November 13, 2012 5:14 pm

The Strangest Sense of Déjà Vu

Is anyone else having a sense of déjà vu when watching StarTalk on The Nerdist Channel?

Of course, it’s not déjà vu. As I watch the episodes, I’m not getting a phantom feeling that I’ve experienced it before, because I actually did experience it before. And if you’ve heard the podcast prior to seeing the video, you have too.

Some of you have even commented on feeling strange on our Facebook page, or Twitter, or in comments right here on the site.

In all honesty, I wasn’t sure I’d like it. I tend to be the kind of person who likes the first iteration of something, whatever it is. I’m not a big fan of remakes, or colorizations. And don’t even get me started on cover versions of songs. (Did we really need cover versions of “Imagine” or “Satisfaction” or “Behind Blue Eyes”?)

But in the case of StarTalk, I’ve discovered that I like the videos, perhaps, even more. Why? It has to do with Neil and Eugene, mostly. It’s their faces. They are both so expressive that watching them speak and joke around actually adds to my satisfaction. (I am reminded of some of my favorite comedy albums, like “Take-Offs and Put-Ons” by George Carlin, or “Matching Tie and Handkerchief” by Monty Python. On vinyl, funny. On video, hysterical.)

Many of you are encountering these episodes for the first time, though. In fact, we’re getting a whole lot of people who never listened to the podcast discovering StarTalk thanks to The Nerdist Channel. And that’s awesome. So you may be asking yourselves, “Will you enjoy the StarTalk Radio podcasts themselves?”

All I can say to you is, YES! More and more people are discovering our unique combination of science, popular culture and comedy. StarTalk Radio has risen to become one of the top 10 podcasts on iTunes. So even without visuals, we must be doing something right.

What about the rest of you old timers? Are you enjoying StarTalk on The Nerdist Channel? Are you looking forward to new episodes that will premier on video first, like the GZA episode, or the Alan Rickman one?

Tell us in the comments below. Who knows? Maybe, as some of you have suggested, we should move StarTalk to television. (My favorite suggestion was a show co-hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye. Wouldn’t that be cool?)

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!

–Jeffrey Simons