Ten years after Bill Nye the Science Guy ended its run, the "Science Guy" returns to television on Tuesday, Sept. 2 with the premiere of Stuff Happens on the Discovery Channel's recently-launched Planet Green network.
Nye said Stuff Happens focuses on an "eco-lifestyle" 24 hours a day -- from the choices consumers make to how they unexpectedly can affect people, animals and ecosystems all over the world.
"We're trying to get people to be aware of how they affect the environment, especially consumers," Nye said. "The choices you make as a consumer can affect everybody in the whole world."
The premiere episode focuses on a typical household bathroom, with references to toothpaste endangering orangutans in Borneo, "super bugs" growing in municipal water systems as a result of flushing prescription drugs down the toilet and the total weight absorbed by your skin over a lifetime of using cosmetics.
Nye said he draws from his stand-up comedy and children's TV host experience to help add humor to the new show.
"Oh, it's wall-to-wall hilarious Bill comedy, it's so funny it's life-changing," he said with a load of dry sarcasm. "People without a sense of humor are a drag, especially when things are going wrong. You can really send yourself into a tailspin."
Despite the show's lighthearted outer layer, Nye noted the world's current situation is "grim," and the show's subject matter -- including greenhouse gases, carbon footprints and endangered wildlife -- is "serious business."
When asked about the current United States presidential candidates' energy plans, Nye did not specifically endorse one over the other, but panned presumptive Republican nominee John McCain's proposal for off-shore drilling, saying it isn't even a logistical short-term solution.
"Which candidate do you think is more likely to change things?" Nye asked, emphasizing the word change. "You as a voter have to decide who you think is about the past and who you think is about the future. But I'd go to work for either one of them to change the world."
Taylor Rees (senior-biology) is in her fourth year of ecology research on climate change. She grew up watching Bill Nye the Science Guy, and is interested in going into film and television for children, linking environmental science to the public through entertainment.
She referenced Nye as a perfect example of using media to get people active in solving environmental crises.
"A lot of the science surrounding environmental issues is restricted to scientists and politics, but much of it affects the greater humanity," she said. "In terms of the bridges you can create, I think that new media will be the best tool, and Bill Nye has a good thing going."
While Rees is just one of the many Penn State students who grew up watching Nye, and is familiar with the man she called "kooky and funny," Nye said he actually considers himself to be quite familiar with Penn State, too.
"I've been to State College many times, playing Ultimate Frisbee," he said. "I played in the first intercollegiate Ultimate Frisbee tournament in 1975, during the disco era -- the first disco era."
Since the end of Bill Nye the Science Guy, Nye has hosted programs such as The 100 Greatest Discoveries for Discovery Channel and won an Emmy for his Greatest Inventions with Bill Nye. He also will be appearing in a November episode of Sci-Fi's Stargate Atlantis as himself.
But the upcoming premiere of Stuff Happens, and its potential impact on the planet, is what excites Nye the most.
"This show is not going to save the world, but it's leaning in the right direction," he said. "We insert all the Bill Nye philosophy that people are more alike than different. Stuff happens, and we're going to have to work together to figure it out."
