‘Science Fair: The Series’ Highlights Hope of ‘Idealistic’ Young Students

Andrea Towers December 10, 2023, 11:00 am

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Dr. Serena McCalla -'Science Fair: The Series' — National Geographic

Science fairs are cool again — and if you need proof, look no further than this new docuseries Science Fair: The Series that highlights some of the brightest young minds in STEM.

Adapted from the 2019 Emmy-winning documentary of the same name, the three-parter follows high schoolers and their families as they prepare to compete against 30 million students from more than 80 countries at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

The grand prize winner walks away with $75,000, but it wasn’t the money that exec producer and co-director Darren Foster wanted to showcase.

“Sometimes we get a little cynical, and we forget that there are things that are still to be aspired to and to be achieved,” he says. “And I think the beauty of the students we feature and all of them that participate, they have that hope. They’re still idealistic in the best of ways.”

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Dr. Serena McCalla is involved in the students’ incredible innovations, serving as both a mentor and a surrogate mom to some of the featured kids. “She and her school are consistently at the top,” exec producer and co-director Cristina Costantini says. “A lot of our kids have gone on to do incredible things and cite her as one of their sources of inspiration.”

Get an exclusive sneak peek at some of the inspiration Dr. McCalla’s serving up in the clip, above.

Science Fair: The Series, Premieres Wednesday, December 13, Disney+

This is an excerpt from TV Insider’s December issue. For more in-depth, reported coverage devoted to streaming shows from the publishers of TV Guide Magazine, pick up the issue, currently on newsstands, or purchase it online here. You can also subscribe to TV Insider Magazine here now.