For the next couple months, it seems, our TV sets will be space-crazy.
And it won’t end there. The National Geographic Channel has just announced a “The Right Stuff” series that will begin next year.
Most of this is keyed to July 20, the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. ABC already featured that in its “1969” series …. PBS has declared this its “Summer of Space” … and cable channels are piling on.
Then there’s “Right Stuff.” It will start where the Tom Wolfe book and the 1983 movie did — the beginning of the Project Mercury astronaut program. Subsequent seasons will take us to the moon.
Patrick Adams – who did seven seasons of “Suits,” marrying Meghan Markle in fiction before Prince Harry did in real life – will play John Glenn. That’s the role Ed Harris did with great charm in the film.
The series will follow the current blitz of space shows. A sampling, subject to change, includes:
— A journey to the odd side: “Truth Behind the Moon Landing” tests conspiracy theories, at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. ET Sundays on the Science Channel, starting June 2.
— Two Smithsonian Channel projects. The six-part “Apollo Moon Shot” starts at 8 p.m. June 16; “The Day We Walked the Moon” arrives at 9 p.m. July 7.
— “Apollo 11” (shown here), which uses only footage from that time. It’s 9 p.m. ET June 23 on CNN, rerunning June 29 and (appropriately) July 20.
— “Apollo: Missions to the Moon.” Like the CNN film, it uses no narration or modern-day talking heads. July 19, National Geographic.
— “Chasing the Moon,” a three-part, six-hour “American Experience” film, July 8-10 on PBS.
— “8 Days: The Journey of Apollo 11.” That’s a PBS/BBC co-production at 9 p.m. July 17.
— Three films from PBS’ “Nova” series. “Back to the Moon” will be 8 p.m. July 10. July 24 brings the start of the three-part “Ancient Skies” and the five-part “The Planets.”
Other PBS shows will get involved. They range from the animated “Ready, Jet, Go” on June 17 to “Antiques Roadshow,” which will views memorabilia – both from the space program and from science-fiction – at 8 p.m. July 8.
And there’s more waiting to be scheduled, including “Apollo: The Forgotten Films,” on Discovery and Science.