Although my television series Meteorite Men continues in steady repeats on Science Channel, the Season One premieres are over. I did some math recently, and since early August of 2009 when we began pre-production for the six-episode series, I believe I have taken two days off. I don’t mean two days off in addition to weekends, I mean two days total.

I also recently completed a 16-day run at the 2010 Tucson gem and mineral shows (my company, Aerolite Meteorites, is an exhibitor). I am quite sure I have never been so tired in my entire life, and I really am looking forward to an upcoming vacation. “Yes, that would be a good idea, and make it soon,” cautioned Meteorite Men Executive Producer Kathy Williamson by phone last Wednesday night. She is hoping, I suppose, as we all are, that there will soon be good news about a second season. The odd part was, while receiving this suggestion from Kathy I was sitting in a black town car  rocketing from New York’s La Guardia airport to the very stylish Essex House hotel on Central Park South.

I had been planning on taking some time off—at least a day or two—this past week, but on that Monday morning my co-host Steve Arnold and myself both received a rather exciting invitation: Would we please be guests of Discovery Channel at the Lincoln Center premiere of their new series Life, narrated by Oprah Winfrey? Our network, Science Channel, is part of Discovery Communications, and we are kindly thought of as extended family. What a treat! I lived in New York City from many years and, in fact, my college graduation ceremony had taken place in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the same room in which we’d be viewing the premiere. It was nice to be back, though the snow covering Central Park was a bit of a shock after six years in sunny Tucson.

The Meteorite Men, Steve Arnold and Geoff Notkin, attending the Discovery "Life" premiere at Lincoln Center. Of course we were carrying space rocks! Photograph by Anne Husick © Aerolite Meteorites

A black SUV picked Steve and me up, in front of the Essex House, and whisked us the few chilly blocks to Lincoln Center. After registering, we were prepped for the red carpet. And what a surprising experience it was. Forget that mental image of a long red carpet stretching from a sidewalk up to the front of the venue. It’s winter in New York! The red carpet was indoors, hard up against a colorful backdrop of Discovery family logos. We were ushered through a small “gate” and then sandwiched—on the carpet—between the backdrop and an enthusiastic and animated group of photographers who seemed almost piled on top of each other. “Over here please.” “Look this way PLEASE gentlemen!” “Up here please, one more time this way,” and so on. Steve and I were carrying meteorites with us. Several of the photographers (and you have to imagine that these seasoned pros have pretty much seen everything) were so fascinated by our space rocks that they asked to touch or hold them, somewhat slowing down the proceedings, as the next guest star waited hard on our heels. We were gently ordered to “Move along please!” and had to shuffle, sideways and almost crab-like along the carpet, because of course you want to keep your face to the photographers and your back to the backdrop. Josh, one of our executives was there to greet us at the other end of the photographic gauntlet (our first red carpet by the way), and when he asked me how it was, I replied: “Very . . . bright.” Camera flashes a-plenty. We were even snapped by the official LIFE magazine photographer.

After a little wine, followed by a bizarre incident in which an incredibly rude bartender refused to serve me a glass of water, telling me: “There’s water in the fountain by the toilets,” we filed into Alice Tully for the screening. Discovery Networks founder and chairman John S. Hendricks delivered a greeting from the stage and—at one point—asked if all the Discovery family talent then present (“talent” is TV-speak for stars, hosts, co-hosts, etc.) would please stand. Steve and I did, there in Lincoln Center, along with about ten of our colleagues, turned around to face the audience seated mostly behind us, to be greeted by a stirring round of applause. What a happy moment it was! I really felt as if I was part of something special, and I am. Discovery Communications is the single largest provider of non-fiction programming in the world, reaching approximately one and a half billion people. That’s a lot of TV sets.

We then proceeded to the actual screening of Life, Episode One, complete with a score performed live on stage by the entire assembled New York Pops. Discovery really knows how to throw a party. Life premieres for the rest of the world on Sunday March 21 and I suggest that you watch this extraordinary piece of documentary art for yourself. I’m not even going to try and describe it. But I will tell you that my favorite part is with the tiny red tree frog.

