagerly awaiting next weeks episode questioning the theories of God.
I felt that your blog was right on point. I have seen this show a few times and really like it. I too, am fascinated with the universe and science in general. The only problem is, I am not a genuis and 95% of physics goes completely over my head. You touched on it, but I really enjoy this show because it is put together very well. Having said that I am not Stephen Hawking, it is really refreshing to watch a science show that realizes that. They break it down, so that people with IQ's under 140 can understand. I was completely baffled by Leonard Suskin disproving Hawkings black hole theory (he even came out and admitted he was wrong). Thats amazing -- hes an absolute genuis and was proved wrong by a plumber. Unreal!
ReplyDeleteI also felt that your voice was really well established, from the opening lines. Particularly,
"I know I’m not the only one that could sit for hours listening to him read cooking recipes, or even numbers out of the phone book. "
-- I felt that that was an excellent sentence, and truly showed what a narrator Morgan Freeman is.