A Few Thoughts on 'Bill Nye Saves the World'

Written by Scott Edwards

I will openly admit that I was never into science when I was growing up, that was until Bill Nye the Science Guy came on the screen. While this show was able to get my mind juices flowing, it helped me to understand more of what I was doing in the classroom. As I had some teachers that were very student friendly, I also had the ones that seemed to relish the opportunity to make the kids who did not understand feel like they were failures. That is really the only reason I would watch Bill’s show when growing up, because he seemed to want everyone to understand what he was talking about and was able to dumb things down enough so we could.
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So, I was happy to see that Bill Nye got a new show on Netflix called Bill Nye Saves the World. Taking on the hot topics of today, this show is directed towards the kids that watched him back in the day. With a very new format, Bill Nye wants to make sure that everyone understands what the problems are out there in the world and has fun in doing it. With skits showing how the issues are affecting the world, it brings the issues to life. I will admit that they bring a smile to my face, especially when I was forced to consider that all of our favorite foods could be taken away and the only thing we will have left are black jelly beans. 

The thing I like most about the show is the round table discussion that Bill Nye has with his guests about how to combat the issues at hand and it helps to enlighten the different points of view. Now I will not lie, Bill Nye does show his political views on the issues as well, and that might generate some polarizing opinions about the show. But the one thing that I can tell you is that whether you agree or disagree, you do get to hear both sides of the discussion and that is what makes this show enjoyable for me.

The only thing that I miss about the show is the actual science being done on screen. There are some experiments being done in the lab, but not as many as I would like. With more of a commentary style, you do get good information from Bill Nye and his team. Then you also get to hear Bill Nye rant for a minute about his feelings surrounding the issue he is discussing for the episode which is priceless.

I really enjoyed this show and I hope it gets seventeen more seasons, which is something that Bill Nye wants. Being able to dumb down the issues so the layman can understand it is a talent that not everyone has. Putting the issues front and center is something that not everybody would take a shot at doing and while not everyone will like the different stances being taken, it could help in everyday life, hopefully by starting more discussions, because that is the first step in saving the world, being able to talk about the hard issues. Getting his point across has never been an issue for Bill Nye and I believe he does a very good job at that in his new show and hope he is able to continue in the future as the world continues to change. 

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