History Series / TheWorldAccordingToJeffGoldblum

The series follows the self-proclaimed "curious cat" as he journeys beyond his world of acting and jazz music to travel the United States to learn and deconstruct the history and culture behind common yet much-loved -- often passionately so -- staples of modern everyday life, such as sneakers, denim, tattoos, and ice cream. In each half-hour episode, he crosses cultural, generational, and technological divides, makes new friends, [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers and randomly bursts into snippets of song]].

The first season consists of twelve episodes; a second season of ten was announced in January 2020. In fact, the shooting of an episode on fireworks was in progress when production was forced to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but production is set to resume when conditions are more favorable.

* {{Adorkable}}: Much, if not most, of the show's humor derives from the sight of a then-66-year-old actor and jazz musician primarily associated with GibberingGenius and/or TallDarkAndSnarky characters -- characters who are not that far off from his public persona -- stepping out of his element to explore the creation of and subcultures behind each episode's subject matter, often interacting with people substantially younger than he in the process. In "Sneakers" alone he attends a sneaker convention, participates in a game of street court basketball with actual NBA and WNBA players, and is tutored on how to host a Website/YouTube unboxing video, among other things.

** In the introductory monologue of "Pools", he notes "What a [[Film/TheLifeAquatic life aquatic]] it is."

** In "Sneakers", when Goldblum is at the Sneaker Con and waiting for a deal worth tens of thousands of dollars to be brokered, he says [[Film/TheGodfather "It's not personal. It's business. Remember that, Michael."]] Bonus point for the Nino Rota-esque music playing at this moment.

The first season consists of twelve episodes; a second season of ten was announced in January 2020. No release date has been announced (due to the Covid-19 pandemic making anything past pre-production impossible, it likely won't surface until 2021 at the earliest).

** Over the course of "Pools", he brings up ''The Swimmer'' and the Creator/JamesBond films just for starters.
He references ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'' when he learns his brainwaves are going to be monitored while he's in the float pool: "What if they find out that I'm Abby Normal?" Then he worries that he'll end up becoming "Creator/WilliamHurt in ''Film/AlteredStates''. [[Film/TheBigChill (Hi, Bill.)]]" The episode even ends with him singing part of "Home", the finale of ''Theatre/TheWiz''.

** Over the course of "Pools", he brings up ''The Swimmer'', ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'' (when he learns his brainwaves are going to be monitored: "What if they find out I'm Abby Normal?"), and ''Film/AlteredStates''. It even ends with him singing part of "Home", the finale of ''Theatre/TheWiz''.

* NetworkRedheadedStepchild: Because this was not developed for Disney+ but National Geographic's cable channel, only making its way to the platform in the wake of the Fox-Disney merger, it stands out among the original Day One documentary productions in that it's not built around a Disney IP and doesn't have an obvious kid-friendly hook. Downplayed in that it ended up the most-promoted of the documentary shows, used in online banner ads to represent the service's National Geographic brand the way ''Disney/{{Moana}}'' represents Disney in-house films, ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' represents Pixar, Iron Man represents ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'', and Darth Vader represents ''Franchise/StarWars''. It was also one of the first Disney+ shows to be renewed for a second season!

The first season consists of twelve episodes; a second season of ten was announced in January 2020.

** Whimsically brought up in the opening narration of "RVs": "Here come my two-tone loafers!" as the camera initially focuses on his feet.

* NetworkRedheadedStepchild: Because this was not developed for Disney+ but National Geographic's cable channel, only making its way to the platform in the wake of the Fox-Disney merger, it stands out among the original Day One documentary productions in that it's not built around a Disney IP of some kind and doesn't have an obvious kid-friendly hook. Downplayed in that it ended up the most-promoted of the documentary shows, used in online banner ads to represent the service's National Geographic brand the way ''Disney/{{Moana}}'' represents Disney in-house films, ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' represents Pixar, Iron Man represents ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'', and Darth Vader represents ''Franchise/StarWars''. It was also one of the first Disney+ shows to be renewed for a second season!
* NiceShoes: "Sneakers" naturally includes many examples of these, leading up to Goldblum unboxing a custom pair created for him by "Shoe Surgeon" Dominic Ciambrone. They take their primary inspiration from the letterman jacket of Goldblum's uncle, who was ''almost'' a professional basketball player, and incorporate such materials as black satin and, on the underside of the tongues, zebra-print faux fur (Goldblum having a weakness for animal prints).
* OpeningNarration: Each episode opens with one in which Goldblum introduces both himself (in a different, humorous way each time) and the topic. But come "Pools", the penultimate episode of Season One, he notes that the viewer should know who he is by now, and the SeasonFinale "Jewelry" doesn't include a self-introduction in favor of focusing on the topic at hand. He introduces himself in passing ''after'' the title card.

** Over the course of "Pools", he brings up ''The Swimmer'', ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'' (when he learns his brainwaves are going to be monitored while he's in the float tank: "What if they find out I'm Abby Normal?"), and ''Film/AlteredStates''. It even ends with him singing part of "Home", the finale of ''Theatre/TheWiz''.

