You love Kevin Delaney at Little Rock's Museum of Discovery in the River Market.
You've loved him on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Now, get ready to love him when he takes his act on the road with his very own TV series on Science Channel.
Delaney, the ebullient director of visitor experience for the museum, is the host of Street Science, premiering at 9 p.m. Wednesday. I've not seen a preview, but from the short teaser clip, it appears stuff will be set on fire, blow up, get foggy and otherwise satisfy the inner science geek in us all.
Science Channel tells us that experiments planned for the first season include making it rain fire, creating a fire tornado, turning leaf blowers into homemade hovercrafts, making an instant nitrogen cloud and visiting a salon "to share a surprising use for their hydrogen peroxide."
With his crop of unruly brown hair and Duck Dynasty-esque beard, the 36-year-old Delaney is a familiar figure at the museum, where he performs Awesome Science experiments for the kiddies by day and conducts the Science After Dark program for adults by night.
His entertaining educational expertise came to the attention of The Tonight Show, where he has donned a white lab coat and safety goggles and joined Fallon five times for special science segments over the past couple of years.
[VIDEO: Watch Kevin Delaney's appearances on The Tonight Show]
In his 10-part series, Delaney will hit the streets for, as Science Channel promises, "experiments that are so unusual, off-beat, and so unexpected they will blow your mind."
The experiments, which use everyday elements, "will combine scientific method with curiosity and plain old-fashioned ingenuity." Sidekick/cinematographer Darren Dyk will capture it all (including, I suppose, folks having their minds blown) with slow-motion footage so as "to provide insight of what the eye can't normally see."
Marc Etkind, Science Channel general manager, says, "Delaney is science magician, and yet there's no trickery or sleight of hand as he reveals the everyday science behind fire, rockets, explosions and more."
I've loved this sort of show ever since I was 4 years old and never missed Watch Mr. Wizard. Somewhere I think that Don Herbert is smiling.
• Taboo, 9 p.m. today on FX (TV-MA). This new period miniseries (eight episodes) is set in 1814 and stars Tom Hardy (The Revenant) as James Keziah Delaney, a rogue adventurer who returns to London to inherit his father's shipping empire and finds himself "encircled by conspiracy, murder and betrayal, in a combustible tale of love and treachery."
• Crackle stuff. I don't write much about Sony's streaming network Crackle, but it's free after you register at crackle.com. It offers TV shows from All in the Family to Who's the Boss? and a gaggle of movies, including All American Bikini Car Wash, Humans vs. Zombies and both (!) Joe Dirt films.
Among the best programs is Jerry Seinfeld's weekly Emmy-nominated unscripted series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Season 9 kicked off Thursday.
The title says it all. It's Seinfeld and a bunch of funny folks driving around in vintage cars and going for coffee. Think of it as James Corden's Carpool Karaoke without all the singing.
Season 7 began with President Barack Obama and a classic 1963 Corvette Stingray. They never got out of the White House driveway.
Guests for this season's six episodes, in no particular order, are Bob Einstein (aka Super Dave Osborne), Cedric The Entertainer, two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained), Kristen Wiig (Ghostbusters), and comedians Lewis Black and Norm Macdonald.
Comedians in Cars is Crackle's flagship original series. Other original programs include:
StartUp, a drama starring Martin Freeman, Adam Brody, Edi Gathegi and Otmara Marrero.
The Art of More, with Dennis Quaid, Kate Bosworth, Christian Cooke and Cary Elwes. The drama revolves around the world of New York auction houses.
Snatch, based on the 2000 British crime comedy of the same name and starring Rupert Grint, Dougray Scott, Luke Pasqualino and Lucien Laviscount.
SuperMansion, an adult stop-motion animated superhero comedy series with Bryan Cranston as Titanium Rex, the elderly leader of the League of Freedom. Other has-been heroes are voiced by Seth Green, Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Pine and Jillian Bell.
Sports Jeopardy!, a live weekly half-hour game show with sportscaster Dan Patrick instead of Alex Trebek. It's Jeopardy! with sports trivia questions. Like the title says.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 01/10/2017