Nearly 20 years after his PBS program concluded, Bill Nye “the Science Guy” is returning to TV—well, sort of, he’s getting his own Netflix show.
Nye, a popular American science educator, will host a new talk show on Netflix called Bill Nye Saves the World, the streaming-video service announced Aug. 31. In each episode, Nye will myth-bust and refute claims centered on scientific issues such as vaccinations, genetically modified foods, and climate change—presumably while wearing his sartorial trademark bow tie. The show, which will feature special guests and demonstrations, is slated to premiere in the spring of 2017.
It will be the first program Nye has hosted since the 1990s, when his beloved educational program Bill Nye the Science Guy ended after 100 episodes. The show ran on PBS from 1993 to 1998.
Two years ago Fox attempted to revive Cosmos, PBS’s popular 1970s’ science program starring Carl Sagan, without much success. That revival, hosted by revered American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, lasted 13 episodes. There was talk of a second season, but plans haven’t materialized. Tyson hosts another science-minded show on the National Geographic Channel.
The hopes are high for Nye. Even after two decades off the air, he seems to strike a chord with a certain breed of American millennials, who grew up watching his PBS show at home and in science class. That cohort aligns with Netflix’s audience. Nearly 80% of US millennials watch Netflix, according to a 2015 BI Intelligence survey.
“Since the start of the Science Guy show, I’ve been on a mission to change the world by getting people everywhere excited about the fundamental ideas in science,” said Nye, in a statement to Netflix. “With the right science and good writing, we’ll do our best to enlighten and entertain our audience. And, perhaps we’ll change the world a little.”
Nye hasn’t been absent from the public eye. In addition to running The Planetary Society, a non-profit group, Nye has written books about evolution and climate change, spoken at events, and made numerous TV appearances including a 2013 stint as a contestant on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.
Lately, he’s been popping up more often—promoting his latest book, giving a commencement address, and going on CNN to explain the Louisiana floods. Last May, he appeared on Amy Schumer’s Comedy Central show for a satirical bit, in which he jokingly revealed that “the universe is essentially a force sending cosmic guidance to white women in their twenties.” At the time of this writing, the segment had been viewed more than 2.5 million times on YouTube.
Bill Nye Saves the World will be Netflix’s second talk show. The streaming-video service—known for breaking the mold of program rollouts by releasing entire seasons of its shows at once—began experimenting with regularly scheduled programming this year with the introduction of Chelsea Handler’s late-night talk show Chelsea, which airs three days a week. Netflix has not said whether Nye’s show will air on a similar schedule, but it would make sense given the talk show format.