After the screening, excellent food and fine wine flowed at a packed reception. The lovely Glenn Close was there, and Bill Klein and Jen Arnold stars of TLC’s hit series The Little Couple. It was a special pleasure to meet them as their series was also created by our production company, LMNO, and I enjoyed teasing Jen and Bill about “stealing” our esteemed original executive producer Ruth Rivin. It was Ruth who developed the original idea for Meteorite Men, but after the phenomenal success of The Little Couple (also one of her shows) we were no longer able to enjoy her undivided attention.

With our boss Debbie Myers, the charismatic President of Science Channel. Photograph by Anne Husick © Aerolite Meteorites

Also in attendance was the charming Dr. Michio Kaku of Sci-Fi Science—a fellow Science Channel host, and his elegant wife. I enjoyed reconnecting with fellow Brit Jeremy Wade the dashing star of River Monsters, and later enjoyed cocktails with Lorens de Groot of Animal Planet’s Whale Wars, which must surely be the most exciting show on television.

My long-time friend and former band mate Anne Husick, now of the Ronnie Spector Band, joined me as my guest, and she was beside herself with joy after meeting Captain Sig of Deadliest Catch (she’s not only met a million celebrities, but played in rock bands with most of them, and I’d never seen her so excited about anything). But chatting with Lorens was one of the high points of an evening full of high points. Here is a man who gave up a promising career with the Dutch police in order to take to the high seas and daringly interfere with illegal Japanese whale hunts. I liked him immediately. I traded one of my Meteorite Men t-shirts for one of his ultra-cool skull-and-crossbones-with-trident Sea Shepherd t-shirts and it was one of those unusual and happy exchanges where both parties feel as if they got the better end of the deal.

More on Lorens later. At the moment I’m focused on catching the next repeat of Whale Wars. Since I now really feel like part of the Discovery family, I want to be there to support my siblings’ shows.

One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Winston Churchill. Following a stunning and almost inexplicable defeat of the German Luftwaffe by the diminutive but determined Royal Air Force in the Battle of Britain during the summer of 1941, Churchill knew years of warfare lay ahead and therefore tempered the joy he must have felt with caution: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

When the final episode of Meteorite Men Season One aired, and the future of our show remained a mystery to me, I could not help but be reminded of Churchill. A personal hero, I often visited his home of Chartwell while a young lad living in England. My late mother, who always fervently encouraged my obsessive love of science and the arts, adored the walled gardens of his home, and his swans. I was fascinated by his silent painting studio—unfinished oils still on easels, and tubes of paint on the tables, as if Winston had just stepped out for a cigar.

Our one-hour pilot was filmed during the fall of 2008 and premiered in May of 2009. The ratings were higher than expected and we waited anxiously to hear, from our colleagues at Science Channel, if a series would be ordered. There was no news for some time, and then in August we received a personal phone call from Debbie Myers, the president of Science Channel, and a dedicated proponent of quality television and science education in schools. Science Channel was ordering six new one-hour episodes, and being a thoughtful executive with a gracious personal touch, Debbie wanted to deliver the news herself.

While creating the pilot, seventeen months elapsed from idea to premiere. When the good news arrived from Science, we we informed that the new series was to commence airing in January. “January of 2011?” I asked. “No, January of 2010.” So, after enjoying over a year and half to ponder, develop and film the pilot, we had to scramble to produce six new episodes in seven months. And scramble we did. It was tiring, exciting, sometimes exacting, but always rewarding. The final episode, in which my co-host Steve Arnold and I visit—sometimes independently, sometimes together—sites in Arizona, California, Texas and Virginia, was still being recut and edited less than a week before its premiere date. Just a little pressure.

The Meteorite Men on location, winter 2009. Photograph by Erika Carlson © Aerolite Meteorites

But it was all worth it. Meteorite Men Season One enjoyed very good ratings. Recent traffic on our websites has been about five times the daily average and we have received a great deal of fan mail. Even a few requests for signed photos! For each of the six weekly premieres (the first of which was January 20) I held a screening party at Tucson’s fabulous new night spot—Sky Bar. Owner Tony Vaccaro was wonderfully accommodating, allowing us to show each new episode on three widescreen high definition TVs. Each screening party was preceded by an open mic and by the end of the run of programs we were quite familiar with a new group of local musicians, and they seemed pleasantly amused by “The two guys who look for space rocks.” Two of the screenings fell during the annual Tucson gem and mineral shows, and those screenings were attended by so many colleagues from around the world—in for the gem show—that it was overwhelming.

