Alan Alda Searches For 'The Human Spark' On PBS

Celebrated actor, director and screenwriter Alan Alda stopped by PIX studios to talk about hosting the new three-part PBS series The Human Spark. PBS says of their new Wednesday series:

After some 3.5 billion years of life’s evolution on this planet – and after almost 2 million years since people recognizable as human first walked its surface – a new human burst upon the scene, apparently unannounced. It was us.

Until then our ancestors had shared the planet with other human species. But soon there was only us, possessors of something that gave us unprecedented power over our environment and everything else alive. That something was – is – the Human Spark.

What is the nature of human uniqueness? Where did the Human Spark ignite, and when? And perhaps most tantalizingly, why? Alan Alda takes these questions personally, visiting with dozens of scientists on three continents, and participating directly in many experiments – including the detailed examination of his own brain.

Emmy-award winning Alda is most widely hailed for his role as "Hawkeye Pierce" in the television series M*A*S*H. He has since then been a regular cast member on The West Wing and was in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning The Aviator, among other renowned projects.

The Human Spark airs Wednesdays, January 6, 13, and 20 at 8pm on PBS. For more information, visit pbs.org/humanspark.