Nat Geo Greenlights New Shows From Jeff Goldblum, Gordon Ramsay

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – National Geographic announced several new shows during the TCA summer press tour on Wednesday.

First, Nat Geo and Jeff Goldblum have partnered on a new docu-series titled “The Curiosity of .” The twelve-part half-hour series follows Goldblum on an investigation of the world’s most extraordinary “ordinary” things. He will get to the bottom of how we got them, how we make them and how they continue to impact our daily lives, as each journey of discovery has surprising connections, turns and revelations.

The series is produced by Studios. Brian Lovett is executive producer.

Next, Nat Geo has also greenlit “Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted.” Produced by his own Studio Ramsay, the celebruty chef will embark on anthropology-through-cuisine expeditions to unearth the most incredible people, places and flavors the world has to offer. The series will premiere globally in 2019 on National Geographic in 171 countries and 43 languages, with Studio Ramsay/All3 Media retaining rights in the remaining international territories. Production is set to begin this fall.

Each episode will include three components: unlocking a culture’s culinary secrets through exploration and adventure with local food heroes, no matter where they may lead him; tracking down high-octane traditions, pastimes and customs that are specific to the region in hopes of discovering the undiscovered; and, finally, testing Ramsay against the locals, pitting his own interpretations of regional dishes against the tried-and-true classics.

The series represents an extension of Ramsay’s longtime partnership with the Fox family of networks, which has been home to his Emmy-nominated series such as “Hell’s Kitchen,” “MasterChef” and “MasterChef Junior” since 2005.

Nat Geo also announced that Julianna Margulies is set to star in the scripted miniseries “The Hot Zone.” The new series will be produced by Lynda Obst Productions, Scott Free Productions, Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson, Jeff Vintar and Fox 21 Television Studios. Production will begin this fall in Toronto and South Africa.

The series, based on the eponymous international best-seller by Richard Preston, recounts the true story of the origins of the Ebola virus, a highly infectious deadly virus from the central African rain forest, and its first arrival on U.S. soil.

Margulies is repped by WME.

In addition, Nat Geo has renewed “One Strange Rock” for a second season; that adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls will serve as host and narrator of “Hostile Planet;” and that Neil deGrasse Tyson will air interviews with Anthony Bourdain, Jeff Goldblum, George R.R. Martin, former Vice President Al Gore, podcaster Joe Rogan, New York Times best-selling author Patricia Cornwell, Weird Al Yankovic, Bill Nye, Dan Rather, Jack Black, James Marsden and Anna Deavere Smith in Season 4 of “Star Talk.”