The first two episodes this season are exceedingly enjoyable to watch. While the series moves at a brisk pace, it never feels overly rushed or hurried. The one story in the first two episodes on which more time could have been spent is the final one in the premiere, which is on Sir Francis Galton. It discusses Galton trying to prove that the masses were ignorant and therefore shouldn't be allowed to make important decisions for society as a whole (i.e., vote). The story is done in truly brilliant fashion; it is a combination of live-action and animation and sung by one of the correspondents with other present-day people helping him out from time to time. As it is a song, and assuredly a difficult story to produce, it is, relatively speaking, brief. It isn't rushed, but watching it was such a great experience that I wanted it to last longer.

Though all the stories are fun, one other one to look out for is the one on faking Van Gogh's paintings. Though in a similar vein to the one on doctoring photos, it presents a great look at how past meets present and art meets science.

Heading into its third season, PBS has placed Nova scienceNOW in its own time slot on Wednesday evenings, rather than simply slotting it into Nova Tuesday night from time to time. It is certainly a show of faith and confidence in scienceNOW that the series richly deserves. Neil deGrasse Tyson is a perfect host for the series; he is the exact right mix between incredibly intelligent and completely engaging (which is to say that he is both).

Nova scienceNOW's third season premieres Wednesday June 25 at 9pm on PBS stations, though I highly encourage you to check your local listings.