I've been watching the original series on DVD. Not only was Carl Sagan the best embodiment of science communication, outreach and advocacy (where my career will probably wind up), he was also gifted in his ability to weave in history and art, and even a form of non-religious spirituality (for lack of a better term) into his stories. By the way, here's one example of how cloistered scientists can be, ivory tower and all that. Sagan was nominated to the National Academy of Sciences after Cosmos came out (he also had a solid research career prior to that) but the Academy rejected him. It may have been jealousy, it may have been contempt for idea of public outreach, but today that decision to exclude him looks very shortsighted at the least
I'm looking forward to the new show (even though Seth MacFarlane is part of it) Neil DeGrasse-Tyson may not completely fill Carl Sagan's shoes but he'll do a pretty good job. Here's a clip about the Hayden Planeterium show on dark matter (watch in HD if you can).