Peacock is betting on the promising formula of science plus natural disasters to attract families to its new Bill Nye series, The End is Nye.
Universal Television Alternative Studio, Universal Content Productions and Seth MacFarlane’s (Family Guy) Fuzzy Door prodco are producing the live-action series for an all-ages audience. Each episode will see Nye explain a different type of global disaster—from volcano eruptions, to viruses, to climate change—with the goal of teaching people how to mitigate and prevent them going forward. There were no details available on format or delivery date at press time.
Brannon Braga (Cosmos: Possible Worlds) will serve as showrunner, executive producer and director. Nye, MacFarlane and Fuzzy Door’s Erica Huggins are also attached as EPs.
Nye is an Emmy-winning TV personality best known for his ’90s children’s series Bill Nye the Science Guy (100 x half hours), in which he broke down science concepts with jokes and props.
He’s becoming somewhat of a familiar face on streamers, having previously hosted three seasons of Netflix original Bill Nye Saves the World, exploring scientific topics with expert guests. Nye is also in a legal battle with Disney over a revenue split dispute.
The End is Nye joins Peacock’s growing family-friendly programming portfolio, which already includes a live-action competition show based on Konami’s Frogger brand and DreamWorks Animation’s The Mighty Ones and Cleopatra in Space.