* UncannyValleyMakeup: Featured in a positive, intentionally cultivated light in "Cosmetics", first with a troupe of drag queens, and in the episode's finale a visit with [=YouTube=] artist Mimi Choi, who turns people's faces -- including Goldblum's -- into surreal works of art.

* AudibleGleam: Used more than once in "Jewelry", culminating in one enhanced with an animation effect in the final scene as Goldblum shows off his new gold grill.

** "Jewelry": The innate appeal of things that glitter and shine to (going back to sunlight reflected off of water in the days of early man) is their suggestion of ''power''.

* EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry: And this is central to why people love gold and gems, as discussed in "Jewelry".

* OpeningNarration: Each episode opens with Goldblum introducing himself in a different, humorous way. Come "Pools", the penultimate episode of Season One, he notes that the viewer should know who he is by now!

* CentralTheme: Each episode has one, tying the specific appeal of its subject to a universal need/desire.

The first season consists of twelve episodes; a second season of ten episodes was announced in January 2020.

* EnforcedPlug: As part of the promotional push for this show the December 5, 2019 episode of ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' featured a category devoted to it with answers based on tidbits from the first few episodes, with clues read by Goldblum.

The first season consists of twelve episodes; a second season of ten additional episodes was announced in January 2020.

* WidgetSeries: This is a downplayed W(H)AT (Weird Humorous American Thing). In order to fully enjoy it, the viewer has to not only find the '''very''' SeriousBusiness behind ice cream, tattoos, etc. as interesting and even inspiring rather than odd and/or pathetic, but be a fan of the {{CloudCuckoolander}} character actor/jazz musician who is exploring them in his cheerfully idiosyncratic way. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7aN9OkNl7U two]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV2UYw1ixRA trailers]] for the show are upfront about its eccentricity, especially the first one -- Goldblum notes "Be forewarned, I am in the show ''a lot''" and goes on to say "So if any of this tempts you, or wearies you, you can make a decision right here." But that hasn't stopped Disney+ from making it one of its most-hyped charter productions or National Geographic from dubbing it into a double-digit number of foreign languages...

* OpeningNarration: Each episode opens with Goldblum introducing himself in a different, humorous way. Come "Pools", the penultimate episode, he notes that the viewer should know who he is by now!

* PreviouslyOn: "Pools", the penultimate episode, opens with a quick montage of clips from the previous ten.

* NetworkRedheadedStepchild: Because this was not developed for Disney+ but National Geographic's cable channel, only making its way to the platform in the wake of the Fox-Disney merger, it stands out among the original Day One documentary productions in that it's not built around a Disney IP of some kind and doesn't have an obvious kid-friendly hook. Downplayed in that it ended up the most-promoted of the documentary shows, used in online banner ads to represent the service's National Geographic brand the way ''Disney/{{Moana}}'' represents Disney in-house films, ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' represents Pixar, Iron Man represents ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'', and Darth Vader represents ''Franchise/StarWars''.

* PreviouslyOn: "Pools", the penultimate episode, opens with a quick montage of clips from the previous ten episodes.

** In the introductory monologue of "Pools", he notes "It really is a [[Film/TheLifeAquatic life aquatic]]".

* CelebrityResemblance: Goldblum briefly introduces himself at the top of each episode. In "Denim", he notes "No, I'm not the guy from the old ''[[Film/Ghostbusters1984 Ghostbusters]]''..." He's referring to Creator/HaroldRamis, who played Egon Spengler in that movie; in a magazine interview earlier in 2019, Goldblum said he's often mistaken for Ramis (who ''died'' in 2014) by people on the street.

* PaintingTheMedium: As Goldblum prepares to unbox the custom sneakers made for him at the end of the first episode, the image mock-pauses (complete with appropriate icons) as his voiceover warns that if the viewer wants to stay in the moment of suspense they should close their eyes now. The screen also mock-pauses 8-bit style in "Gaming" to lead in and out of the review of various controversies gaming has seen over the years.

* ShoutOut: In "Sneakers", when Goldblum is at the Sneaker Con and waiting for a deal worth tens of thousands of dollars to be brokered, he says [[Film/TheGodfather "It's not personal. It's business. Remember that, Michael."]] Bonus point for the Nino Rota-esque music playing at this moment. (Goldblum mentions/quotes a well-known movie that he wasn't involved in at least OnceAnEpisode.)

* StockFootage: Vintage news and other media footage is used to introduce and highlight the pop cultural history of the topic of each episode, and is sometimes used for humor as well. (In "Ice Cream", his joke on the Navy aircraft carrier about four bell-rings being the standard alert for a "squid attack" is punctuated with footage from the trailer for ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea''.)

* {{Edutainment}}: Each episode is as much about ''how'' Goldblum learns about the topic in question as ''what'' he learns, and its tone is cheeky and lighthearted. Creator/ScreenRant even [[https://screenrant.com/disney-jeff-goldblum-smarter-essays/?fbclid=IwAR1bJY3a2fDukZVwjIkXybHpRypw-4Od0tJCxc3cMvJlMYSGTElNJ48to1k compared the structure of the show to classical essays]].)

*** In the same episode, as Goldblum's voiceover describes how scientists are working on developing meat substitutes, the animation whimsically shows a cut of meat inside from what looks very much like [[Film/TheFly1986 a telepod]].