A few friends attended every one of the six screenings. It was a treat to share the premieres with people I care about, and my father made it all the way from Dublin, Ireland for the final show (a student of classical music, he predictably complained about the open mic). Before the assembled crowd I gently admonished Dad: “It’s all his fault. He’s the one who first got me interested in astronomy by waking me up in he middle of the night to look through his telescope at the moons of Jupiter.”

When the final screening rolled around I almost felt as if I”d been back on tour with my rock ‘n’ roll band from the old days. “See you here next week! Meteorite Men on tour every Wednesday at Sky Bar.” And, in fact, to keep the rock ‘n’ roll theme current I even designed a Meteorite Men t-shirt, with the help of my company illustrator, Tim Arbon. On the front is a stark black silhouette of Steve and myself, holding our metal detectors, with “Meteorite Men 2009 North American Tour” printed in bold, friendly letters. On the reverse is a list of the places we visited while filming Season One (along with the home towns of our network, production company, and camera crew).

Supervising Producer for Meteorite Men, Bob Melisso, directs the action during the Odessa Crater shoot in Texas. Photograph by Suzanne Morrison © Aerolite Meteorites.

So now what? Perhaps the most frequently asked question during this exciting period of my life has been: “When do you find out about Season Two?” Well, we don’t quite know. Science Channel and LMNO Productions are the most encouraging and dedicated people we could possibly have worked with. We know how lucky we are. Everyone from production assistants, to narrators, to script supervisors, and executive producers put something of themselves into the show. The result is a feeling of collective accomplishment. Will it fly? Will there be a Season Two? I’ll let you know as soon as I know. In the meantime the show is in steady repeats on Science Channel, and you can find the Meteorite Men show time schedule here.

Just last week, I found out that Meteorite Men is also airing in the UK. Several old school friends and neighbors emailed to report: “I just saw you on the telly!” Knowing that some of my childhood pals are watching our adventures, back there in my old home country, makes me just a little wistful for those days when my mother was still alive and a little boy peered, enchanted, through his father’s telesope from the lawn of a chilly nighttime British garden.

Sometime last year, my co-host Steve Arnold and I had a most interesting conversation with LMNO Productions owner, and our Executive Producer, Eric Schotz. He told us that if he was developing a show about, for example, an emergency room, or armed forces veterans returning from overseas, there would be a number of options; a number of different people to interview and work with. “But I can’t go out and get two other guys who do what you do. The show is about you.” So, no pressure.

But really, I am joking. It is an honor and a privilege to find yourself in a situation where major companies have put a great deal of money, time and effort into making a rather unique adventure series about you and your buddy. Steve had me laughing the other day when he said: “I want our show to be the best meteorite hunting program on television!” It is a most unusual topic for a series, but I do know one thing: wherever I go and whatever kind of people I meet there seems to be a universal fascination with our rather odd profession: “Really? You look for meteorites. You mean, like shooting stars?”

The Logical Lizard (left) and professional meteorite hunter Steve Arnold scouting locations for the new "Meteorite Men" TV series. Photograph by Margaret Haddad.

The fact that our work is so unusual and specialized means we are actively involved in nearly every aspect of pre-production: locations, equipment, wardrobe, logistics, scheduling. We even have the pleasure of inviting some favorite academics to appear on the show with us. We are airing on the Science Channel, so Meteorite Men has to be a lot more than just an adventure series. It’s a good mix: Steve and I go out to the wild places, test new gear, develop hunting techniques, do our research, hike, dig, meet weird and colorful characters along the way, and when each adventure draws to a close we head to a lab or university to meet with one of our colleagues in academia. Will any of our finds help shed light on the mysteries of the universe? Well, maybe not every episode, but each fragment of new knowledge is a piece in the puzzle, and it doesn’t hurt to dream.

And anyway, Steve feels people are tuning in to be entertained, not to have the spotlight of universal understanding turned upon them. We’ll figure it out.