@Nullo The key word here is “appearance.” Galileo had great respect for Urban VIII and even dedicated a book to him (specifically, The Assayer). As for the character of Simplicio in Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Galileo explicitly states in the book’s preface that he is a reference to the philosopher Simplicius of Cilicia (a Platonist who spent most of his life commenting on the works of Aristotle and trying to bridge the differences that existed between the two schools of thought).
The use of such a character makes perfect sense as Galileo was responding to the views he had learned as part of his Scholastic education (Scholasticism being a system that attempted to reconcile Christianity with, you guessed it, Platonism and Aristotelianism). Moreover, a key element of Scholasticism is dialectic: take the strongest expression of the view you are attempting to refute and overcome it. So in fact, putting Urban VIII’s own words into the mouth of Simplicio is a way of showing respect. Most scholars think that Urban VIII could not have been stupid enough to miss this, which is just one reason why so many theories abound regarding what “really” got Galileo in trouble.
Nova is a science show. When choosing which historical details to present, they pick the ones that best serve the dramatic arc of the episode rather than the ones with the best academic credentials. It’s the same reason you don’t try to learn astrophysics from the History Channel.
Independent research, people.